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School improvement through external inspection and school selfevaluation

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Title: School improvement through external inspection and school selfevaluation


1
School improvement through external inspection
and school self-evaluation
  • SDPI Summer School
  • NUI Galway 23 June 2009
  • Harold Hislop, Deputy Chief Inspector

INSPECTORATE
PROMOTING THE
QUALITY OF LEARNING
2
Overview
  • Structures, role and context of the
    Inspectorates work
  • Our approach to evaluation and school improvement
  • Providing an external perspective
  • External inspection and school improvement
    what should happen after inspection?
  • Maximum impact from inspection
  • School self-evaluation
  • Challenges and questions in realising
    self-evaluation

3
  • STRUCTURE, ROLE AND
  • THE CONTEXT OF OUR WORK

4
Organisation
Chief Inspector (Head of Division and a member
of MAC)
Regional Subdivision Deputy Chief Inspector
Policy Support Subdivision Deputy Chief Inspector
BU1-North Dublin North BU2-South East Dublin
South BU3-Mid-West South BU4-Midlands West
BU5 ESRU European Schools BU6 Teacher
Education Policy Inspectorate Human
Resources BU7 Curr Assessment Policy
Inspectorate International Linkages BU8 Special
Education Policy Inspectorate Corporate
Functions
Other deployments Regional Services, Planning
Unit, Teacher Education
5
The Inspectorate
  • Centralised inspectorate
  • A division of the Department of Education and
    Science
  • Statutory remit under Education Act 1998
  • Evaluate the quality and effectiveness of
    educational provision at primary and second level
  • Support and advise schools, teachers, boards of
    management
  • Advise the Minister on educational policy and
    provision

6
What influences the way we work?
  • The learner
  • Every learner entitled to high quality provision
  • Legislation
  • Statutory remit under the Education Act and other
    legislation
  • Public Service Reform
  • Initiatives to improve the delivery
    accountability of public services
  • Requirement for annual business plan
  • Performance management (PMDS)
  • Each staff member agrees role profile (targets
    for year) with manager
  • Mid-year and end of year review

7
What influences the way we work?
  • Partnership
  • Legislation places strong duty on Inspectorate to
    consult about the way in which it carries out
    evaluative work
  • Professionalism
  • Strong historical tradition which ensures
    Inspectorate has close links with teaching
    profession
  • Maintenance of good, professional working
    relationships with schools, management bodies,
    teachers, students and in more recent times,
    parents

8
  • OUR APPROACH TO EVALUATION AND SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT

9
Effective school improvement is
multi-faceted
Teachers
10
We all have a role to play in school improvement
  • INTERNAL
  • Principal, for example
  • Leadership for improvement
  • Setting emphasis on learning outcomes
  • Tackling under-performance
  • Each teacher, for example
  • his/her commitment to highest professional
    standards
  • role in furthering improvement of co-teachers in
    subject department and work of school as a whole
  • Board of management

11
We all have a role to play in school improvement
EXTERNAL
The professional teacher The Teaching
Council Continuum of teacher education Professiona
l teacher networks
Teacher quality
NCCA Curricula and syllabi State
Examinations NQAI - Qualification frameworks
  • Goals and standards

Management organisations Patron/trustees VECs and
CEOs
Management supports
12
We all have a role to play in school improvement
DES support services (e.g. SLSS, LDS,
SESS) Funding capitation, teacher salaries,
capital expenditure Supports for students (e.g.
SEN, NCSE, DEIS)
DES supports for schools
  • Evaluation and review

School development planning Self-evaluation Extern
al inspection National and international surveys
13
Emphasis in the inspection of schools has
changed.
From
  • A policing model of external inspection
  • Locates control and development outside the
    school
  • Idea that quality can be inspected into the
    school
  • Requires significant personnel resources

To
  • Promoting internal control and development
  • Recognises that change must be fostered within
    organisations
  • Based on a vision of school as a professional
    organisation
  • Sees inspectors and school personnel as
    co-professionals

14
Our dominant philosophy is formative
  • Purposes of inspection
  • Assure quality in education system
  • Provide an external perspective on the work of
    the school
  • Affirm good practice
  • Constructively identify areas for improvement
  • Facilitate school self-evaluation
  • Recommendations provide a platform for
    development

15
We commit to
  • Take account of school context
    and school self-review
  • Courtesy, respect and fairness
  • Sensitivity to individual teachers
    and schools
  • Fostering positive relationships
    with the school community
  • Fair and accurate judgements
    based on evidence
  • Clear and transparent review
    mechanism Review Procedure
    under Section 13(9) of Education Act

16
Influences on evaluation approach
  • School improvement literature
  • Research and professional development of staff
  • Curriculum reform and review
  • e.g. Links with NCCA
  • Socio-economic demands for high quality education
  • Govt commitment to transparency and service
  • International reviews of education e.g. PISA
  • International educational bodies
  • OCED Education Committee OECD Centre for
    Educational Research and Innovation (CERI),
    Towards an Integrated Public Service (OECD)
  • EU policy on education (e.g. teacher
    competencies, education for citizenship, Lisbon
    agenda)

17
Co-operation with other inspectorates
  • North-South
  • Management cooperation, staff exchange
  • Britain Ireland (Ofsted, Estyn, HMIe, ETI
    DES)
  • Participation in joint meetings
  • Sharing of good practice
  • Europe
  • European Network for the Evaluation of
    Educational Systems
  • Joint projects led by Ireland or in which Ireland
    participates
  • Standing International Conference of
    Inspectorates
  • e.g. Papers from Ireland on inspection practices
    and outcomes
  • Other countries, e.g. New Zealand
  • Study visits, exchange of speakers/lecturers

18
Evaluation Support and Research Unit
  • Develop evaluation techniques and tools
  • Inspection models, tools to collect and analyse
    evidence, reporting styles and templates
  • Design and lead specialised evaluations
  • Respond to demands/needs of Department, school
    system, learner groups
  • Design specialised evaluations, train inspectors
  • Oversee writing of composite national report
  • Publishing house for the Inspectorate
  • Research on issues such as inspection models,
    trends and developments

19
  • PROVIDING AN
  • EXTERNAL PERSPECTIVE

20
External evaluations
  • Using a range of inspection types
  • Developing models to suit circumstances of
    provision
  • Current models include.

21
Post-primary WSEs
planned for 2009
22
Subject inspections
758
730
676
668
23
Other evaluations
24
  • EXTERNAL INPECTION AND
  • SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
  • What should happen after inspection?

25
After inspection
  • Underlying principle School self-review and
    improvement at heart of effective school
  • External evaluation can provide advice but
    improvement only happens if there is effective
    implementation in school
  • Primary responsibility for following through on
    recommendations rests with board and staff
  • BOM, CEO, Principal, Staff must take ownership of
    need for change and implement change programme
  • Others may be involved to limited extent
  • Patron/VEC, certain DES divisions, school support
    services, etc.

26
So what should happen after inspection?
  • Full circulation of the report
  • Read and examine the strengths and areas for
    development
  • Review the schools planning and self-evaluation
  • Review needs to include board, senior management,
    staff and possibly parents and students
  • Have these processes identified similar
    priorities?
  • What should our priorities now be?
  • Does the self-review and planning process need to
    be improved?
  • What actions will we take now?
  • Action plan
  • Identify where assistance is needed
  • Implementation, monitoring and review to ensure
    real improvement happens

27
Are inspections effective?
  • Independent survey in 2005 by MORI..
  • 86 of teachers agreed or strongly agreed that
    Feedback and advice were given in a supportive
    and constructive manner
  • 80 of teachers agreed or strongly agreed that
    Inspectors provided constructive advice about
    ways of improving educational provision
  • 80 of teachers agreed or strongly agreed that
    Written reports were clear and provided me with
    valid and constructive recommendations for
    development

28
Is the Department involved in following-up?
  • Coordinated sharing of information between
    Inspectorate and Schools Division of DES
  • Involvement of DES and Inspectorate in
    follow-through to inspection is
  • proportionate to need
  • concentrated on very small number of schools with
    very serious failings and those with significant
    problems
  • concentrated on learning outcomes
  • is tailored to the needs of the individual case
  • looks at supports and the approach needed to
    address underlying issues in school

29
Examples include
  • DES engaging with board and/or the
    patron/trustees of the school
  • Patron/trustees working with BOM to bring about
    change
  • School engaging with support services
  • Assistance to leadership or management of school
  • Report(s) from BOM to DES on actions taken to
    implement recommendations
  • Follow-up visit(s) by Inspectorate or other
    officials from DES
  • Combination of actions suited to needs of
    situation
  • There is no one solution!!

30
  • MAXIMUM IMPACT FROM INSPECTION
  • Learning lessons from
  • the inspection programme

31
Sharing the outcomes of inspection Reports on
the website of the DES
Publication allows us to learn from each
other AND can inform self-evaluation
32
For example, where WSEs find more effective
leadership and middle management..
  • Quality leadership, principal deputy principal
    communicate effectively, cooperate fully in
    running effective school
  • Mix of pastoral, curricular and organisational
    duties for middle management clear duties
    effectively implemented regularly reviewed for
    good of school
  • Collaborative policy making process SDP focussed
    on core areas of teaching and learning
  • Time for planning but not at the expense of
    minimum teacher contact time for students

33
Where WSEs find less effective leadership and
middle management
  • Weak leadership poor cooperation between
    Principal and Deputy poor cooperation between
    in-school management team
  • SDP not well developed paper and/or recent
    exercise rather than a continuous process for
    improvement
  • Middle management posts not well structured to
    changing needs of school
  • Planning and review not impacting on teaching and
    the quality of students learning
  • Teacher deployments / Teacher absenteeism

34
  • In some cases, evaluations have found quite
    considerable room for improvement

35
  • In line with section 21 of the Education Act,
    the board .should begin immediately to develop a
    school plan.
  • The schools admission and enrolment policies
    should be reviewed to ensure that they are in
    line with the policy of inclusion.
  • A total review of existing posts and duties
    should take place.
  • A whole-school review of the schools code of
    behaviour is recommended ...
  • It was noted thata number of teachers are
    allocated fewer than the stipulated minimum of 18
    hours....the allocation of time for some subjects
    is not fully in line with syllabus guidelines
  • A more concerted effort by the whole staff
    should lead to a general improvement in the
    quality and amount of work completed by students
    and contribute to the raising of standards and
    outcomes in all subjects.
    - WSE Report, PP school

36
Composite reports
  • Findings and recommendations based on analysis of
    subject inspection reports or other inspection
    data
  • Emphasis on advice as well as evaluation
  • Good practice and Concerns boxes
  • Aimed at subject departments, school leaders,
    advisers

37
Other composite reports
Other titles Looking at Guidance, English,
History Forthcoming Looking at Biology
38
Thematic evaluations
  • Specialist evaluation projects with a research
    focus
  • Considerable research in advance of evaluation
  • Specific evaluation criteria, templates and
    schedules developed and tested
  • Additional focussed training for inspection teams
  • Reports
  • Highlight good practice
  • Identify challenges of the system
  • Suggest how schools can improve practice

39
Thematic reports
Forthcoming Leadership in Schools English as
an Additional Language
40
  • SCHOOL SELF-EVALUATION
  • How can it help us to improve our school?

41
What can school self-evaluation do?
  • School self-evaluation is a process that should
    enable the principal, teachers and school
    community....
  • to evaluate how well their school provides for
    its students
  • to make a difference to the experience of every
    student by enriching teaching and improving
    learning outcomes
  • to reflect on whole-school and classroom practice
  • to recognise the strengths of their school
  • to focus on teaching and learning strategies and
    on student learning outcomes

42
  • to examine areas where outcomes could have been
    better and identify areas for further development
  • to assist staff in sharing ideas and good
    practice
  • to provide opportunities for teachers to monitor
    their own teaching and identify their
    professional needs
  • to support the ownership of school policies and
    establish a clear vision for future direction of
    the school
  • to provide a means of school accountability

43
How could self-evaluation differ or relate to
School Development Planning?
  • SDP processes are well embedded in many schools
  • Robust self-evaluation should be a key element in
    the SDP process
  • Self-evaluation should not be additional to SPD,
    rather it seeks to provide a sharper focus to
    SDP
  • Acknowledges the context of the school
  • Brings more critical, objective focus to the
    review of the schools work
  • Can lead to better action planning
  • Should result in better monitoring of progress
    and implementation
  • And it can be used to provide better information
    to parents and others about the work of the
    school

44
How could self-evaluation bring about this
better focus?
  • By asking questions about outcomes such as
  • How effective is our teaching and the learning of
    our students?
  • Are the learning outcomes of our students
    improving?
  • What are the learning outcomes for different
    groups of students?
  • Are we good at retaining students? At promoting
    student attendance?
  • Are we stretching students achievements as much
    as possible? Getting as many as possible to take
    higher levels?
  • How good is the management of this school in
    terms of the leadership it provides for school
    improvement?
  • How good are the supports we provide to students?

45
  • By basing judgements on solid evidence, e.g.
  • Detailed questionnaire evidence from students and
    from parents, board members, etc.
  • Analysis of examination results and comparisons
    with national data for all students for
    different groups (e.g. higher/lower achieving
    groups)
  • Standardised test results
  • Analysing uptake of higher levels in subjects /
    subject in senior cycle
  • Achievements in terms of students
    skills/abilities
  • Tracking and analysing data on retention of
    students
  • Examining attendance patterns
  • External evaluation evidence

46
  • By facilitating and encouraging peer learning and
    peer review, for example.
  • Encouraging teachers to share good practice
  • Facilitating teachers in observing each other
    teach and providing developmental feedback
  • Developing a culture of discussing pedagogy,
    suggesting and accepting suggestions for
    improvement
  • Creating a culture where teachers are constantly
    asking How can I do this better?
  • Can you suggest to me how I can improve?
  • Could we improve this by .?
  • By having principals, curriculum leaders, etc.
    engage in reviewing teaching and learning in
    classrooms

47
  • By setting clear targets for change and
    improvement
  • Identifying areas for improvement, planning how
    change can be brought about
  • e.g. improving achievement levels in specific
    subjects or for specific groups of students
  • Helping to identify staff learning needs and
    addressing these
  • Setting clear short-term and longer-term goals
    for improvement that can be measured
  • Providing a way in which progress can be
    monitored, acknowledged and celebrated

48
Promoting self-evaluation Social Partnership
Agreement delivering School Self-Evaluation
  • Towards 2016 embeds the Inspectorates Looking at
    Our School framework in the partnership agreement
    with teachers
  • The agreement intended to facilitate the
    systematic implementation of school
    self-evaluation in all primary and post-primary
    schools
  • Agreement specifically mentions schools assessing
    performance in teaching and learning

49
So in the interface between inspection and
self-evaluation
  • External evaluations, composite reports and
    Looking at Our School can help to inform the
    criteria by which schools judge their outcomes
  • Inspectorate can develop more refined criteria to
    aid self-evaluation
  • Can do this in cooperation with schools and
    others
  • Initially, self-evaluation needs to be primarily
    for the school community
  • But as confidence grows, schools should share
    findings with others
  • Schools could aim to publish their own reports,
    targets, achievements and areas for development

50
  • External evaluation
  • Complements internal evaluation
  • Can look at the schools self-evaluation as one
    key element of evidence
  • Self-evaluation has potential to inform and
    sharpen the School Response to inspection
    reports
  • School community should compare findings of
    external and internal processes
  • More focussed statements about what school will
    do next
  • Models of inspection could adjust over time to
    incorporate outcomes of robust self-evaluation
  • WSE could be less intensive in some cases
  • Shorter or less frequent or different forms of
    evaluation
  • Quality assuring self-evaluation
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