Services Supporting Learning in Wales: a quality toolkit for evaluating LRSs in FE colleges

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Services Supporting Learning in Wales a quality
toolkit for evaluating LRSs in FE colleges

• Dr Andrew Eynon
• Library Resource Manager,Coleg Llandrillo
• Toolkit Project Manager

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Welsh FE/library sector
fforwm Welsh association of colleges fforwm
LRM network CyMAL Museums, Archives
Libraries Wales Estyn Welsh schools colleges
inspectorate ELWa Education Learning Wales
(Welsh funding council) DELLS (Welsh) Dept of
Education, Lifelong Learning Skills - replaced
ELWa in April 2006
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Why do we need a quality toolkit?

• Colleges evaluate themselves against a variety of
  criteria
• Inspection bodies only give learning resources a
  cursory examination
• Need for up to date benchmarks

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Partners
Fforwm LRM Network CyMAL JISC RSC-Wales
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Welsh Quality Toolkit -What are the differences?
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Key Questions

• Key question 1 Does the Learning Resource
  Service provide an effective learning
  environment?
• Key question 2 Is the service sufficiently
  staffed with suitably qualified and experienced
  staff?
• Key question 3 Are learners provided with
  appropriate access to learning resources that
  meet the demands of their learning experience?
• Key question 4 Does the service demonstrate
  successful integration of ILT/ICT?

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Key Questions

• Key question 5 Does the provision of user
  support enhance the quality of the student
  experience?
• Key question 6 Is the service accessible to, and
  inclusive of, all learners?
• Key question 7 Is the learning resource service
  effectively managed, does it have a robust
  quality assurance process and is it making good
  use of library management information?

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Each Key Question contains

• Quality Indicators
• Key Prompts
• Examples of Evidence
• Performance Indicators
• Grade Illustrations

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Grading - Wales

• Grade 1 Good with outstanding features
• Grade 2 Good features and no important
  shortcomings
• Grade 3 Good features outweigh shortcomings
• Grade 4 Some good features, but shortcomings in
  important areas
• Grade 5 Many important shortcomings

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Advantages of using the toolkit

• Judge quality of performance against a set of
  criteria
• Identify development needs and priorities
• Highlight best practice
• Identify patterns of service strength and
  weakness
• Develop service improvement action plans

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Keeping up the standard

• Staff development on using the toolkit
• Guidance notes
• Peer review
• Review of toolkit

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Peer evaluation

• Funding secured in April 2006 to develop a peer
  evaluation scheme
• Influenced by Helicon, CoLRiC, MCCL and the MLA
  scheme in Yorkshire Humberside

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Project outline

• Develop peer evaluation checklists
• Train peer assessors
• Establish guidelines for assessors
• Carry out pilot peer evaluations
• Coleg Menai
• Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor
• Swansea College

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Issues

• Need for bilingual assessors
• Need for all-Wales benchmarks
• Specific need for qualitative benchmarking

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Further Information

• Fforwm
• www.fforwm.ac.uk
• RSC-Wales
• www.rsc-wales.ac.uk