The DigiEssa4schools project is a collaboration of consultants, academics, inspectors, administrators, teachers and ICT specialists. EduXprss participates in this project and together with all partners we are looking for a generic applicable model for school self-evaluation in which a generally applicable digital instrument is used. These tools will have to be user-friendly for school leaders, teachers, pupils and parents.
The project aims to make balanced use of academic knowledge and experience with systems already in place in each of the participating countries. It is mainly because of the latter aspect that EduXprss has been asked to cooperate.
Since the start of the project in January 2023, we have met five times, each time in a different country. The last conference was organized by EduXprss in June of this year. Through these working sessions, the participants experienced that the systems used by countries to evaluate the quality in their schools differ greatly. For example, the extent to which education hierarchies are governed will influence the nature of self-evaluation by teachers and school leaders. An example of this is Italy, where in the school itself evaluation is largely determined by the requirements set by the inspectorate, while in the Netherlands it is up to the school boards and their schools.
The project has now resulted in an overview study describing the different practices in the participating countries. In addition, under the guidance of the University of Florence, the participants worked to define what school self-evaluation actually is. In doing so, an explicit choice has been made for a model that should focus on sustainable school improvement and not on accountability. This choice gives rise to interesting discussions about who ultimately owns the results of the evaluation.
The Haceteppe University (Turkey) and the Jaume 1 de Castellón University (Spain) developed an effective digital self-assessment tool that is compatible with how schools are externally evaluated in a country. In the project, we believe that school self-evaluation and an external assessment by, for example, the inspectorate can and should go hand in hand.
We expect the digital self-assessment tool to be tested in each of the participating countries in the fall of 2024. The results of this pilot and other results of the project will be presented by EduXprss in a symposium scheduled for the end of November.
Learn more on http://digiessa4schools.com
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