2.6 Quality assurance of the Inspectorate’s work

2.6 Quality assurance of the Inspectorate’s work

We use a range of mechanisms to ensure that our work is conducted to the highest professional standards. These include internal quality assurance mechanisms and the use of external evidence.

We use a range of internal quality assurance mechanisms

Our greatest asset is the knowledge, skill and experience of our inspectors. We recruit inspectors from among highly qualified, experienced teachers using a multi-stage recruitment and interview process. We have developed comprehensive training, induction and mentoring programmes to develop and maintain evaluation expertise among serving inspectors. We also invest in the long-term professional development of inspectors, including the funding of post-graduate study and research by inspectors related to the work of the Inspectorate. In addition, we develop our inspection activities and models carefully through collaboration with school and setting leaders, teachers and early years educators, and drawing on the outcomes of trials in schools and settings.

Inspectors are supported in their work through comprehensive internal guidance and data collection systems, much of which have been revised in the 2016-2020 period. Finally, all inspection reports are subject to comprehensive editing and quality assurance processes prior to publication. All of these provisions are designed to ensure that inspection is carried out consistently, and that relevant information is collected reliably and reported on accurately.

We seek external perspectives on our work and use them to refine our approaches

Figure from page 77

We are also conscious of the need to seek external perspectives on our work and use them to develop our inspection approaches. An important source of feedback about the impact of our inspections comes from the responses that we invite from inspected schools and settings to provide for publication alongside our inspection reports. Following the completion of whole-school type inspections, we conduct surveys of teachers, principals and chairpersons of boards of management in schools. It is also open to teachers and early years educators, as well as owner-managers and boards of management who are dissatisfied with an inspection to seek a formal review of the inspection. Although the number of such reviews is very small, they are nevertheless important learning experiences for us. We have also begun to ask external experts to review aspects of our work. In 2019, we invited the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) in Northern Ireland to conduct a review of our work in the School Excellence Fund (SEF) DEIS scheme and, in 2020, ETI also reviewed the work of inspectors supporting the e-Hub project for the Aonad um Oideachas Gaeltachta.

Over the period 2019 - 2021, the OECD completed a Country Policy Review of early learning and care in Ireland 58 as part of its Quality Beyond Regulations project. The review focused in particular on policies that can support process quality, with a specific emphasis on aspects related to workforce development and quality assurance and improvement. The review made a number of key recommendations in relation to strengthening policy in these areas, including in relation to quality assurance. The Inspectorate is working closely with DCEDIY and the Tusla Early Years Inspectorate to ensure that these recommendations are implemented.

The number of early learning and care settings choosing to avail of the opportunity to publish a setting response increased; reflective, professional discourse became more evident in these responses

In the early stages of implementation of early years education inspections (EYEIs) (2017/2018), 18% of settings availed of the opportunity to publish a setting response as an appendix to their published report. In 2018/2019, the percentage of settings electing to do so had risen to 55%. This increase reflects positively on the growing confidence of early years educators to engage with the education focus of the EYEI quality framework. It may also reflect the influence of market forces, with parents considering published reports when selecting a setting for their child.

EYEIs also indicated that the focus of the setting response had progressed from complying with regulations to a more developmental and reflective approach. While there is still evidence that many settings continued to frame their responses from a compliance perspective, there was a small, but nonetheless positive growth in the number of responses where a reflective, professional discourse was evident. In the absence of specific research to establish the reason for this visible change in the number and nature of setting responses, it is difficult to identify any particular contributing factors. However, it is indicative of the growing professionalisation of the early learning and care (ELC) sector.

The use of quality-assurance surveys following the publication of whole-school evaluation reports was expanded

The Inspectorate first introduced post-whole-school evaluation (WSE) quality-assurance surveys of principals and teachers in October 2013. Since then, the use of these surveys has been expanded to include the views of chairpersons of boards of management and parents’ associations. These surveys do not issue until the evaluation report is published. The returns from the surveys are used to inform inspection practice, and the review and development of inspection models.

Findings from surveys following whole school evaluations were generally positive, although respondents identified aspects of the inspection process that require attention, particularly in the post-primary context

The survey results for the period covered by this report indicated a high level of satisfaction with the procedures for whole-school evaluations, such as notification periods, and arrangements for factual verification and school response. The results also indicated a high level of satisfaction with the evaluation processes, such as evaluation of teaching and learning and the conducting of meetings. However, the response rates were relatively low and indicated a need to explore other means of gathering stakeholder feedback on inspection procedures and processes.

The survey responses, particularly at post-primary level, also suggested that the Inspectorate needed to consider the effectiveness of its current means of:

■engaging with children and young people during the in-school phase of evaluations

■conducting post-evaluation meetings

■considering and reporting on school context during evaluations

58 OECD (2021) Strengthening Early Childhood Education and Care in Ireland: Review on Sector Quality. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/ireland/strengthening-early-childhood-education-and-care-in-ireland-72fab7d1-en.htm