1. Experiences of school evaluation in Ireland a presentation to Inspectorate of Education in the Basque Country 1 5
Pádraig Mac Fhlannchadha, Assistant Chief Inspector
Miriam Horgan, Senior Inspector
7 June 2018 3 2 4

2. Overview Inspectorate Quality framework Inspection in practice
role; principles; talking about quality
Quality framework
principles; standards; challenges
Inspection in practice
models; sources of evidence; making and communicating judgements; the quality continuum; reporting; supports; impacts
School self evaluation
definition; process; link with external inspection; current position; challenges
Going forward

3. Work of Inspectorate

4. Role of Inspectorate Evaluate
Role of the Inspectorate is established on a statutory basis in the Education Act 1998
Evaluate
the organisation and operation of schools and centres for education
the quality of education provided, including the quality of teaching and learning
the implementation of regulations made by the Minister
Support and advise
schools and teachers on matters relating to the provision of education
the Minister on any matter relating to education policy and provision
Report to the Minister, or to the school board, patron, parents of students and teachers, as appropriate (& publish reports of our inspections)

5. Our principles A focus on learners Development and improvement
Responsibility and accountability
Respectful engagement and dialogue

6. Talking about quality
A focus on accountability and improvement – not one or the other but both- requires soundly-based judgements of quality

7. Looking at our School 2016 A Quality Framework

8. What is Looking at Our School 2016?
A quality framework for schools and the education system
Sets out a set of clear, definable standards in two dimensions:
Teaching and learning
Leadership and management
Focuses on the practices that are most effective in providing (and leading) high quality education and ultimately in improving student outcomes
Provides a shared understanding of what effective teaching, learning, leadership and management practice looks like
Informs school self evaluation and external evaluation

9. Key principles of Looking at Our School 2016
Schools are dynamic learning organisations, with the learner at their centre
Schools have responsibility for the quality of the education they provide
Learning and the learner are viewed in a holistic manner
Quality teaching is a powerful influence on achievement
Leadership is inseparable from management
Leadership is defined by its impact on learning
External & internal evaluation are complementary contributors to improvement

10. What does Looking at Our School look like?
Teaching and Learning
Leadership and Management
Dimension
Domain
Standard
Statement of Practice
4 domains for Teaching and Learning
4 domains for Leadership and Management
4 standards in each domain
Effective practice
Highly effective practice

11. Dimensions and domains
Teaching and learning
Leadership and management
Domain 1
Domain 1
Learner outcomes
Leading teaching and learning
Domain 2
Domain 2
Learner experiences
Managing the organisation
Domain 3
Domain 3
Teacher’s individual practice
Leading school development
Domain 4
Domain 4
Teachers’ collective/collaborative practice
Developing leadership capacity

12. Teaching and Learning: Learner Outcomes
Statements of Effective Practice
Standard
Students enjoy their learning, are motivated to learn and expect to achieve as learners
Students’ enjoyment in learning is evident and is often linked to a sense of making progress and of achievement. Their engagement with learning contributes to their sense of well-being.
Students are motivated to learn, and this is often linked to having a clear sense of attainable learning outcomes.
Students see themselves as learners and demonstrate this in their positive approach to classwork and homework.

13. Statements- Development and extension
Statement of Effective Practice
Students are motivated to learn, and this is often linked to having a clear sense of attainable learning outcomes.
Statement of Highly Effective Practice
Students are motivated to learn through having a clear sense of attainable and challenging learning outcomes.

14. Statements- Difference of degree
Domain- Learner Experiences
Standard- Students engage purposefully in meaningful learning activities
Statement of Effective Practice
Students demonstrate high levels of interest and participation in learning
Statement of Highly Effective Practice
Students demonstrate very high levels of interest and participation in learning.

15. What were the challenges for the Inspectorate?
Changing practice to reflect LAOS – ensuring validity and reliability in our practice:
Ensuring inspectors became familiar with LAOS and its potential use when carrying out various models of inspection
Aligning inspection instruments and reporting templates with the domains and standards in LAOS
Cultivating common understanding among inspectors about what constitutes ‘effective practice’ and ‘highly effective practice’
Supporting inspectors through the early stages of implementation – a confidence-building exercise

16. Inspection in practice

17. Our Models of Inspection
Incidental Inspection – no notice
Subject Inspection (pp), Curriculum Evaluation (p)
Programme Evaluation (pp)
Evaluation of Action Planning for Improvement in DEIS (disadvantaged) schools (p, pp)
Whole-School Evaluation – Management, Leadership and Learning
Whole-School Evaluation
Follow-Through Inspection

18. Focus of inspection All inspection models focus on:
Quality of teaching
Quality of learning and student achievement
Depending on the focus of the evaluation, they may also focus on:
Quality of support for students
Quality of action planning for school improvement
Quality of leadership and management
We take context of the school into account.

19. Sources of evidence Classroom visits
Observation of teaching and learning
Interaction with students
Review of students’ work
Review of documents- planning, progress reports
Review of assessment data
Meetings and interviews (management, teachers, parents, students)
Review of school documents (e.g. School Self Evaluation and assessment)
Questionnaires (teachers, parents and students)

20. Making and communicating judgements of quality
Quality Framework
Provides the focus for our evaluation and the standards that inform our judgements
Quality Continuum
Provides the language to articulate our judgements
Weak
Fair
Satisfactory
Good
Very Good

21. The Quality Continuum – a closer look

22. Thinking about school quality
Fair skill development
Very good student engagement
Good quality teaching approaches
High levels of student motivation
Satisfactory leadership
Weak assessment practices
School quality is not an all or nothing concept
Different aspects of a school – different stages on improvement journey

23. Reporting Feedback meetings Evaluation report individual teachers
management
groups of teachers
representatives of parents
Evaluation report
The finalised report and the school response are published on the website of the Department of Education and Skills (

24. Acting on the inspection report
The board of management, as part of its agenda for school improvement, should use the report to inform its self-evaluation processes and its planning for improvement and development
The Inspectorate and other divisions of the Department of Education and Skills will monitor the implementation of recommendations in selected schools and in the system generally.

25. Supports for inspection
Publications
Looking at our School (2016) A Quality Framework for Primary Schools
Looking at our School (2016) A Quality Framework for Post-primary Schools
A Guide to Inspection in Primary Schools
A Guide to Inspection in Post-primary Schools
Quality Continuum
Code of Practice for the Inspectorate 2015
Procedure for Review of Inspections
Internal resources
Inspectorate Management Information System (IMIS)
Inspection templates and tools
Internal inspection guides

26. Supports for inspection
Intensive induction programme combining theory, policy and practice
Continuing professional development
Seminars
Webinars
Workshops
Peer observation
Coaching
Personal reading and study
Post-graduate academic research
Placement with other inspectorates

27. What do we know about the impact of inspection?
Chief Inspector’s report draws on analysis of inspection data to comment on quality in school and identifies areas in need of improvement
Data from inspection informs educational policy and national strategies
National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy
Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) Action Plan
Digital Learning Framework for Schools
Published reports include written response from school outlining what it will do to address the recommendations for improvement in the report
Follow through inspections in a sample of schools evaluate the progress that has been made in implementing the recommendations of the published report.

28. What do know about the impact of inspections?
Primary Follow Through Inspections 2016

29. What do we know about the impact of inspections?
The Department has a process that closely monitor schools where inspections have identified significant shortcomings in provision.
These schools are required to provide action plans and progress reports and are subject to additional inspection.
Evidence is that the vast majority of these schools succeed over time in improving practice to a satisfactory or better standard.
Post evaluation surveys indicate that inspection impacts positively on practice
Feedback helped me to develop my professional practice
Primary- 88% yes, 9% neutral, 3% no Post-primary- 74% yes, 17% neutral, 9% no
The recommendations of the report contributed in practical ways for our schools plans for school improvement
Primary 83% yes, 12% neutral, 5% no; Post primary 79% yes, 12% neutral, 9% no

30. School Self Evaluation introduced in 2012

31. School Self Evaluation- How we define it
School self-evaluation is a process that is
Reflective
Collaborative
Evidence-based
Leading to
Judgements
Actions to improve students’ learning
Actions to bring about school improvement

32. School Self Evaluation- Key questions
How well are we doing?
How do we know?
How can we find out more?
What are our strengths
What are our areas for development?
How can we improve?

33. School Self-Evaluation Process
Schools should use SSE process to
Identify strengths and areas for development (Literacy; Numeracy; priority aspects of Teaching and Learning)
Devise a School Improvement Plan with a focus on Teaching and Learning
Standards and statements of effective practice to inform judgements

34. Where do external inspection and self evaluation fit?
Self-evaluation and external inspections are complementary processes that are key to maintaining the quality of our schools
Both processes are focused on improvement
Both processes are informed by our Quality Framework Looking at our Schools
Aim - a well-integrated system of evaluation that combines external and internal perspectives

35. Inspection and SSE- Where are we now?
Inspections take account of schools’ engagement with self- evaluation
Schools engagement in the SSE process, including reporting the outcomes of SSE to parents
The manner in which targets are set, implemented and monitored
The impact of SSE on practice in classrooms and on the quality of learning
The effectiveness of strategies for the assessment and monitoring of pupil/student achievement
But there is much work to be done to embed school self- evaluation in the practice of schools before we can rely on evidence from school self-evaluation as part of the evidence base for inspection

36. What are the challenges?
Changing practice – promoting ownership of improvement among schools
Building capacity in schools to develop SSE processes through cultivating understanding of LAOS and advising on its use in the context of self-evaluation
Emphasising the merits of developing collaborative practice in and between schools

37. Support for School Self Evaluation
Inspectorate responded in a dynamic way to implementation challenges faced by schools
Published School Self-Evaluation Guidelines in 2012
Published updated Guidelines in 2016 that incorporated the standards of Looking at our School
Developed SSE website that includes contributions of schools’ experiences
Provided SSE updates to schools that address issues requiring clarification by teachers/schools e.g. target setting, use of LAOS
Conducted advisory visits to schools to discuss progress and advise on further steps

38. Going Forward- Inspection
Continue to embed the use of Looking at our School in our inspection work
Share experience - central and regional CPD for inspectors and discussion fora
Ensure the ongoing validity of the framework and the inspection models linked to it
Review inspection models in light of schools’ progress towards embedding SSE
Disseminate composite data arising from evaluations

39. Going Forward- System and Schools
Continue to embed the use of LAOS and SSE in the system and in schools
Maintain supports for SSE - school visits by inspectors; SSE website; SSE newsletter
Report on engagement of schools with SSE, including impact on practice in classrooms
In long-term, take increasing account of learner outcomes in making judgements/reporting
Ensure LAOS informs the content of CPD programmes for teachers/school leaders
Ensure LAOS informs recruitment policies for school leaders/middle management

40. And finally, some links that may be useful…
The Department of Education and Skills website: the education system, legislation, publications, inspection reports…
The Department’s SSE website: maintained by the Department to support schools in their self-evaluation process
And, for ease of reference, direct links to:
Looking at Our School, Primary and Looking at Our School, Post-Primary
School Self-Evaluation Guidelines, Primary and School Self-Evaluation Guidelines, Post-Primary
Guide to inspection in Primary Schools and Guide to inspection in Post-primary schools