Unit 4 Planning a Programme of Evaluation

Introduction
Evaluation is a key managerial skill, required by both those working from outside schools, such as REDOs, DEOs, the MERD Unit and examiners; and those working from within – Senior Leadership Team, Middle Leaders and teachers. This unit focuses on self-evaluation, which is the process of each school evaluating its own work as part of a supervisory, planning and managerial process. This builds on our discussion of evaluation techniques in Unit 3.

It focuses on the quality of learning and teaching in the school. This underpins everything that takes place. Hence the quality of senior and middle leadership as well as the ability of teachers in the classroom is linked to how effective the school is in achieving its stated objectives and mission. Thus, any programme of monitoring and evaluation will take this into account.

Individual study time: 4 hours

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this unit you should be able to:

analyse the factors which determine how self-evaluation could be conducted in a school
plan a suitable evaluation programme for your school
be aware of specific criteria for the evaluation of school effectiveness
identify priorities and time-scales within which such plans could be achieved.
identify the resources available for the evaluation bearing in mind other pressures on resources
collect, record, collate, analyse, interpret and report information.

School readiness for self-evaluation
There are a number of reasons why schools should evaluate their own performance. Firstly, knowledge and information about how well we are doing enables us to congratulate those responsible for good performance. Secondly, we are able to identify those areas which require improvement and do something about them. Lastly, it is better to be prepared and have identified our own strengths and weaknesses and to have an action plan to deal with them, when external evaluators come into the school.

We would all agree that a conducive, non-threatening school climate is a prerequisite for successful teaching and learning. However, it is an equally necessary condition for undertaking a self-evaluation exercise in which teachers will be honest about their performance, knowing that the information they provide will assist others in helping them to improve rather than being critical and using the information against them. It is a fine balance for headteachers to keep in gaining the confidence of the teachers as well as operating as their supervisors and being part of the process of the appraisal system. Such an exercise presupposes that both the head and the staff have the right type of positive attitude that will enable successful self-evaluation projects to be conducted. For an evaluation programme in school to be effective, the head and the staff must cooperate and work as a team. When the staff are consulted in all aspects of school matters, they are more likely to feel committed and to carry out assignments given by the head. Thus, a climate of encouragement in which teachers feel able to make mistakes without recrimination is a necessary condition in introducing a systematic self-evaluation scheme into a school.

So, how might we describe this climate of openness between the Senior Leadership Team and the staff? The following are some of the conditions we may look for:

Commitment of the leadership of the school which is expressed in clear statements, acknowledging the importance of self-evaluation as a necessary and ongoing aspect of policy
A leadership style based on openness, trust and confidence
A school climate which fosters collaboration, innovation and the expression of ideas and opinion formed through rational argument
A school culture in which there is an expectation of critically reflective practices, access to information on current educational thinking and development and which exploits the use of available expertise within the local community, CPCE, the Ministry of Education, the University of Guyana and other agencies.
A culture where the leaders set high standards for themselves so that others will follow by example
Leaders who have the humility to make mistakes and admit them without blaming others
The willingness for all to be prepared to do oneself what we would ask others to do
The ability to participate in others’ learning and facilitate it rather than simply directing it
The readiness to give people the credit they deserve thus motivating them and keeping them on target
A culture which allows people to make mistakes and learn from them.
A national, regional and district support system which is responsive to the needs of schools in developing the skills and expertise needed to develop self-evaluation strategies
Acknowledgement of the distinctions between self-evaluation procedures and appraisal procedures (see Module 3, Personnel Management, for detailed consideration of appraisal)
Considerations of the resource implications of self-evaluation procedures
An awareness of the time implications of self-evaluation activities
An expectation that identified needs will be satisfied

The last point is perhaps the most critical. We monitor so that we will be able to identify need and issues for improvement. If we are not able, as leaders, to provide the wherewithal for teachers to develop, we will create frustration within them. This is why effective training programmes are so important at all levels.

Now, consider for a moment, using the conditions outlined above as a guideline, how ready you and your staff are to undertake a programme of systematic evaluation in your school

Comments
When you carried out this exercise, did you realise that you were carrying out an evaluation exercise on the climate and educational ethos of the school? However, it is really important that when you make your assessments and your judgements that you are really honest. It is difficult to be totally objective when you are personally involved. This is where the monitoring assists in the process. You will collect qualitative evidence that will support your judgements. For example, in the statement that credit is given where it is deserved, what evidence is there of this? Is there public recognition of a job well done? Are certificates awarded? Does the head write to staff, send a memo or see them individually?

Here is one way that you might want to go about it.

Prepare a short questionnaire to survey staff opinions on a range of aspects of your school which might include questions about the following:

The learning process and levels of performance
Pupil behaviour
The curriculum and how it is implemented in your school
Teaching and learning styles
Teacher attendance and punctuality and its impact on learning
The physical environment, including provision and maintenance of the buildings
Staff facilities
Staff development opportunities
The support of parents
Senior leadership Team / staff relationships

You could make several simple statements about each aspect and let your staff react to each. Score a grade of 1 to 5 (1 totally disagree, 5 totally agree) to indicate to what extent you agree or disagree with each of the statements

e.g. Most pupils in the school behave in an appropriate manner to facilitate effective learning and teaching. Score a grade of 1 to 5. Even if you disagree with the response, you must accept that this is the perceptions of the staff and you must do something about it.

You might also undertake informal interviews raising questions related to the ‘conditions’ listed above.
e.g. To what extent do you feel that your identified development needs will be satisfied?
Prepare a short questionnaire to survey pupil opinions on a range of issues which are likely to affect them in the school. Pose the questions so that they do not become personal.
e.g. Do you feel generally that teachers go out of their way to help you when you do not understand something? Score a grade of 1 to 5. This provides valuable evidence for you to tackle the problem of child centred learning if it is not happening in your school?
You also need to undertake your own self-assessment. A questionnaire, which you devise yourself with specific questions, could be used. We have provided an example below. Answer the questions about yourself as a leader and get some colleagues who you can trust to answer the same questions about your leadership skills. If you choose 5 persons and allow them to do it anonymously, you are likely to get more honest answers. Choose a range of colleagues from the least to the most experienced. A brave head would ask all of the staff to complete it.

Example of a self-assessment questionnaire

Put an X on the line which best represents your answer.

This chart is nor best viewed in this text format. To see the chart at its best, please refer to the original printed document or the PDF version downloadable from this website.

1. Treats all staff equally

Strongly Disagree _________________________StrongAgree


2. Has an open style of leadership

Strongly Disagree _________________________Strongly Agree

3. Is confident

Strongly Disagree _________________________Strongly Agree


1. Is well prepared and organised

Strongly Disagree __________________________Strongly Agree

2. Has a clear vision for the school

Strongly Disagree __________________________Strongly Agree


3. Has clear expectations of the staff

Strongly Disagree ___________________________Strongly Agree


4. Involves staff in the decision making process

Strongly Disagree ____________________________Strongly Agree


5. Is a good listener

Strongly Disagree ____________________________Strongly Agree


6. Has a clear drive for improvement

Strongly Disagree _____________________________Strongly Agree


7. Supports all staff well

Strongly Disagree _____________________________Strongly Agree

You will need to decide what you want to know about yourself and your leadership style. You might like to use some of the following headings to devise questions to make the assessments.

Ability to think strategically
Ability to influence others
The extent to which you push for improvement
Your personal convictions
Your communication skills
The extent to which you hold people accountable
The degree to which you challenge performance
Your initiative in sorting out problems
Your ability to ask pertinent questions and research
Your aptitude for analytical thinking

From your answers you may be able to see, for example, whether you are making all the decisions affecting your school alone; or if you believe in teamwork and involve your staff in the decision making. Note that some seek ‘agree’ answers while others seek ‘disagree’ or even neutral answers. You will be a courageous headteacher to carry out such an exercise. Nonetheless, it will give you an insight into your own performance and allow you to create an action plan to improve if you need to do so. Your staff will respect you for going through this course of action and it will make it easier for you to carry out the same process with them as senior or middle leaders. Remember, a good leader will never ask someone to do something that he / she is not prepared to do themselves.

In assessing the climate of your school, please note that there is no perfect school. No-one is likely to agree with you about everything! Your teachers may tend towards being helpers or hinderers. It is your job to try to make everyone see how they may contribute to the evaluation and change process in their own way.

Planning an evaluation programme

Identify the issues
In planning a suitable evaluation programme for the school, the areas to be monitored must be identified and sorted into types or categories, and then ranked according to criteria such as urgency and feasibility. Thus you can isolate the issues to be studied. Such matters must be important and manageable. Do not try to evaluate too much at one time.

Activity 4.1
Thinking about your own school or one you know well, carry out the above exercise by identifying some of the issues and categorizing them into priority areas.

Comments
We hope that you will have concentrated on the learning and teaching process. Although this can be one of the most difficult areas to monitor, because it involves the observation of teachers’ classroom performance, it surely must have the highest priority in the school in terms of school effectiveness.

Deciding how you will monitor
After selecting the issues to be studied, you now decide on the method of monitoring (see Unit 3). For example, the priority may be the performance of students in a certain subject, or the behaviour of a particular group of pupils who exhibit out of the ordinary traits by playing truant or destroying school property. You need to keep within the bounds of your enquiry and limit you monitoring so that it focuses clearly on the issues.

Activity 4.2
Now apply a monitoring technique to the areas you have identified as your priorities. Explain why you think this would be the best way of obtaining the information you require.

Comments
Remember, your methods should be non-threatening to teachers – at least to those who work hard and are trying their best! Is the data you gather going to be qualitative (based on the professional judgement of yourself and your teachers); or quantitative (based on data you can count) e.g. attendance figures.

Fix a time-scale
You now need to fix a time-scale within which to conduct the monitoring. In fixing this, you should take into consideration the earliest time for it to be accomplished and the latest allowable time. If the evaluation goes on for too long people may lose interest and introducing changes may become more difficult.

Match resources to the programme
It is also important to identify the resources available for the evaluation, in particular, the time of those who may be involved. This is necessary because the successful accomplishment of the programme will be eroded if, for example, the staff are too busy to participate. Once resources are allocated, they must be matched to the time-scale. You should monitor progress to ensure that the exercise is completed on schedule.

Collect the information
As soon as the preliminary stages of monitoring have been completed, the investigating team can begin the work of the evaluation proper. Basic information on the issues which has been isolated for study could be obtained using one or more of the following techniques:

using diaries that are kept systematically by individual teachers
interviews
observations, including shadowing selected teachers or pupils
brainstorming discussions
questionnaires

Collate the information
The information needs to be gathered and arranged in a systematic order which will help you or your team to analyse, and interpret the data.

Interpret the data
It is important that an evaluation exercise such as the one we are proposing is not intended to be major research but as a practical, problem-solving exercise to provide new solutions to old problems. The analysis and interpretation of the data should thus be limited to describing the problem and identifying possible ways forward.

Write the report
You will need to consider carefully the form of your report and how it will be disseminated. The purpose of the evaluation and the target audience must be kept in view when compiling the final report. It must be short, perhaps just two or three pages, and to the point. Overlong reports divert attention from the set objectives. A good report will:

state the problem
describe briefly the methods used to collect information
identify alternative ways forward
make recommendations about which strategies to be used and what needs to be done to implement it.

The final point is the most important as there would be no point in going through this process unless it leads to some improvement in the effectiveness of your school.

Case Study

Problems at La Belle Primary School

Some parents are withdrawing their children from La Belle Primary School. Mr Lodge, the new head, decides to mount an evaluation programme to find out the reasons for the withdrawal and how best to reverse the situation.

What steps could he take? Outline a possible plan of action

Comments
You could consider the following outline and see how it tallies with your own plan, and then enrich yours where necessary.

Identifying issues
The head calls a parent-teacher association (PTA) meeting to identify the problems.
Suppose the problems listed are:

teachers not attending classes as and when due
lack of equipment
low performance of students in science
poor behaviour of some children affecting the education of others
poor Grade 6 test results
large numbers of children unable to read at expected levels for their age and ability

Deciding on the priorities
The head then calls a staff meeting to explore these problems with the staff, to ascertain whether they agree, to ask for their opinions, to establish their priorities and then to decide on them as they feel appropriate, given the available resources and time. Remember that even if the staff do not agree with the parents, it is still a problem which must be solved because this is the parents’ perception and children are being lost from the school.

Re-arrangement of priorities may be like this:

Poor Grade 6 test results
Large numbers of children unable to read at expected levels for their age and ability
Low performance of students in science
Teachers not attending classes as and when due
Poor behaviour of some children affecting the education of others
Lack of equipment

Planning the evaluation programme
The head now decides to evaluate the first two areas and find out why the grade six children are underperforming and why the reading programme appears to be inadequate. He considers the scope of the evaluation and the precise form in which it will take. Some of the topics to be evaluated will include the correct implementation of the national curriculum, examination of lesson plans, timetable allocations, the suitability of teachers and the actual teaching performance of teachers in the class.

Carrying out the programme
The head makes it clear that the monitoring is essential to identify the causes for the underperformance and rectify them by staff training and support. This approach is essential so that the staff will cooperate and not feel threatened. He decides to carry out the following:-

Set up a programme of lesson observations of all teachers by the Senior Leadership Team (Headteacher and Level Heads)
Create a proforma so that there will be uniform observations looking particularly at:-

Appropriateness of pupil work for age and ability of the children
Methodologies used by the teachers
Teachers’ ability to maintain order in the classroom
Child centred approaches
Inclusion of all children and the provision of differentiated work for those with learning difficulties
The quality of pupil response to the teacher’s learning strategies

§ Set up a series of level meetings where teachers as a group will look at pupils’ work, discuss it and make judgements about its appropriateness.
§ Have a weekly analysis of notes of lesson.
§ Test all children in the school for their current reading age.
§ Retest the children after every six months.
§ Analyse more carefully all of the assessments carried out in the school and particularly those at grades 2 and 4

Collate the information
Each member of the Senior Leadership Team writes a brief report on the findings of the monitoring exercise. It is important that this deals with issues, does not make value judgements and is not personal. You could write:-

17 of the 35 children entered grade 6 with a reading ability below the level expected for their age and ability.

Rather than:

Ms Hamilton, Grade 5 teacher, failed to prepare the children adequately in their reading skills to cope with Grade 6 work.

It would be inappropriate to pinpoint the Grade 5 teacher as all teachers prior to Grade 6 would have had a part in the process of the teaching of reading.

Presentation to the staff
The head holds a staff meeting to discuss the findings and to gain initial ideas about the solutions. A parent representative is invited to this meeting so that he / she can report back to the PTA.

Creation of an action plan
The SLT meet to create an action plan which includes a staff development programme, individual coaching, guidelines for a whole school literacy policy and an analysis of the requirements of the grade 6 tests.

Report to parents
The head and staff representatives call a PTA meeting to address the concerns of the parents and outline what the school will do about it. The assistance of the parents is requested to support teachers in the classroom and take individual children to hear them read. A programme of home reading is developed and the cooperation of the parents is requested.

Activity 4.3
Reread the evaluation plan outlined above for La belle Primary School.

1) If you were to carry out the same programme in your own school, would you expect there to be any staff resistance to it?
2) How would you overcome this?
3) Would you need to make any adjustments to the programme and what would they be?

Comments
It would be an unusual school and a remarkable head where the staff did not have any opposition to a scrutiny of their work, even if it were not said outright. We remind you how important it is that the staff do not feel threatened by your actions, are confident that they will not be blamed and that you will support them to develop.

Criteria for the evaluation of school effectiveness
Now that you understand the process of evaluation and hopefully are convinced that school effectiveness is principally about the quality of what happens in the classroom, it is time for you to look at the criteria by which we judge that effectiveness.

We could put it into broad headings as follows:-

1. The school context – the background information about the school, the nature of its pupil intake, its geographical location, its size, the number of children with special educational needs, its social context.
2. The standards – the outcomes of the school, test and examination results for at least the last five years where available, any trends or patterns in performance (growth, decline etc.)
3. The attitudes of the pupils and their values – their attitudes to the school, their behaviour in and out of lessons, their personal and social development, their attendance and punctuality
4. The quality of learning and teaching – How good is the teaching? Do teachers use a variety of methodologies? What are the standards of classroom management? What is the pupils’ response to their learning activities? How well do the children cooperate with each other in class? To what extent do teachers meet the needs of ALL children?
5. The quality of the curriculum – Although there is a national curriculum, here we consider the extent to which it is implemented, the way teachers interpret it to meet local needs and their ability to deliver it through use of the curriculum guides available and the resources within the school.
6. Provision for children with Special Educational Needs – The degree to which teachers cater for the needs of ALL children with either temporary or permanent Special Educational Needs, whether it be learning difficulties or learning and / or physical disabilities. (See Unit 9, Module 4)
7. Provision for the social, cultural, personal, health, moral and spiritual development of the children – To a greater or lesser extent, schools need to cater for all of these needs both for the welfare of the children and also for the reason that it assists in the smooth running of the institution.
8. The care of the pupils – the way in which the school puts its pupils first, caters for all of their needs and enables a happy, purposeful and learning ethos.
9. The quality of leadership – this not only refers to senior leadership but the middle leaders (SMs, HODs, Level Heads etc.) as well as the way teachers lead their children through effective learning strategies. (See Unit 3)
10. The support of the parents – the way in which parents are involved in the school, support it and are involved in the learning process of their children.

Consider for how many of the ten headings above you could make objective judgements about your school that are supported by qualitative and quantitative evidence

Comments
Unless you have recently undergone a period of monitoring and evaluation, it is very unlikely that you would be able to comment on many of these effectively. You would have an opinion and perhaps a perception of the situation but this would be based on one person’s point of view and would likely be subjective and without sound evidence.

Remember the purpose of M & E is to improve the school by increasing its effectiveness. We can only do this by “knowing” what is happening rather than simply relying on our personal perceptions. In the end, you will have to decide yourself which methods you will use to make your judgements objective. Ultimately, this is the only way that outside evaluators will be able to rely on your conclusions.

It is through this process that you will demonstrate your own personal drive for improvement – one of the key qualities of a leader.

A closer look at the effective school
As we have mentioned before, the key people in the effective school are its teachers. The greatest influences on their performance is the expectations that their headteacher has of them, the extent to which he / she holds them accountable and the degree to which he / she insists they are professional.

Let us remind ourselves of the definitions of the last two – accountability and professionalism:

Accountability: This is the process of justifying to others our job performance in relation to agreed goals and targets. In other words, it is accepting the responsibility for providing the conditions and learning experiences which will promote the development of the students to effectively participate in the development of the society in Guyana.

Professionalism: This is the practice of setting, maintaining and working to improve educational standards in Guyana

Both of these are inextricably linked with the expectations that the head has of his / her staff. These have to be clear, made explicit and stated frequently. Teachers will then know what is required of them and their performance can be evaluated against those expectations and standards. Headteachers who have low expectations of themselves and of their staff and whose attitude is “That’s not my problem!”; “I can’t do anything about that!” and constantly blame the teachers and the system for the failings of the school, are rarely successful.

Do you or your headteacher fall into this category, even to a small extent? Do you know anyone who does? What effect do you think it has on their school?

Comments
You will no doubt have identified someone, if not yourself to a certain extent and have concluded that it has a negative effect on school improvement. However, there is no reason why such attitudes cannot change once we learn to put the child at the centre of all we do.

So now, let’s state the expectations. These are how we differentiate between a good teacher and any other untrained person who could stand in front of a class. You will make decisions yourself about how you will monitor them using some of the techniques we have discussed so far.

Principle ideals for the effective school

All teachers must:

1. Focus all of their interests on the welfare, happiness, safety and security of the children.
2. Be aware that all children are different and unique and that each will be respected equally.
3. Accept that children have different abilities and that each will be catered for using different approaches to suit their needs.
4. Understand the importance of using available resources to their maximum effect.
5. Be creative in their teaching methodologies in the interests of effective learning. Remember that copying from a blackboard is NOT teaching and should rarely be used as a sole teaching methodology.
6. Be able to assess the progress of their pupils with honesty and integrity.
7. Be reliable in all they do especially in terms of their attitude to work, preparedness to teach, attendance and punctuality.

Expectations of the classroom teacher

All teachers must be able to:

1. Organise their classrooms in such a way that they will provide a rich learning environment which is conducive to effective interaction with the pupils and a quality education.
2. Communicate well with the children in a clear and precise manner which avoids all misunderstandings.
3. Engage the children by the use of open-ended questioning techniques which give them the scope for speculation and hypothesis.
4. Develop the children’s ability to think in a critical manner, giving them skills of understanding, interpretation and evaluation.
5. Provide good examples of what is required of the children to enable then to develop from one stage to the next.
6. Recognise pupil achievement, no matter how great or small, and provide the wherewithal for them to develop to their highest potential.

All of the above apply to all levels of education from Nursery, through to Primary and Secondary as far as college and university.

Now let us focus a little more on the practical issues rather than the overriding ideals.

The good classroom teacher will:

1. Be confident and knowledgeable in his / her own subject area, possess a general knowledge and be self-assured, by and large, in being able to guide children through the curriculum generally.
2. Plan structured lessons meticulously and evaluate his / her own performance frequently.
3. Cater for the specific learning needs of all children in their classroom.
4. Identify specific learning objectives for every lesson, share them with the children and assess pupil progress based on those objectives.
5. Not only increase the pupils’ knowledge but will develop their understanding of the topic and will provide opportunities for evaluation.
6. Arrive at his / her lessons on time.
7. Start his / her lessons on time.
8. Will maintain focus on the plan and the learning objectives, including any contingency plans, throughout the lesson.
9. Teach rather than marking books or any other non-teaching activities during the lesson. Please note that the only reason why a teacher might mark a book in a lesson would be when he / she does it with a child in order that they will learn from the experience.
10. Insist that pupils arrive on time and follow up when they are not in lessons.
11. Give clear guidelines to substitute teachers when they have a planned absence.
12. Plan with pupils what they will do when they have an unplanned absence.
13. Be able to maintain good order.
14. Remain in charge at all times.

Remember that a good teacher will not only be able to set standards for his / her pupils but also maintain them and work to improve the standards in the future.

Activity 4.4
What do you think will be the best way of finding out your teachers’ strengths and weaknesses in these skills?

Comments
We hope that you have come to the same conclusion as we have. That is, there is no other effective way than carrying out planned and impromptu observation of your teachers’ lessons either by yourself, your senior team or the teachers’ line managers.

To do this, you will need to plan for it, give it a high priority and spend most of your time around the school. This also will have a positive effect on children’s learning.

And remember when you see good things, offer praise and when you have any concerns, provide the necessary support for the teacher to develop.

Below you find another example of an observation proforma which encourages uniformity of approach. Look at this alongside the ones offered as examples in the earlier part of this unit. By using grades, you will be able to quantify performance across the school overall and in each of the areas so that you will know what you have to work on to develop your teachers.

A sample observation report

This proforma is not based viewed in text format. To see the original one, use the printed handbook or download the PDF version from this site.

Observation of Lessons Proforma

Teacher__________________ Class__________ Grade _____________

Observer _____________________ Date __________

Learning objective _____________________________________________________

Grades: 5 = Very Good; 4 = Good; 3 = Satisfactory; 2 = Poor; 1 = Very Poor

TEACHING TECHNIQUES OBSERVED
1) Evidence of well-planned and structured lesson
2) Clear learning objectives
3) Good learning environment
4) Preparation of resources and use of appropriate teaching materials
5) Variety and effectiveness of teaching and learning methodologies
6) Provision for ALL children
7) Provision for children with SEN
8) Quality of pupil response and enthusiasm
9) Questioning skills
10) Ability to elicit critical thinking
11) Evidence of subject knowledge
12) Encouragement of independent learning
13) Use of audio-visual materials
14) Educational standards
15) Pupil output – work in books etc.
16) Appropriate use of the national curriculum
17) Lessons with an introduction, main activities and plenary session.

PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL ATTRIBUTES
1) Communication skills
2) Sensitivity to pupils
3) Professional appearance and demeanor
4) Voice and use of language
5) Understanding of principles of learning
6) Enthusiasm for subject
7) Ability to keep good order based on respect and understanding
8) Attention to detail such as own and students’ punctuality and attendance. (based on 90%+ attendance and 98%+ punctuality for both)

When dealing with different learning and teaching strategies or methodology or what we might call pedagogy, you will need to do some work with teachers to ensure that they understand the range that is available to them. They include the following and many more:

Whole class work, group work, individual learning plans, modeling, observation, play, multi-media stimulus, information technology, instruction, questioning, explaining, investigation, extra mural activities, field work, collaborating, learning by teaching, scaffolding, inquiry, etc.

Summary
In this unit you have examined the steps to be taken in planning a programme of self-evaluation in your school. We have also looked at the criteria for an effective school and how this translates into actual action by the teachers and how this can be evaluated in the classroom, mainly by observation of lessons.

Remember, self-evaluation is an important leadership and managerial skill, the purpose of which is to bring about change in all areas of school life and to increase school effectiveness. Self-evaluation should be a continuous process, taking each part of school life in turn. Such an incremental approach to school development is likely to lead to more self reliance, more accountability and a more confident, more motivated and higher achieving school.

We wish to reiterate at this point, the importance of gaining the confidence of the staff in ensuring that the whole process will be used for their development rather than be seen as a means of disciplining them or reprimanding them for inadequate performance. It should also be used to give credit where credit is due and can be seen as a good motivator by strengthening the professional competences of teachers and giving them the confidence to take control of their own professional development needs.

And, of course, it creates a more effective school!