Toward Equal Education Opportunity in a Polycentric Inspection Context

• In Event: 32.082 - Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: 32.082-11 - Considering Culture and Creating Opportunities: International Perspectives on School Evaluation and Accountability

Abstract

This study seeks to ascertain the capability of polycentric network inspection as a tool to improving school, district outcomes. The core theory of polycentric Inspection is that, when schools reach a certain quality threshold, they can further improvement not merely through a combination of single unit school assessment and evaluation measures, but rather, through co-ordinated collaborative evaluations between clusters of schools, communities and external agencies such as the Inspectorate. Evidence from this study suggests that this mode of evaluation has had a significant impact on improving teachers practice and student learning outcomes. In consequence, it is suggested that this study has wider implications for the changing conception of school evaluation and how improvement can be achieved in education.

Authors

• Gerry P. Mcnamara, Dublin City University

• Joe O'Hara, Dublin City University

• Martin Brown, Dublin City University