Although inclusiveness has been the strategic orientation of the Serbian education system since 2009 (Law on Foundations of the Education System), evaluation studies carried out in Serbia over the last five years have shown that there are very uneven and conflicting practices and effects regarding inclusive education (e.g. Rado, Lažetić, 2010; MoESTD, 2012; Jovanović, 2013). These findings highlighted the need for establishing a coherent and comprehensive framework for monitoring and evaluation of inclusive education and, accordingly, standardized  methodology (Institute of Psychology, 2014).

Development of the Framework for Monitoring Inclusive Education in Serbia was based on the analysis of existing resources and activities, on the review of existing research of inclusive education in Serbia, as well as on the comparative analysis of successful educational systems (e.g. HM Inspectorate of Education, 2006; Thijs, Van Leeuwen, Zandbergen, 2009; Estyn, 2010). The Framework includes the definition of input, process and output indicators at all three levels of educational governing – national, municipal and school. This enables a comprehensive assessment and monitoring of the dynamics of the development of inclusive education, as well as more efficient exchange of data between levels. The central position within the framework is occupied by school as the main source of information from which data is aggregated at higher levels. Indicators at the school level are grouped into three areas: the characteristics of pedagogical work, school ethos and support for the inclusiveness of education.

In order for the Framework to serve its basic purpose and become a tool for improving the inclusive education system, all indicators at school level are coupled with short instruments that can help to empirically determine the presence or development level of indicators. This is especially important at the initial stage of introducing inclusive education, when the benchmarks for their appraisal are still insufficiently developed. For most indicators, instruments are designed for different respondents (e.g. school, teachers, parents of children from vulnerable groups, students). In the process of designing those instruments, accumulated experience of experts from the Institute of Psychology was used and a small-scale testing of a number of operationalized indicators was conducted within a three schools. The instruments are formulated and organised in such a way as to be fit for use by educational workers without the need for special training (teachers, principals, school psychologists/pedagogues etc.), as well as for subsequent, more profound studies. In addition to items which serve to describe the current situation, a number of instruments include items that model good functioning of the various aspects of inclusive education. The assumption is that these items can trigger reflection and discussion within the school and encourage the school’s orientation toward self-development.

Besides that, this set of the instruments represents an important tool for school self-evaluation, since it allows for comparison and integration of information from different sources, as well as focusing on certain areas, depending on the context and the school development plan. The instruments, because of their instructional function can serve as a guide for teachers’ self-evaluation and planning of own professional development.

Since the Framework has been established and instruments have been developed, the aim of this paper is to present psychometric properties of instruments based on Framework for Inclusive Education in Serbia.

Estyn (2010). Common Inspection Framework. Cardiff. Institute of Psychology (2014). Framework for Monitoring Inclusive Education in Serbia. Belgrade: Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction and UNICEF. Available at: http://socijalnoukljucivanje.gov.rs/en/download-monitoring-framework-for-inclusive-education-in-serbia/ HM Inspectorate of Education (2006). How good is our school? Inclusion and Equality Part 4: Evaluating educational provision for bilingual learners. Livingston: Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education. Jovanović, V. (2013). Obrazovna inkluzija dece romske nacionalnosti: izveštaj o sprovedenom monitoringu u osnovnoškolskom obrazovanju [Educational Inclusion of Roma Children: Report on Monitoring in Primary Education]. Belgrade: Center for Education Policy. Low on the Foundations of the Education System, Sl. glasnik, No. 72/2009, 52/2011, 55/2013. Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Republic of Serbia (2012). Monitoring realizacije inkluzivnog pristupa u obrazovnom sistemu u Srbiji [Monitoring of the implementation of inclusive approach within education system in Serbia]. Rado, P., Lažetić, P. (2010). Brza procena realizacije inkluzivnog obrazovanja u Srbiji [Quick evaluation of implementation of inclusive education in Serbia]. Beograd: UNICEF. Thijs, A., Van Leeuwen, B., Zandbergen, M. (2009). Inclusive education in the Netherlands. Enschede: SLO.