Dr Claire McVeigh

General Information

Teaching Responsibilities

Teaching and assessment responsibilities exclusively at Master’s and CPD level for the SEN Literacy and Assessment Unit at Stranmillis University College.

• M-level modules: all available online
• EDC7024 Research Methods with Psychometrics
• EDC9097 Educational Testing with CCET option (British Psychological Society verified)
• EDC9098 Educational Testing and Examination Access Arrangements
• EDC9099 SpLD, Assessment and Examination Access Arrangements
• EDC7030 Master’s level dissertation module

CPD courses available online (some courses currently in development for study on the new Canvas VLE)

• Refresher on Educational Testing CPD (SpLD Assessment Standards Committee Authorised CPD)
• Test of Memory and Learning Second Edition: Attention and Concentration Index Only (SpLD Assessment Standards Committee Authorised CPD)
• Factors Affecting Literacy Development and Examination Access Arrangements (Post Primary)
• Test of Word Reading Efficiency- Second Edition (TOWRE 2)
• York Assessment of Reading Comprehension Primary: SWRT and Passage Reading
• York Assessment of Reading Comprehension Secondary
• Detailed Assessment of Speed of Handwriting (DASH)
• Detailed Assessment of Speed of Handwriting 17+ (DASH 17+)
• Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing 2nd Ed. (CTOPP-2)

Community Service/External Interests

• Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society
• Chartered Scientist with the Science Council (UK)
• Affiliate Professional Member of the British Dyslexia Association
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• Member of Advance HE Connect
• Member of the Educational Studies Association of Ireland
• Member of the Bilingual Forum of Ireland
• Verified Assessor for the British Psychological Society’s Certificate of Competence in Educational Testing (CCET)
• Active status on the British Psychological Society’s Register of Qualifications in Test Use
• Committee Member of the Northern Ireland Division of Educational and Child Psychology (British Psychological Society)
• Member of the British Psychological Society’s Northern Ireland Branch
• Member of the British Psychological Society’s Psychology of Education Division
  Reviewer for Dyslexia and JORSEN journals

Research Interests

• Cognition, cognitive development, and impact on the teaching and learning of literacy SpLD (dyslexia) and literacy difficulties
• Underachievement and low achievement in educational attainment
• Individual specialist assessment, SEN and examination access arrangements including quality assurance issues and CPD requirements.
• Bilingualism: cognitive and linguistic processes and assessment, including EAL, and Irish-English bilingualism

Background & Qualifications

• PhD in Cognitive Psychology from Queen’s University, Belfast
• Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society
• Chartered Scientist with the Science Council (UK)
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Research & Scholarship

Journal Articles

• McVeigh, C., & Hill, M. J. (2019). CPD requirements across professional bodies for assessors in psychometric testing in the UK. DECP Debate.
• McMurray, S., O’Callaghan, P., & McVeigh, C. (2018). Quality Assurance Issues in the Teacher-based Assessment of Students with Literacy Difficulties for Examination Access Arrangements. Dyslexia, 24(1), 3-16.
• McVeigh, C., Wylie, J., & Mulhern, G. (2017). Verbal and visuospatial working memory in immersion-educated bilingual children. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 1-13.
• O’Callaghan, P., McIvor, A., McVeigh, C., & Rushe, T. (2016). A randomized controlled trial of an early‐intervention, computer‐based literacy program to boost phonological skills in 4‐to 6‐year‐old children. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 86(4), 546-558.
• McMurray, S., McVeigh, C. (2014). The case for frequency sensitivity in orthographic learning. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs. doi: 10.1111/1471-3802.12079.

Conference papers

• McVeigh, C. & McMurray, S., (2018). Examination access arrangements: Considering differences in JCQ and Equality Act terminology. Paper presented at the British Dyslexia Association’s International conference in Telford: England on 12th April 2018.
• McVeigh, C., Wylie, J., & Mulhern, G. (2018). Verbal fluency in immersion-educated emerging bilinguals. Paper presented at the British Dyslexia Association’s International conference in Telford: England on 13th April 2018.
• “Provision in Northern Ireland for JCQ regulations and The Equality Act (2010) at the post-primary school level”. Dr Claire McVeigh, Dr Sharon McMurray.  Paper presented at the British Psychological Society Northern Ireland annual conference on 23rd March 2018. Dundalk: Republic of Ireland.
• “Referral Rates and Educational Experiences of Children in Years 1-3 of Primary Schooling.” Dr Claire McVeigh, Dr Sharon McMurray. Paper presented at The European Conference on Educational Research 2017 in Copenhagen: Denmark on 22nd August 2017.
• “A Whole School Approach to Addressing Literacy Difficulties: Evaluation of a Large Scale Continuing Professional Development Initiative.” Dr Sharon McMurray, Dr Maureen Bennett, Dr Claire McVeigh. Paper presented at The European Conference on Educational Research 2017 in Copenhagen: Denmark on 23rd August 2017.
• The need to consider orthography, morphology and phonology in children’s spelling development: Evidence from N. Ireland. Sharon McMurray and Claire McVeigh. Paper presented at the British Psychological Society Northern Ireland annual conference on 24th March 2017. Dundalk: Republic of Ireland.
• Quality Assurance Issues in the Teacher Based Assessment of Students for Examination Access Arrangements. Sharon McMurray, Claire McVeigh and Dr Paul O’Callaghan. Paper presented at the British Psychological Society Northern Ireland annual conference on 24th March 2017. Dundalk: Republic of Ireland.
• The need to consider three sources of linguistic knowledge in spelling: phonology, orthography and morphology. Claire McVeigh, Sharon McMurray. Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association conference in Leeds: England on 14th September 2016.
• Understanding Difficulties in Literacy Development: Implementation and evaluation of teacher CPD on a Northern Ireland-wide scale. Sharon McMurray, Claire McVeigh. Paper presented at the Psychological Society of Ireland’s annual conference on 10th November 2016. Athlone, Republic of Ireland.
• The need for an integrated approach to spelling: Developing morphology, orthography and phonology. Sharon McMurray, Claire McVeigh. Paper presented at the Psychological Society of Ireland’s annual conference on 10th November 2016. Athlone, Republic of Ireland.
• Continuing to develop teachers’ understanding of difficulties in literacy development at the SEN Literacy Unit, Stranmillis University College: Legacy and current CPD options. Sharon McMurray, Claire McVeigh. Paper presented at the Psychological Society of Ireland’s annual conference on 10th November 2016. Athlone, Republic of Ireland.
• An Innovative Model for Continuing Professional Development. Sharon McMurray, Claire McVeigh.  Paper presented at the British Dyslexia Association’s International conference in Oxford: England on 11th March 2016.
• The incidence rate of dyslexic-type difficulties in Year 3 children: A Northern Ireland study. Sharon McMurray, Claire McVeigh.  Poster presented at the British Psychological Society Northern Ireland annual conference. 5th March 2016. Dundalk: Republic of Ireland.
• Research Element of the SEN CPD Literacy Project. Claire McVeigh.  Paper presented at a Stranmillis University College Belfast Stakeholder’s Event: Northern Ireland. 13th April 2015.
• Working memory performance of bilingual children and implications for the assessment of developmental dyslexia. Claire McVeigh, Judith Wylie, Gerry Mulhern. Paper presented at the BDA Intl conference 27th to 29th March 2014 in Guildford: England.
• The role of the specialist teacher: Implications for Innovative Approaches to Dyslexia Provision. Sharon McMurray, Claire McVeigh, Maureen Bennett. Paper presented at the BDA Intl conference 27th to 29th March 2014 in Guildford: England