How can the inspection process enhance improvement in special schools?

Abstract

The new system for the inspection of special schools was introduced in England in September 1994, using common criteria as those used for mainstream schools. One of the main purposes of inspection stated by the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) is school improvement. This paper presents the perceptions of headteachers of the inspection process arising from the first inspections carried out during September‐December 1994. The evidence base used on these inspections is also considered. These data are used to suggest that school improvement can be enhanced by the inspection process under certain conditions. A preliminary exploration of these conditions is provided in the paper. Implications for the school inspection process, school self‐review and future research questions are identified.     

Do OFSTED Inspections of Secondary Schools Make a Difference to GCSE Results?

The Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) aims to improve school performance through inspection. A government indicator of a secondary school's performance in England and Wales is the students' success in examinations. The examination results of over 3000 OFSTED inspected secondary schools offering students for General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examination during the 1992 to 1997 inspection cycle were modelled statistically. For kinds of schools where achievement was already much higher or lower than the average (e.g. selective schools), inspection was associated with slight improvements in achievement. For county, local education authority maintained, comprehensive schools (the largest single group), inspection did not improve examination achievement. Some implications for school improvement are discussed.     

School self‐evaluation and the role of a critical friend

School self‐evaluation is receiving increasing attention in England, partly as a result of changes in the Ofsted inspection framework giving greater prominence to what schools can do to speak for themselves. The relationship between internal self‐evaluation and external inspection was a theme in a high profile policy speech made by the Schools Standards Minister, David Miliband, at the North of England Conference in January 2004. As part of a ‘new relationship with schools’ heralded in the speech, Miliband articulated critical friendship in terms of a ‘school improvement partner’. This article draws upon a number of research projects to critique these proposals, especially in respect of the role of a critical friend in school self‐evaluation. Issues discussed include different models of self and external evaluation, the importance of context, and the various ways in which a critical friend can support school self‐evaluation.     

Comparing effects and side effects of different school inspection systems across Europe

In this article, different inspection models are compared in terms of their impact on school improvement and the mechanisms each of these models generates to have such an impact. Our theoretical framework was drawn from the programme theories of six countries’ school inspection systems (i.e. the Netherlands, England, Sweden, Ireland, the province of Styria in Austria and the Czech Republic). We describe how inspection models differ in the scheduling and frequency of visits (using a differentiated or cyclical approach), the evaluation of process and/or output standards, and the consequences of visits, and how these models lead to school improvement through the setting of expectations, the use of performance feedback and actions of the school's stakeholders. These assumptions were tested by means of a survey of principals in primary and secondary schools in these countries (n?=?2239). The data analysis followed a three-step approach: (1) confirmatory factor analyses, (2) path modelling and (3) fitting of multiple-indicator multiple-cause models. The results indicate that Inspectorates of Education that use a differentiated model (in addition to regular visits), in which they evaluate both educational practices and outcomes of schools and publicly report inspection findings of individual schools, are the most effective. These changes seem to be mediated by improvements in the schools’ self-evaluations and the schools' stakeholders’ awareness of the findings in the public inspection reports. However, differentiated inspections also lead to unintended consequences as principals report on narrowing the curriculum and on discouraging teachers from experimenting with new teaching methods.     

Book Reviews

ABSTRACT

Drawing on data derived from on-going research projects investigating the privatised inspection process recently introduced for all schools in England and Wales, the paper considers the role of school governing bodies. Reference is made to the part governors can play in school improvement, particularly in those schools deemed by the inspectors to be in need of 'special measures'. It draws upon the experiences of a small sample of such schools and their governing bodies to suggest ways in which governors are able to play an important role in increasing their school's effectiveness and contribute to its continual improvement.     

From inspection to quality: Ways in which school inspection influences change in schools

Inspection is employed by most European education systems as an instrument for controlling and promoting the quality of schools. Yet there is little research knowledge about how inspection drives the improvement of schools. The study reports on surveys to principals in primary and secondary education in six European countries to attempt to clarify how school inspection impacts on the improvement of schools. Based on an analysis of principals’ perceptions the evidence suggests that inspection primarily drives change indirectly, through encouraging certain developmental processes, rather than through more direct coercive methods. Inspectorates that set clear expectations and standards have an impact on the increased utilization of self-evaluation and on developing the capacity of schools to improve in a variety of ways.     

Diversifying Schools and Leveraging School Improvement: a Comparative Analysis of The English Radical,and Singapore Conservative,Specialist Schools' Policies

ABSTRACT

Within the context of fierce global economic competition, school diversification and specialist schools have been seen by governments as cornerstones of education policy to engineer school improvement in both England and Singapore for more than a decade. In both systems, the policy has manifested in different school types, school names and sometimes buildings – in England, specialist status schools, academies and most recently free schools; and in Singapore, specialist schools and niche schools. Diversification is promoted by each school emphasising distinctiveness in its curriculum – often with implications for its funding and degree of autonomy – which differentiate it from others. There is normally the intention to scale-up curricular innovations school-wide. The paper addresses three aims in respect to both countries: first, it profiles the evolution of specialist schools' policies in both states in relation to school improvement and secondly, social justice; thirdly, it undertakes a comparative policy analysis in order to draw conclusions as to how the relationship between central government and schools has re-configured in both countries – arguing that the policy in England is radical, that in Singapore, conservative.     

School-to-school support within a competitive education system: views from the inside

ABSTRACT

This paper draws on evidence from a study carried out in England to explore how schools can support one another’s improvement within a policy context that emphasises competition. The findings offer some reasons to be optimistic, and are suggestive of the capacity and potential of the school system in England to “self-improve” through collaborative means. However, light is also thrown on a number of barriers that need to be overcome to make such an approach work. The paper argues that developing a greater understanding of the social complexities involved in school-to-school support requires research that takes account of the views of those involved. With this in mind, the paper reflects on the experiences of a group of school leaders in England, leading to lessons that are likely to be relevant to those in other national contexts where competition is seen as a driver for school improvement.     

英格兰学校督导体系改革的特点及其启示

在保障学校教育质量及其评估方面,英格兰一直居于世界领先地位.而且从上世纪末开始,英格兰教育标准局频繁修订学校督导大纲,英格兰学校督导制度也因此逐步走向成熟和完善.本文对近期英格兰学校督导体系的调整和改革作概括性介绍,以期对我国的学校督导与评价改革有所启示.     

Führen verschiedene Inspektionskonzepte zu unterschiedlicher Akzeptanz und Verwendung der Ergebnisse durch Schulleitungen und Lehrkräfte?

In the past decade, variant inspection procedures have been implemented in the German federal states, setting different priorities in terms of objectives. For example, while Bremen focused only on school improvement, Berlin and Brandenburg focused equally on school improvement and control. Considering the differences in the inspection procedures, we investigate whether the variant designs lead to differing attitudes among school principals and teachers (N = 1589) towards the inspection procedure as well as to different school improvement activities. The results show more positive attitudes towards the inspection in Bremen. In all three federal states, cooperation and participation of students and parents increased after inspection. In Berlin and Brandenburg, schools’ self-evaluations increased. In the same two federal states, school documents and curricula were updated before the inspection, while in Bremen this occurred after the inspection. Teachers’ attitudes towards the inspection are slightly more critical in comparison with school principals.     

英国学校督导体系变革的特点及其启示

用历史的眼光审视20世纪90年代以来英国督导制度的演变过程,剖析英国督导框架历次修订中所进行的制度改进,可以发现英国督导体系变革呈现出如下主要新特点:强化督导的发展性功能,注重学校改进;把儿童青少年放在第一位,强调全体学生的全面发展;注重学校自我评估,将其作为反映学校管理水平的重要指标;提高督导效率,减轻学校负担。这些新的特点对于我国正在进行的学校督导评估改革具有积极的借鉴意义。     

Mediated diffusion: Translating professional practice across schools in a high-stakes system

Educational systems across the globe are attempting to reshape the vertical and horizontal dimensions of school accountability. The vertical dimension involves devolution of responsibility to individual schools while the horizontal typically entails promoting the professionalism of leaders and teachers through school networks and school-to-school pairings. In many systems, these shifts occur within an environment of high-stakes accountability. Little is known about the ways that high-stakes consequences for individual schools shape the translation of professional practice across schools. The study reported here traces the diffusion of data-informed practices in a formal pairing of two primary schools in England—a school ranked as “outstanding” and a school in “special measures,” a persistently low-achieving school. Study findings trace the ways in which the threat of consequences under which the low-achieving school operates shapes the diffusion of professional practice across schools. The study details how the lead school brokered, or mediated, state requirements, co-constructing the supported school’s narrative of improvement. Findings from this study illuminate the ways that vertical relationships within the system of schooling influence horizontal relationships across schools. Clarifying the shaping of professional practice across schools is increasingly critical as patterns of provision of schooling proliferate and the links among the state and schools become increasingly complex.     

Leading Change in Schools in Difficulty

School improvement is a complex undertaking for any school but for schools in challenging or difficult circumstances it presents extra problems. Not only do schools in challenging circumstances often face acute levels of socio-economic deprivation, but also, improvement or change efforts can be extremely fragile in these volatile school contexts. This article focuses upon the process of leading change in a group of schools in challenging circumstances in England. It draws upon empirical data and focuses particularly on the process of leading change in schools in difficulty by exploring three leadership themes. The article concludes by arguing that while the quality of leadership is undoubtedly important in these school contexts it is simply not sufficient to combat the stubborn relationship between social disadvantage and underachievement. This relationship is more likely to be broken through structural change and localised and community-based action rather than through the forces of standardization or accountability.     

Creating an Ofsted story: the role of early years assessment data in schools’ narratives of progress

This paper explores the growing importance of measures of progress in judgements of schools’ effectiveness in England, with a focus on the role of the early years (settings for children aged 2–5) in providing data for these measures. Qualitative data from a research project involving three diverse school-based and pre-compulsory early years settings are used to explore how teachers and school leaders prioritise the collection of data in their every-day practice, in order to show how children make continual progress. The need for a narrative of progress as children move up through the primary school, an ‘Ofsted story’ for the school inspection service, is discussed alongside recent policy which requires a ‘baseline’ assessment at age four. We argue that there is a reification of progress in schools and early years settings, and that this changes the status of early years within the sector.     

The performative shift: middle leadership ‘in the line of fire’

ABSTRACT

State school inspection in Norway is currently changing with targeted schools becoming subject to more complex methods of inquiry. Not only school principals but middle leaders are exposed to this shifting system, for the latter are in the frontline of their schools’ everyday practices. The article examines how state school inspection is used as means of controlling legal compliance, as well as evaluating the formative assessment routines and practices of schools, middle leaders, and individual teachers. Drawing on the concepts of accountability and performativity, field observations of inspectors interrogating department heads in primary education are analysed. The empirical study demonstrates how use of standardised rubrics steer the inspection process in schools, aiming more towards completing on task, rather than supporting middle leaders in their struggle to comply with legal standards. During such interrogation, the department heads comply with the system, and are at the same time open towards the inspectors’ questioning concerning the school’s lack of fully implemented routines.     

浅析国际视野下的英国中小学民主公民教育

1998年发布的《科瑞克报告》(Crick Report)将公民教育从2002年开始纳入英国中学必修科目,将公民预备教育也作为小学教育评估的考察内容.无论是老牌民主国家,还是诸如东欧、中欧和拉美等新兴民主国家都认为,民主就其本质而言是脆弱的,它有赖于全体公民的积极参与.本文考察了欧洲及国际视野中的民主公民教育(EDC)背景、英国民主公民教育内涵和英国民主公民教育四大核心主题,分析指出英国民主公民教育所面临的挑战.     

Evaluation and decentralised governance: Examples of inspections in polycentric education systems

Across Europe schools and other service providers increasingly operate in networks to provide inclusive education or develop and implement more localized school-to-school improvement models. As some education systems move towards more decentralized decision-making where multiple actors have an active role in steering and governing schools, the tasks and responsibilities of Inspectorates of Education must also change. This paper reflects on these changes and suggests ‘polycentric’ inspection models that fit such a decentralized context. Examples of inspection frameworks and methods from Northern Ireland, England and the Netherlands are provided, as well as a brief discussion of the potential impact of such ‘polycentric’ models.     

Setting expectations for good education: how Dutch school inspections drive improvement

With decentralisation becoming increasingly widespread across Europe, evaluation and accountability are becoming key issues in ensuring quality provision for all (Altrichter & Maag Merki, 2010; Eurydice, 2004). In Europe, the dominant arrangement for educational accountability is school inspections. The purpose of this research is to identify and analyse the ways in which school inspections in The Netherlands impact on the work of schools. The results of 2 years of survey data of principals and teachers in primary and secondary schools show that inspection primarily drives change indirectly, through encouraging certain developmental processes, rather than through more direct and coercive methods, such as schools reacting to inspection feedback. Specifically, results indicate that school inspections which set clear expectations on what constitutes “good education” for schools and their stakeholders are strong determinants of improvement actions; principals and schools feel pressure to respond to these prompts and improve their education.     

Professionalizing school governance: the disciplinary effects of school autonomy and inspection on the changing role of school governors

Since the 1980s, state schools in England have been required to ensure transparency and accountability through the use of indicators and templates derived from the private sector and, more recently, globally circulating discourses of ‘good governance’ (an appeal to professional standards, technical expertise, and performance evaluation as mechanisms for improving public service delivery). The rise of academies and free schools (‘state-funded independent schools’) has increased demand for good governance, notably as a means by which to discipline schools, in particular school governors – those tasked with the legal responsibility of holding senior leadership to account for the financial and educational performance of schools. A condition and effect of school autonomy, therefore, is increased monitoring and surveillance of all school governing bodies. In this paper, I demonstrate how these twin processes combine to produce a new modality of state power and intervention; a dominant or organizing principle by which government steer the performance of governors through disciplinary tools of professionalization and inspection, with the aim of achieving the ‘control of control’. To explain these trends, I explore how various established and emerging school governing bodies are (re)constituting themselves to meet demands for good governance.