This chapter introduces three categories of unintended consequences from school inspections: (1) intended strategic behaviour where schools manipulate the inspection assessment through window dressing, misrepresentation or gaming, (2) unintended strategic behaviour when schools narrow their educational practices as a result of the behaviour of the…

'Quality' in education has become a global phenomenon, and is frequently discussed in transnational and national policy. In such discussions, 'quality' seems to be both worthwhile and demanded, but at the same time, the concept has also been criticised in previous research as it seems to have attained a 'common sense' status. In this context, the…

The principle-based approach is at the heart of the inspection philosophy of the Netherlands Inspectorate of Education. In this paper, we present the results of complementary qualitative and quantitative studies analysing the impact of this approach. In the first study, we apply a system dynamics approach to provide insight on the impact of the…

One of the most controversial issues about education in Turkey and around the world is inspection of education. Some countries conduct educational auditing through inspectors. Some countries, such as Finland, consider that there is no need for a mechanism such as an inspectorate, but instead considering public scrutiny. Inspectional Regulations in…

In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the limitations imposed by the restrictive payment-by-results curriculum were gradually relaxed, and many members of Her Majesty's Inspectorate were able to welcome the opportunity to focus their efforts upon supporting schools, teachers, and even individual pupils. This article looks at the work of…

Professional development training is an excellent method for teachers to acquire new skills within both familiar and unfamiliar content areas (Phipps et al., 2008; Saucier, McKim, & Tummons, 2012). Prior research (Saucier et al., 2012; Shultz et al., 2014) has identified that small gas engines is an area where professional development training…

This paper asks the question: to what extent do inspection regimes, particularly the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted), influence the work of a school, and how might that influence be conceptualised? It draws on an ESRC-funded study of 'policy enactments in secondary schools', which was based on case-study work in four 'ordinary' schools.…

Selection within the educational domain breeds a special kind of suspicion. Whether it is the absence of transparency in the selection procedure, the observable outcomes of the selection, or the criteria of selection itself, there is much to corroborate the suspicion many have that selection in practice is unfair. And certainly as it concerns…

In early 2020, Wynstones School, a Steiner Waldorf school in Whaddon, Gloucestershire, was required to close by the Department for Education, following a damning Ofsted inspection report. The report reads like a horror story of educational malpractice and ineptitude. Here, the authors tell the story of this saga, focusing in particular on the…

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.…

Educational supervision is a process aiming to enhance teaching by developing teacher. The position and the quality of supervisor are of great importance for effective supervision experiences.The purpose of this research is to determine the actors carrying effective teacher supervision. So, school administrators and teachers working in general…

Across Europe schools and other service providers increasingly operate in networks to provide inclusive education or develop and implement more localized school-to-school improvement models. As some education systems move towards more decentralized decision-making where multiple actors have an active role in steering and governing schools, the…

The appointment of a new chief inspector from January 2017 offers the opportunity to re-set the relationship between Ofsted and the teaching profession. Both inspectors and teachers need to readjust their mindsets, if inspection is to be seen as developmental and principled rather than judgemental and arbitrary. Without claiming that it was…

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…

This chapter focuses on the governing work of Swedish school inspectors with regards to the role and function of knowledge. As professionals, inspectors are situated as relays and brokers of policy standing in contact with both the political arena and practice arenas. School inspectors use and produce knowledge and they rely on, search for,…