Sandro Spiteri Director, Quality Assurance Department SICI General Assembly, September 2011

 1865 – First investigation into school standards by Colonial Government  1889 – first Maltese primary school inspector  1930s – consolidation of Maltese Inspector Cadre Inspection seen as colonialist legacy related to need to monitor untrained state school teachers. Lasting image of inspector as respected and fearsome judge spearheading rigid centralised state educational control.  1988 – recognition of teacher professional status  1990s - Inspection function removed.  revived as school audit for state schools; suspended due to teacher resistance.

 EU-level comparisons have highlighted unacceptably low levels of educational attainment.  PISA, TIMSS, and PIRLS have confirmed / are likely to confirm ‘long tail’ of poor results  2006 – decentralisation through networks of primary and secondary schools, called Colleges.  QAD set up, for all compulsory education.  2009 – start of harmonisation processes to reduce inequalities within and between state and non-state educational sectors. Removal of streaming and selective examinations for entry into secondary schools.

 “provide the required guidelines for each school’s development plan”;  “in support of the evaluation and the internal audit of every school, implement inspections and external reviews, and also so that children and students are helped so that they may obtain in the best possible manner the set learning targets and necessary skills”

 On the basis of: ◦ Malta’s stage of national educational development ◦ general ideological consensus on school improvement through teacher agency and school empowerment ◦ inconclusive international research on the effectiveness of external inspection for school improvement  The current key change drivers are: ◦ increased school autonomy ◦ ethos of cooperation and competition ◦ External reviews that drive internal evaluation and planning ◦ external monitoring and judicious publication  Change drivers NOT used: ◦ resource allocation through parental choice ◦ naming and shaming ◦ public comparison through inspection reports and exam results

QAD Support School Development Confirm/Identify Development Needs Support and Professional Development School Development Planning Self - Evaluation Developing improved practice Organizational learning Raising standards School improvement Distributed leadership Community of reflective practitioners School Accountability Fulfilling the vision of the Curriculum

 We are in 2 nd year of our first national cycle,  External Review NOT Inspection / Audit  a (rigorous) Narrative of a Narrative – remember the Hawthorne Effect!  Focus on quality of leadership, teaching & learning  Ipsative assessment that looks for: ◦ in reporting: veracity, comprehensiveness and reflection; ◦ in planning: focus, direction, shared leadership and sustainability; ◦ in implementing: classroom and school processes, effective delivery, evidence of learning, evidence of school improvement, evidence of reflexive practice by the school community.  Is the school planning to get / getting better?  Documents available at:

Publication after External Review  Full report Head of School, College Principal or equivalent. Considered internal document covered by Data Protection Act  Teachers receive executive summary  Parents receive results of their pre-review questionnaire  School expected to discuss report outcomes with parents, teachers  Positive report = school reviewed in the next cycle  Negative report = school reviewed within one year  QAD to issue bi-yearly report on general trends and progress in schools. First report due at end 2012.

 Report consequences need to be defined more clearly whilst avoiding ‘grading illusion’  Legal provision being reviewed to enshrine QAD publication, school dissemination, and Report consequences  Bring together national and international attainment results with socio-metric data to established ‘families’ of schools so as to compare value-added, as a technical tool

THANK YOU