Educational stakeholders generally assume that inspection feedback directly contributes to school improvement through the mechanism of feedback acceptance. Feedback research in general distinguishes between cognitive and affective responses as significant factors for feedback acceptance, but it also focuses on cognitive responses as antecedents of…

Apart from research investigating what works in the field of school inspections, research is also required into what aims inspections should pursue. These 'desirable aims' should be defined by the shared expectations of various stakeholders in the field of education, including inspectors as well as policy-makers and other professionals with a role…

The purpose of this paper, which is part of a three-year EU Erasmus+-funded study titled 'Distributed Evaluation and Planning in Schools' (DEAPS), is to provide an analysis of policies, structures, processes, supports and barriers that exist to enable or inhibit the involvement of students and parents in school evaluation in four European…

This chapter introduces the idea of school inspectors as implementers of public policy, framing their role within the context of policy implementation and the governance of education. Using a framework for policy implementation developed by Weible and Sabatier (Handbook of public policy analysis. Taylor and Francis, London, pp. 123-136, 2006), it…

Improving the quality of education is a permanent concern for national policymakers. In that regard, a growing number of education systems have implemented a monitoring system where pupils have to take standardised tests at regular intervals during their school career (OECD, 2013). This article aims to offer food for thought to the readers of…

This article describes a qualitative study into the occurrence of the side effects of school inspection through in-depth interviews in five case schools. The study investigates the extent to which strategic activities, disturbing effects and emotional side effects occur in the case schools. The study also aims to understand features that may…

Despite the increased importance of school inspection in recent years, the current knowledge base does not provide a clear view on the effects and side effects of being inspected. More evidence is needed in more diverse educational contexts. This article responds to this need with a quantitative study on the effects and side effects of school…

There are large differences between schools with regard to how they are affected by a school inspection. This study provides quantitative evidence about the extent to which perceived effects and side effects of an inspection are related to the inspection's judgement on the school, to features of the inspection, and to school features. This study…

This study looks into the effects of school inspection in the context of Flemish education. Respondents in five primary case schools were interviewed before inspection, immediately after inspection and four months later (totalling 45 interviews with 15 respondents). Our results indicate that the inspection incites reflection amongst school staff…

During the 1960s and 1970s, "traditional" secondary educational systems in various Western European countries made way for comprehensive education curricula. In contrast to the reforms within the "intellectual" subjects, the field of physical education (PE) remained largely underexposed in research. This study focuses on PE…

This article presents the results of an exploratory study into the effects of School Self-Evaluation (SSE) used by eight Education Inspectorates in seven European countries. This study reveals that in the countries where SSE is strongly incorporated into the school inspection system, there is a rather substantial degree of steering by the…