Quality Management in Education

1 Self-evaluation for Quality improvementQuality Managementin EducationHM Inspectorate of Education 2006 Self-evaluation for Quality improvementQuality Managementin Education Crown copyright 2006 ISBN: 0 7053 1087 6HM Inspectorate of EducationDenholm HouseAlmondvale Business ParkAlmondvale WayLivingstonEH54 6 GATel: 01506 600 200 Fax: 01506 600 337E-mail: for HMIE by Astron B45597 04/06 Published by HMIE, April 2006 This material may be copied without further permission by Education authorities and educationinstitutions in Scotland for use in self-evaluation and report may be produced in part, except for commercial purposes, or in connection with aprospectus or advertisement, provided that the source and date therefore are 1 Self-evaluation in the local authority context3 Part 2 The framework for self-evaluation explained7 Part 3 The six-point scale14 Part 4 Performance and Quality indicators16 Part 5 Indicators.

2 Themes and illustrations22 Part 6 Using performance and Quality indicators for self-evaluation77 Part 7 Self-evaluation questions and sources of evidence86 Appendix I The relationships between Quality Management in Education 2and other Quality Management IN Education 2 SELF-EVALUATION FOR Quality IMPROVEMENTQ uality Management in Education (QMIE), published by Her Majesty s Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) in 2000, set out a framework for self-evaluation of the performance of educationauthorities in Scotland. It also provided the basis for the first cycle of external scrutiny byHMIE, namely the Inspection of the Education Functions of Local Authorities(INEA). All 32 Scottisheducation authorities have now been subject to external scrutiny through the first cycle ofINEA a period of consultation involving Education authority representatives, partner organisationsand other key stakeholders, a revised evaluative framework has been designed as a support packfor authorities.

3 Quality Management in Education 2(QMIE2), has been developed in partnershipwith key agencies and is designed to assist local authorities, together with their main stakeholders,to develop and implement a rigorous and systematic approach to the self-evaluation of theireducation functions. The emphasis within the publication is very clearly on the importance ofthe self-evaluation process and the role it plays in driving continuous improvement. Bothself-evaluation and inspection processes will be guided by the revised framework. The secondcycle of the statutory Inspections of the Education Functions of Local Authorities (INEA2)commenced in June 2005 with pilot inspections of two authorities. Inspection will take a moreproportionate approach. The scoping of inspections will be intelligence led and risk sources of evidence such as HMIE reports on schools and community learning anddevelopment (CLD) provision, and reports by other agencies, such as Audit Scotland and theCare Commission, will inform the depth and breadth of have come a long way since the inception of QMIEand INEA.

4 The cyclical process ofself-evaluation is becoming increasingly well embedded across the Scottish educationallandscape, as a means of improving performance and raising attainment and achievement forall learners. Indeed, there is now a clear expectation by HMIE that self-evaluation will havebeen developed and established across all schools, establishments, services and number of self-evaluation and external scrutiny models have been developed in recent years,including those which pertain to schools, community learning and development and childprotection. HMIE is acutely aware of the need for these to fit together in a coherent document represents a unified framework which, through self-evaluation and externalscrutiny, evaluates performance against a common set of six high-level questions.

5 Thesequestions will form the basis for all INEA2 inspections and, importantly, similar questions willform the basis for other inspections which relate to services for children and young are: What key outcomes have we achieved? How well do we meet the needs of our stakeholders? How good is our delivery of Education processes? How good is our Management ? How good is our leadership? What is our capacity for improvement?ForewordIn recent years, many initiatives have been undertaken to improve the Quality of the serviceswe provide for children, young people , their families and adult learners. For Scotland s Childrenbrought into sharp focus the need to put children and families at the centre of the publicservice network and, crucially, to provide better integration of services at the point of principles must therefore apply also to the complementary processes of self-evaluationand external scrutiny.

6 It is against this backdrop that the HMIE Services for Children Unitembarked upon a consultation exercise in October 2005 on A Common Approach to InspectingServices for Children and young people , which proposes that a coherent, intelligence-led systemfor inspection of services for children and young people should be in place by development of this QMIE2support pack and of the associated INEA2arrangements hasbeen guided by the need for a coherent approach to self-evaluation and inspection. It is alsorecognised that an increasing number of Education authorities and, specifically, formerDirectors of Education who now have responsibility for a much wider range of services,including Social Services, Community Learning and Development, Sport, Leisure, Arts, Culture,Libraries, Museums and Housing Services, further underlining the need for an integratedapproach to monitoring and further and very important difference in the approach to self-evaluation through QMIE2, isthe much clearer focus on impact and outcomes.

7 Self-evaluation should lead to the maintenanceof high standards, to further improvement in performance, to targeted action on areas needingto be improved and to continuous improvement in the pursuit of excellence. It is only byrigorous examination of impact, and of outcomes for children, young people , their families,adult learners and communities that the effectiveness of the Education functions of councilscan be thoroughly and comprehensively commend this support pack to all authorities and their key partners in their pursuit ofcontinuous improvement through the process of DONALDSONHMS enior Chief Inspectoriv_vQUALITY Management IN Education 2 SELF-EVALUATION FOR Quality IMPROVEMENTThis support pack has been the product of consultation and partnership working involving awide range of organisations and development of the document was undertaken through a consultation group whichincluded senior staff in Perth and Kinross, East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire.

8 East Dunbartonshireand North Ayrshire Councils as well as representatives from Audit Scotland and NHS thanks are due to Ian McMurdo and Stewart Jardine who acted as consultants to theproject. Production of the pack was assisted further by feedback from a number of educationauthority staff and partner agencies. Thanks are due to colleagues who gave of their time inreading and responding to successive drafts of this document. The compilation of material for this document involved the identification of good practice withinexisting systems of monitoring and evaluation, including those in other public authorities andin the private and commercial sector. In this context, the work of the European Foundation forQuality Management (EFQM), Charter Mark and Investors in people (IiP) is acknowledged.

9 AcknowledgementsThis publication has been designed to assist local authorities, together with their partner agencies,in developing and implementing a systematic approach to the self-evaluation of their educationfunctions. The publication provides practical assistance and advice on the process of self-evaluationat both strategic and operational levels. It focuses on the role of self-evaluation in developing acouncil s capacity to drive continuous improvement and, most importantly, to secure anddemonstrate measurable improvement in the Quality of learners educational experience. Theclear focus is on impact and self-evaluation support materials are also provided as an online resource. This will assistauthorities in amending or augmenting the materials to suit local needs, priorities andcircumstances.

10 Authorities approaches to self-evaluation will build on existing good publication also includes the performance and Quality indicators, measures and themes whichwill provide the basis for external inspection of the Education functions of councils in this secondcycle of statutory inspections. Each authority will be able, through its own self-evaluationarrangements, to gather Management information and evidence that enable it to judge theeffectiveness of its performance against six high-level questions, which will also form the basisfor inspections of the Education functions of councils by HMIE. These are: What key outcomes have we achieved? How well do we meet the needs of our stakeholders? How good is our delivery of Education processes? How good is our Management ?