European Report On The Quality Of School Education

Recoge: Este informe analiza la estructura y organización de la evaluación de los centros educativos de primaria y secundaria con el objetivo de mejorar la calidad de los procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje. Abarca todos los estados miembros de la UE, así como Islandia, Noruega, la Antigua República Yugoslava de Macedonia y Turquía. Compara los dos tipos principales de evaluación, la externa llevada a cabo por evaluadores que no son personal del colegio y la interna, desempeñada por los miembros del personal. También analiza los procedimientos concretos, el perfil de los evaluadores y el uso que se hace de los resultados de la evaluación.

How is European Education Governed? Data is now the lifeblood of education governance. At the international level, organisations like the OECD steer education systems through their programmes of assessment and the European Commission’s project of creating the most successful knowledge economy in the world is driven by data collection, analysis and comparison. At the national level, policy-makers increasingly depend on data to show them where they are positioned, in relation to their competitors, and draw on data to justify policy directions. Within systems, schools and teachers have become proficient in data use, and interpret their priorities with reference to data. This book draws on a three-year comparative study of the influence of data on education systems in Europe, looking at the contrasting policy contexts of Denmark, England, Finland, Scotland and Sweden, and examining the use of data in these systems, in relation to steering by Europe, as well as policy mediation and ‘translation’ of data within systems. The authors draw on interviews with key policy actors in the European Commission and with national policy makers in all five systems, as well as on local case studies and a major comparative survey of the effects of data production and use on the work of teachers and headteachers. The research brought together international researchers from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, including educationalists, political scientists and specialists in research and evaluation. The book offers new arguments relating to the use of Quality Assurance and Evaluation as a means of standardising and harmonising education policy and practice, while also drawing attention to significant variation in policy and practice across these systems. It should be of interest to researchers, post-graduate students and advanced undergraduate students in policy studies in education and more generally.

The report Assuring Quality in Education: Policies and Approaches to School Evaluation in Europe analyses the structures and organisation of school evaluation in primary and compulsory secondary level. It covers all EU Member States, as well as Iceland, Norway, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Turkey. Schools form the basic building blocks of education and training systems, and school evaluation is an important way to monitor and improve their quality, as well as to enhance the quality of education at large. The report analyses the two major types of school evaluation: external evaluation, conducted by evaluators who are not staff members of the school concerned, and internal evaluation, performed primarily by members of its staff. The report contains country-specific descriptions and a comparative review of school evaluation in Europe.

"With this report, we put quality of teaching and learning centre stage and show examples that can be applied elsewhere. To us it seems research as one important mission of higher education has often overshadowed the other core mission of higher education: teaching and learning."--Page 7.

This study mirrors the perceptions and values that shape the discussion of such terms as harmonization, recognition, convergence and subsidiarity in the educational sphere. It provides insights into surprising similarities and important differences in the approaches of different Member States regarding the interpretation and implementation of EU education and training policies. It summarizes the results of a European research project conducted within the EU-funded network PRESTiGE.