SICI Workshop "Balancing School Internal and External Evaluations" Malta, 3-5 October 2017 Policy developments at EU level in relation to quality assurance Dita Kudelová Schools and Multilingualism Unit Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture

Content of Presentation Communication on "School development and excellent teaching for a great start in life" ET2020 Working Group on Schools Thematic work on quality assurance for school development Peer learning activity "How can external and internal mechanisms for quality assurance effectively complement each other in supporting school development?" Next steps

Communication on School development and excellent teaching Why? Common challenges among Member States: At EU level, one in five pupils have insufficient reading, mathematics and science skills. Low achievement is closely linked to pupils' background. Schools need to respond better to a new reality of technological and digital change.

The broader EU political context Rome Declaration: "a Union where young people receive the best education and training"

White Paper on the Future of Europe: “Making the most of the new opportunities whilst mitigating any negative impact will require a massive investment in skills and a major rethink of education and lifelong learning systems."

Need to act at three levels: I. Developing better, more inclusive schools II. Supporting teachers and school leaders for excellent teaching and learning III. Governance of school education systems: becoming more effective, equitable and efficient Autonomy and quality assurance

How? Full respect of subsidiarity Exchange of good practice and peer support, peer learning and peer counselling Supportive actions in Erasmus+ and in ET2020

Peer counselling Rationale − strong demand from the EU Member States for peer learning plus need for an instrument tailor-made to the policy needs of a particular country Brings together professional peers from a small number of national administrations to provide external advice to a country to support a specific national reform agenda

ET2020 Working Group on Schools 2016-18 representatives from all EU Member States, EFTA and EU Candidate Countries, plus European social partner and stakeholder organisations examining successful and emerging policy developments in Member States concerning the governance of school education systems that can support and improve quality, inclusion and innovation

Capacity for systemic change in 4 key interlinked areas: 1: Quality assurance for school development Internal/external school evaluation Collaboration/ shared goals Data analysis and sharing Professional/ school autonomy Enhancing co-operation … Developing better, more inclusive schools 2: Continuity and transitions in learner development Supporting teachers and school leaders for excellent teaching and learning 3: Teachers and school leaders in schools as learning organisations Governance of school education systems: more effective, equitable and efficient 4: Networks for sustainable learning and development in school education

Quality assurance for school development First thematic report under current mandate (April 2017) Eight broad guiding principles for policy-makers Examples of policy development across Europe Based on latest research, discussions during the Working Group meetings and a peer learning activity

Peer learning activity, Tallinn, 11-14 October 2016 Key question: How can external and internal mechanisms for quality assurance effectively complement each other in supporting school development? Participants: Estonia, Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia + former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia + ATEE, ETUCE

Guiding principles for policy-makers Coherence of internal and external quality assurance mechanisms Support to professional learning communities Trust and shared accountability Supporting innovation in schools Common language and shared understanding among stakeholders School networks to support development Generating, interpreting and using data Developing a balanced view of school development

Next steps  Working Group on Schools WG meeting on all four themes, Brussels 15-17 November 2017 Final output and dissemination Future planning and final meeting (February 2018)

Next steps Schools Communication (May 2017): "Together with EU MS and stakeholders develop targeted policy guidance on quality assurance through peer learning and peer counselling ." Meeting of Directors-General for Schools, Tallinn, 18-19 September 2017: Supporting MS in reforming their quality assurance systems from purely measuring academic achievement to evaluating personal progress of pupils and benefiting to all – pupils, teachers and administrations. Council conclusions responding to the Schools Communication Foreseen adoption by the Education Ministers at the Council on 20 November 2017.

Links to documents: Communication on School development and excellent teaching for a great start in life http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1496304694958&uri=COM:2017:248:FIN Accompanying Commission Staff Working Document http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1496303586570&uri=SWD:2017:165:FIN ET2020 Working Group on Schools Interim Report on quality assurance for school development https://ec.europa.eu/education/policy/strategic-framework/expert-groups/schools_en Peer counselling  Information note https://ec.europa.eu/education/sites/education/files/et-2020-peer-counselling-brochure_en.pdf

THANK YOU! Questions? dita.kudelova@ec.europa.eu Improving the now Improving the future