Kazakhstan has made tremendous progress in ensuring universal access to primary and lower-secondary education. Nevertheless, results international surveys reveal that almost two-thirds of students from Kazakhstan complete schooling without mastering the basic skills needed to be successful, and that student achievement is increasingly inequitable.…

Many efforts to implement and improve school inspections have been modelled on examples from high-income countries, and many studies on the effectiveness of such systems have also only been carried out in these countries. However, local contexts in low- and middle-income countries are very different from those in developed countries, and findings…

Childcare regulations ensure children's rights to Early Childhood Care and Education settings that protect them from harm and promote their healthy development. To ensure that settings comply, power is vested with regulatory bodies that are tasked with enforcing regulations. Using a qualitative methodology, 43 interviews were undertaken with Early…

This research reports upon the impact of two concurrent processes of Special Measures and academisation applied to a primary school in the north of England as a result of an unsatisfactory inspection by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted). The aim of the study is to describe how the process of being placed in special measures, coupled…

School inspections are fundamental to quality assurance and improvement in many countries. Yet the question of the validity of these inspections has not yet been comprehensively addressed. This paper proposes a systematic approach to assessing the validity of school inspections, based on Messick's multifaceted concept of validity. We apply each…

This paper assesses attitudes of principals from one German federal state toward school inspections. The discussion about school inspections and their acceptance can be imbedded into theoretical reflections on the design of and approach to feedback in social psychology. In our study, 50 school principals were interviewed about their attitudes…

"New" school inspections are essential parts of "evidence-based governance" concepts and have been implemented by many European countries as a major strategy to assure and improve the effectiveness and quality of their education systems. However, national inspection systems vary in their composition and in their contextual…

With decentralisation becoming increasingly widespread across Europe, evaluation and accountability are becoming key issues in ensuring quality provision for all (Altrichter & Maag Merki, 2010; Eurydice, 2004). In Europe, the dominant arrangement for educational accountability is school inspections. The purpose of this research is to identify…

Adult learning is alive in many forms. Whether it is helping to improve literacy and numeracy or to prepare people for returning to work, it is clear that, at its best, adult learning brings considerable value to learners and to the wider community. Individuals, their families and the nation as a whole benefit from enhanced social and technical…

This article focuses on head teachers' experiences of inspection under Ofsted's revised school inspection framework, their views of its principles and its implications for school leaders and leadership. The article draws on findings from a mixed-methods study to show that inspections are more focused on pupils' attainment and progress. Head…

In fiscal year 2009, the Department of Defense's (DOD) Military Tuition Assistance (TA) Program provided $517 million in tuition assistance to approximately 377,000 service members. US Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to report on (1) DOD's oversight of schools receiving TA funds, and (2) the extent to which DOD coordinates with…

Schools that serve meals under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) are required to maintain proper sanitation and health standards in conformance with all applicable State and local laws and regulations. In addition, schools are required to obtain two school food safety inspections per school year, which are…

Partial discharge (PD) monitoring is an effective predictive maintenance tool for electrical power equipment. As a result, an understanding of the theory related to PD and the associated measurement techniques is now necessary knowledge for power engineers in their professional life. This paper presents a modular course on PD phenomenon in which…

In many European countries and in North America, home education is a viable alternative for education at school. Parents who want to home school their child are legally allowed to do so, although some countries impose rather strict conditions. This article concentrates on the way authorities supervise or inspect the quality of home education. A…

Adult community learning in Wales covers a number of curriculum areas, delivered by a range of providers, including the voluntary sector. Classes reflect Welsh Assembly Government policy priorities, including improving levels of literacy and skills, decreasing economic inactivity and building community regeneration. A variety of community-based…