Every three years, the OECD undertake an evaluation of educational systems – the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). High school students from 72 countries participate in reading, maths, and science tests. In this evaluation, Wales consistently performs below UK and international averages. Therefore, there is a broad consensus and government commitment to raise standards in schools, with national Welsh education policy placing increasing emphasis on a culture of self-improvement, whereby schools take responsibility for their own development. Within self-improvement, the role of effective school governors and self-evaluation – the subjects of this blog – are key.
School Governance
Better governance is argued to establish the processes that enhance school performance. In 2013, the Welsh Government, in recognition of this, introduced a range of statutory training measures that the 20,000 governors in Wales – all of whom act in a voluntary capacity – must undertake. The training measures focus on governor skills building and development; enabling the bodies to perform their three key functions of overseeing financial performance, holding headteachers to account for educational and staff performance, and ensuring clarity of vision and strategic direction for the school.
The ability to perform these three functions and for a governing body to be defined as ‘effective’ depends – according to the National Governance Association – on eight aspects:
- The right people round the table.
- Understanding of their role and responsibilities
- Good chairing
- Professional clerking
- Good relationships based on trust
- Knowing the school
- Commitment to asking challenging questions
- Confidence to have courageous conversations in the interests of children and young people.
It should also be stated that effectiveness of a governing body depends on the context in which it operates, the existing skills and dedication of the governors themselves, and the governor’s ability to act as a critical friend to the Headteacher.
Self-Evaluation
The OECD argue that school self-evaluation is key to improved student learning and, through identification of key performance priorities, acts as a lever of change. In acknowledgement of the importance of self-evaluation, a Draft evaluation and improvement (accountability) arrangements for Wales was announced in February 2019. The draft indicates a move from bureaucracy and compliance to that of evaluation and improvement schools in Wales.
To achieve effective self-evaluation, the process, which is also required to be undertaken by governing bodies, needs to be a cyclical process consisting of three elements:
- Monitoring and evaluation: providing measurable and reliable data relating to performance through methods including lesson observations, student work quality assessment, school benchmarking, and stakeholder view surveys.
- Planning for improvement: evaluation outcomes should inform action planning for improvement. To ensure accountability, the school development plan should detail priorities, how they will be resourced and carried out.
- Undertaking improvement work. Governors should remain accountable to improvement work.
Estyn, who increasingly place self-evaluation at the centre of their inspections, view the process as being underpinned by an honest and collaborative culture to ensure a constructive process that is both embedded in and embraced by schools.
The importance of self-improvement
Ultimately, the role of governing bodies and self-evaluation are vital in supporting schools to achieve the best outcomes for all pupils. The effective governing bodies and self-improvement discussed above are in line with a model of evaluation and improvement, seen in high performing education systems across the world.
At Miller Research, we are excited to be working on case studies to support the EAS Learning Network Schools approach and help shape the development of a self-evaluation and governance framework within the EAS footprint.
