Inspection and the fabrication of professional and performative processes

This paper is about the issue of the performance of inspection. Based on research conducted in an English secondary school in the years following its time under Special Measures, I discuss the idea that during an inspection the school becomes focussed around performing for inspection. I discuss performance theory here as well as notions of performativity. I set the scene with middle and senior managers' recollections of life under Special Measures, in effect the time in which they learnt to perform. I then use data from time spent in the school before and during the school's OfSTED inspection, and discuss inspection as performance.     

State school inspection policy in Norway and Sweden (2002–2012): a reconfiguration of governing modes?

There is growing research interest in school inspection throughout Europe; however, there have been few comparative studies between Swedish and Norwegian school inspectorates. Such a study is necessary since little is known about how inspection policies are shaped through ‘governing modes’ in the two Nordic countries. This paper explores the similarities and differences between state school inspection policies within the two countries from 2002 to 2012. Based on a rigorous, comparative document analysis of 23 policy documents, a particular focus is given to how school inspection adheres to professional-bureaucratic control as a mode of governing and/or details national expectations through performance audit, potentially intervening into school practices. We demonstrate that even if the cases of public administration seem to be somewhat homogenous from the outside, there is substantial evidence of major differences in the inspection policies of these two countries which can be explored by comparative analysis. Specifically, this paper contributes both conceptually and comparatively to understanding how a study of purposive and evaluative modes of governing can add to the field of school inspection studies.     

A School‐Based Management Mechanism for School Effectiveness and Development

The paper aims to report on an integration of my recent research and thinking on school effectiveness and school‐based management and to develop a school‐based management mechanism for continuous pursuit of school effectiveness and development.

The matrix of school effectiveness in terms of four categories and seven different conceptions provides a framework for examining the basic issues of conceptualization, measurement and maximization of school effectiveness. Furthermore, a dynamic perspective can be used to reconceptualize school effectiveness and explore the relationship of school effectiveness to school‐based management and strategic management. The characteristics of school‐based management based on a strategic management system can reflect the emphases of different conceptions of school effectiveness and constitute a mechanism for pursuing long‐term school effectiveness, even in different categories. Based on the matrix of school process and the principle of congruence, the management concept should be shifted from the cell management to the layer management in establishing an effective school‐based management mechanism for school development. This article also reports the experience on training school administrators to establish such a school‐based management mechanism.     

课堂教学评价的类型和方法

根据学校教学改革实践，提出将课堂教学评价划分为检查课、评优课和诊断性研究课等类型．以化学教育为例，依据化学教育测量和统计学基本原理，针对不同的评价类型，建立不同的指标评价体系和方法，在科学地评价课堂教学质量方面取得了较好的效果．     

强化学校自我评价,提高督导效能——英国学校督导评价最新发展趋势

近年来,英国教育标准局为了提高督导效能,强化了学校自我评价,要求学校形成有效的自我评价机制,一方面作为外部督导评价的可靠依据,另一方面,作为学校实现自我改进、提升自我发展能力的重要机制。学校自评呈现出广泛参与、与学校发展计划紧密相联、将自评融入到学校日常管理中等特点,文章论述了英国教育标准局有关学校自评的内容和具体要求。     

The Success of Schools in Implementing Eight Restructuring Designs: A Synthesis of First‐Year Evaluation Outcomes

In the UK there has been strong governmental pressure on schools to adopt a technicist‐rational approach to management. This paper reports an investigation of the relationship between the efficiency of resource management and school effectiveness using data from 117 secondary school inspection reports undertaken by the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED). School effectiveness is assessed in terms of qualitative and quantitative measures of the quality of learning and teaching reported by inspectors. Quantitative indicators of the extent to which schools are assessed as ‘efficient’ in managing resources were derived. Statistical analysis suggests a positive association between school effectiveness and rational management practice.     

Obituary John Wilson, 1928–2003

ABSTRACT

Much research on school effectiveness has been characterised by largely overstated claims and poor modelling. School effectiveness research (SER) has tended to define ‘effectiveness’ in terms of a restricted and often inappropriate range of outcomes, to overlook the issue of curriculum alignment, to be limited by the absence of longitudinal data, and it has often been characterised by unsupported assumptions about the homogeneity of school ‘effects’. SER needs to provide justification for the interpretation of ‘effectiveness’ defined as the unexplained part of performance in a statistical model, and a much clearer conception of why certain relationships exist is required. SER has yet to demonstrate the extent to which differences among schools in their ‘effectiveness’ are really caused by identifiable factors within the school and, more importantly, factors within the school's control; evaluations of school improvement interventions are generally unconvincing in this respect. Repeated findings of ‘correlates’ associated with ‘effectiveness’ (particularly when the strengths of the associations are not reported) are no substitute for a well grounded understanding of the specific mechanisms by which schools have their effects. A number of recommendations for future research are made.     

Evaluating school inspection effectiveness: A systematic research synthesis on 30 years of international research

The present study summarized research on school inspection of the last 30 years to provide an estimation of its effectiveness and to identify factors influencing inspection effectiveness. Following a systematic literature search, k = 30 inferential statistical studies on school inspection were coded. Due to the large variety in the analytical strategies used in the studies, the findings were synthesized in a systematic review. Twenty-four percent of the n = 222 effects of the k = 16 control group studies indicated positive and 18 % negative inspection effects. The majority of effects (58 %) was not significant. The most consistent positive inspection effects resulted for standardized achievement tests in Mathematics and in the mother language. Perceived accountability pressure and the perceived quality of the inspection were two of several factors that influenced inspection success in the k = 16 comparison group and correlational studies. The findings highlight new avenues for school inspection research and practice.     

Praxis und Verhältnis interner und externer Evaluation im Schulsystem im internationalen Vergleich

The overview article deals with the interaction of internal and external evaluation within the current paradigm of school governance. The actual practice of both approaches and the current state of research about the effects on school development is described. Both evaluation approaches are less focused on aspects of school output such as student performance, and more on school processes such as school management or the quality of teaching. External evaluation in the form of school inspection mainly fulfills the function of accountability and the identification of weak schools. Internal evaluation is probably a better way to achieve school development. However, the necessary competence to use internal evaluation as a systematic process of quality management for which each individual school takes responsibility is currently underdeveloped. Considerations about the future relationship between internal and external evaluation focus on using external evaluation as a kind of “meta-evaluation”. But before external evaluation can build on results of internal evaluation in this way, a broad capacity building in schools and a different understanding of the role of inspectors are necessary.     

Teacher Evaluation and Teacher Effectiveness in the United Kingdom

An outline is given of the UK research situation for the knowledge bases of school effectiveness and teacher effectiveness, and the UK policy situation in terms of school and teacher evaluation, improvement and development. It is argued that the UK has seen a much greater use of school-level policies, reflecting its substantial school effectiveness research base, rather than teacher-level interventions, although there are currently some attempts at policy and practice level to focus upon teacher effects, teacher evaluation and related issues of professional development. Speculations are given concerning future policy and research needs.     

学校效能的增值评价——对河北省保定市普通高中学校的实证研究

学校评价在教育评价体系中处于核心地位,它直接影响着对教师评价和学生评价的原则以及学校的发展方向。运用增值评价学校效能是当前学校评价研究的重要内容。对河北省保定市普通高中学校效能进行实证研究结果表明60%~80%的高考成绩校际差距都不是学校本身所导致的,在提高学生进步幅度方面,不同学校间存在明显差异。增值评价结果与高考分数评价结果存在较大差异;学校效能在不同学科间没有显著差异;学校对不同学生群体的效能无差异。学校效能的增值评价对于创新学校评价体系具有重要的参考价值。     

The national literacy strategy: a critical review of empirical evidence

Abstract This article examines three areas that are of central importance to the pedagogy of the National Literacy Strategy Framework for Teaching (FFT) at primary level: inspection evidence; school effectiveness (SE) research; and child development evidence. Analysis of national inspection reports on the teaching of English illustrates that these cannot be used as a reliable source of evidence. A focus on the claims made in support of an objective‐based framework in SE research shows that there is very little evidence to support the particular use of objectives in the FFT. A synthesis of child development research in relation to language and literacy finds that the FFT does not adequately reflect the evidence. It is concluded that there is an urgent need for a formal review of the FFT.     

The District Superintendent and School Improvement: A Western Australian Perspective

ABSTRACT

The contribution district superintendents can make to school effectiveness and improvement is a neglected area of research in Australia. Research in the US suggests four ways in which superintendents impact on school improvement: the evaluation of principals and auditing of schools; the matching of school and district goals; the provision of informal support for principals; and the appointment and positioning of principals. Within an Australian setting of devolution to school‐based management, evaluation assumes major importance at school level and at district superintendent level in the pursuit of school effectiveness and improvement. An evaluation of the performance of two superintendents in Western Australia took place in 1990. It focused on superintendent performance within one key accountability area, the provision of principals’ professional development. The evaluation procedures and results are described and analysed, and implications are drawn for improving district superintendent evaluation as a means of enhancing school effectiveness and improvement.     

Vertical Grouping in the Primary School

The introduction of new school inspection procedures is going to place great emphasis on classroom practice at a time when teacher appraisal is returning to the centre stage of the national debate on how to improve quality in education. The Government argues that it is seeking to encourage teacher professional development in the context of the school development plan but teachers fear that it is seeking to use appraisal as a means of ‘weeding out’ weak teachers and rewarding those who are successful by offering performance‐related pay. There are many contentious issues involved in such an appraisal system, which on the one hand encourages teacher professional development and on the other regards schools and teachers as being consumable products. This paper examines some of the issues that divide these two conflicting approaches and then criticises the current legislation‐driven approaches which are legitimately open to various usages. It then explores a new approach which is supportive to the profession but which produces clear performance indicators that can be used to provide a stricter monitoring of the effectiveness of teaching. This paper reflects upon the experiences of a school where a system of collective self‐appraisal was established. Underpinning the approach is a basic belief that teachers can be professionally responsible as well as being publicly accountable.     

Influences on the Literacy Hour

This paper outlines some of the key influences on the development of the National Literacy Strategy. In particular, it concentrates on the influences of international data on reading standards, international analyses of school effectiveness and some sources which have influenced the main components of the Framework for Teaching which supports the Literacy Hour. Finally, it draws upon national inspection evidence that many schools are likely to have much to gain from adopting the Literacy Hour. This conclusion is supported by the highly significant gains in the achievement of over 7000 pupils which have been reported in the evaluations of the National Literacy Project (NLP), the initiative on which the National Literacy Strategy is based. The paper is based on a more detailed review of research and other related evidence (Beard, in press).     

国外发展性学校评价研究综述

近年来,在关于教育改革和学校发展领域的研究中,发展性学校评价已经成为各国和地区新的重点和热点之一。国外有关发展性学校评价的研究主要集中在发展性学校评价的缘起、内外部评价的关系、发展性学校评价的主要内容、发展性学校评价的实施过程、实施效果和如何促进发展性学校评价的实施等六个方面,许多专家学者提出了富有价值的观点。     

学校管理者胜任力研究及其成果应用

学校管理者胜任力研究是20世纪八、九十年代英美等国教育管理研究的一个热点,该类研究的重点是寻找学校管理者胜任工作所需的能力和行为表现,为学校管理者选拔和职业发展提供支持.目前有两种胜任力研究模式:美国模式以学校管理者的卓越表现为基础,研究成果更适合于指导学校管理者职业发展;英国模式以学校管理者的一般表现为基准,研究成果提供的是学校管理者的职业资格标准,更适合于指导学校管理者的选拔.     

Critically Reflective Teachers in a Devolving Educational Context: implications of Schon's proposals for the teacher as a critically reflective practitioner

The idea of the teacher as a critically reflective practitioner has implications for teaching and teacher development. These implications will become more significant as schools accept responsibility for teacher development and as school effectiveness and teacher appraisal are increasingly emphasised. Perceiving the teacher as a critically reflective practitioner stresses teachers articulating, sharing, criticising and reviewing their practices and pedagogical knowledge and supports a constructivist view. An emphasis on achieving school and teaching excellence, quality, efficiency and effectiveness through management strategies is based upon a technicist perspective. The implications for teaching of these contrasting perspectives are considered in terms of the separation of means and ends, of knowing and doing, and of research and practice. It is argued that critically reflective conversations on teaching are central to inquiring into teaching and teacher development and appraisal.     

Leadership development programs: investing in school principals

Considering that some university-based principal preparation programmes may not be properly training principals for leadership roles, “grow your own” leadership development programmes have become more popular across the US. This study provides a contribution to previous research in terms of the specific components a district leadership development programme may incorporate into its curriculum in order to positively influence school principals’ effectiveness as school leaders. A purposeful sample of second-, third- and fourth-year campus principals working in a large urban school district in the south-west region of the US who had participated in their district’s leadership development programme were administered the Principal Effectiveness Survey and participated in semi-structured interviews to examine the influence of the programme on the participants’ effectiveness as leaders. Survey results indicated that principals consider training activities related to human capital, executive leadership, school culture and strategic operations as having a “high” influence on their effectiveness as school leaders. In addition, interview data revealed the importance of supervisor support and building relationships with peers as critical to their continued success as leaders.