This paper reports on the second phase of an Erasmus + Project titled “Distributed Evaluation and Planning in European Schools (DEAPS)” which is seeking to explore mechanisms and supports for the inclusion of parents and students in school evaluation and planning processes in four European countries: Belgium, Ireland, Portugal, and Turkey.
As countries aim to improve their education systems to prepare young people for active citizenship, the responsibilities of schools and school leaders have changed significantly. Schools and school leaders are no longer only expected to facilitate and manage student learning but rather ‘improving the micro efficiency of the school has been viewed as a means of addressing some of the macro-problems of the state and society’ (Macbeath, 98, p.47). This has inevitably increased the complex role played by educational leaders. Indeed, effective school leadership and related school self-evaluation (SSE) and planning activities are increasingly viewed as essential requirements for large-scale education reform and improved educational outcomes. This is no surprise given that the EU average early school leaving rate stands at 11.1%, and only 37.9% of EU citizens attain tertiary education. To reduce these educational deficits, ambitious targets have been set for 2020, requiring schools to improve the quality of education provision in key educational areas needed for active citizenship such as reading, maths and science (The European Union, 2015, p. 4). As such the DEAPS project seeks to address the priority of supporting schools to address early school leaving and disadvantage, etc.
To support such improvements various education systems (e.g. Ireland, Portugal) are experimenting with distributed school self-evaluation models that include other members of the school community (e.g. Parents and students) as active participants in SSE. The overarching theory of this participatory mode of evaluation is that a more effective model of SSE which would have a greater impact on school improvement must involve the inclusion of all stakeholding groups to enable the realisation of organisational goals (see Cousins and Whitmore 1998; and Jackson and Kassam 1998). Such distributed and participatory approaches to SSE should support schools in finding innovative ways to improve their teaching and learning by actively involving all staff, parents and students in the process. However, the development of this more participatory model of SSE, while conceptually robust, carries with it many practical challenges. In particular schools and school leaders have identified a capacity deficit in the area of multiple stakeholder involvement.
For this reason, it is argued that the development of methodologies that will allow schools to engage with parents and pupils will address a gap in school improvement strategies as they are currently conceptualised. Research indicates that parental involvement in particular declines as students move through the system of education and that parental involvement from more marginalised communities is particularly limited – largely as a result of a perceived lack of openness in school cultures in general (Povey et al. 2016; Sanders & Epstein, 2000). There is significant practical resistance to the involvement of pupils in the process of quality assurance. However, Centra (1993) claims that student evaluations offer significant benefits and insights into the quality of education provided in schools. .
This paper aims to present the findings of a survey of schools in the partner countries for the purpose of exploring the strategies, mechanisms as well as challenges and supports required for the inclusion of parents and students with a view to identifying and addressing the ecological gap in relation to stakeholder engagement.