In order to enhance the quality of education, school self-evaluation (SSE) has become a key strategy in many educational systems. During an SSE process, schools describe and evaluate their own functioning, often by administering questionnaires among teachers. However, it is unknown to what extent SSE questionnaire results are distorted by…

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…

Current approaches to the regulation of schools in most jurisdictions tend to combine elements of external inspection with systems of internal self-evaluation. An increasingly important aspect of the theory and practice of both, but particularly the latter, revolves around the role of other actors, primarily parents and students, in the process.…

School self-evaluation (SSE), as an important leverage for quality assurance, often relies on surveys among staff members to collect information on the schools' functioning. The extent to which respondents cognitively process items as developers intended them determines the cognitive validity of SSE results. However, it is unclear what problems…

This article presents the results of two studies on the use of school self-evaluation in the Netherlands and Flanders. It focuses on which forms of instrumental use of school self-evaluation results can be found in schools, and how differences in self-evaluation use between schools can be explained. Results show that the instrumental use of…

This article focuses on school self-evaluations (SSE). It addresses whether SSE meets quality indicators and whether differences can be found between the quality judgments of school principals and inspectors. Data stem from two complementary data collections: population data of school inspections and a survey of a representative sample of school…

Research reveals that a positive attitude towards self-evaluation is a pre-condition which favours successful school self-evaluation. This article describes how self-evaluation is regarded in schools and investigates whether school characteristics can explain differences in the attitude of individuals. We report on a survey study conducted among…

In exchange for the autonomy they have been granted, schools are required to evaluate the quality of the education they provide. Self-evaluation initiatives are a frequently chosen method. The present article reveals the underlying processes which have an impact on the results of such self-evaluations. It is based on research which demonstrates…

Schools are increasingly expected to take responsibility for aspects of educational quality assurance. The fact that the Flemish government requires its schools to conduct self-evaluations of their equal opportunities policies is an example of this. This article reports on the findings of a study that investigated the quality of these school…