An introduction-to-school-self-evaluation-of-teaching-and-learning-in-post-primary-schools

An Introduction to School Self-Evaluation of
Teaching and Learning in Post-Primary Schools
Inspectorate Guidelines for Schools

PROMOTING THE QUALITY OF LEARNING

I N S P E C T O R AT E

An Introduction to School Self-Evaluation of Teaching and Learning in Post-Primary Schools

© 2012 Department of Education and Skills

Designed by Slickfish.ie

Published by
Inspectorate
Department of Education and Skills
Marlborough Street
Dublin 1

This report may be accessed at
www.schoolself-evaluation.ie


Contents
1. What is school self-evaluation?

2

2. What does the SSE process look like?

4

3. How should we start the SSE process?

11

4. Who should be involved in school self-evaluation?

13

5. What structures and supports do schools need for
school self-evaluation?

17

6. What should be the result of school self-evaluation?

18

7. Frequently asked questions

21

1


1.

What is school self-evaluation?

Introduction
School self-evaluation (SSE) is a collaborative, reflective process of internal
school review. During school self-evaluation the principal, deputy principal
and teachers, under the direction of the board of management and patron,
and in consultation with parents and students, engage in reflective enquiry
on the work of the school.
School self-evaluation is vital for school improvement and development.
School self-evaluation enables schools:
• To take the initiative in improving the quality of education that they
provide to their students
• To affirm and build on what is working well
• To identify areas in need of development and to decide on actions that
should be taken to bring about improvements in those areas
• To report to the school community about the strengths in the work of the
school and its priorities for improvement and development.

School self-evaluation builds on good school development
planning
Teachers reflect on their work and the learning that their students achieve, as
part of their daily professional work. For many years, teachers and school
boards of management have used the school development planning process
to identify what is working well and what might need to be improved. SSE is
a way in which this process of reflection, improvement and development can
take place in a more systematic way.
SSE places a greater emphasis on collecting, examining and sharing evidence
about the work of the school when making decisions about what is working
well and what areas of the school’s work need to be improved and
developed.
2

School self-evaluation focuses on:
• Teaching and learning in the school
• Supports for students in the school
• Management and leadership in the school.
In the first phases of SSE, schools are asked to focus only on the selfevaluation of teaching and learning.

School self-evaluation brings real benefits
School self-evaluation improves students’ learning. Teachers in Ireland and
many other countries have shown us that by reflecting on their own practice
regularly, they can improve the learning achieved by their students. This
occurs when the main focus of SSE is on what happens in classrooms and
not on paperwork.
School self-evaluation supports ongoing development and improvement.
Teachers can use the evidence they gather in SSE to affirm and celebrate the
aspects of their practice that are working well. The evidence will also help
teachers to identify the aspects of practice that they would like to improve.
Identifying these strengths and priorities for development together as a team
will ensure that all teachers in the school are working towards the same
improvement targets.
School self-evaluation involves all of the school community. As teachers
collect and consider a range of information about the school, they naturally
include the views of students and parents, as well as the views of teachers.
They also draw on information from students’ attainment and their
engagement in, and contribution to, the life of their school.
School self-evaluation empowers schools to tell their own story to their own
community. Each school’s circumstances, students and work are unique. SSE
enables schools to affirm and celebrate what they are doing well and to
decide on changes they would like to make based on evidence they have
gathered. SSE provides schools with an opportunity to tell their own
community about their strengths and the priorities they have set for
improvement.
3


School self-evaluation enriches the professional lives of teachers.
Teachers who engage in SSE frequently talk about the way in which the
process encourages them to reflect on how they teach and to share ideas
and questions with their colleagues in a professionally rewarding and
supportive way.
School self-evaluation supports the implementation of the National Literacy
and Numeracy Strategy. Schools have already begun to examine and improve
the teaching, learning and assessment of literacy and numeracy in response
to the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy. SSE provides schools with a
supportive and systematic way to affirm good practice and improve literacy
and numeracy.

2.

What does the SSE process look like?

SSE builds on the school development planning process. The school selfevaluation process is best described as a series of six steps (Figure 1). Schools
and teachers will already be very familiar with many of these steps from their
experience of school development planning (SDP).
Figure 1: THE SIX-STEP SCHOOL SELF-EVALUATION PROCESS

Gather evidence

Analyse the
evidence

Make judgements about
strengths and areas for
development

Implement and monitor
improvement plan

Devise school
improvement plan

4

Write school
self-evaluation
report

Experience in Ireland and other countries has shown that it takes a number
of years to build good self-evaluation processes in schools. In the initial
stages, SSE works best when it focuses on small, discrete aspects of the
school’s work. This gives teachers and the school community an opportunity
to really examine the chosen aspect of the school’s work and plan how it can
be improved.
That is why it is best to focus on one or two aspects of teaching and learning
in the early stages. During the introduction of SSE, schools are expected to
evaluate three themes in four years: literacy, numeracy and one other theme.
The evaluation of each theme will produce a short report and an
improvement plan. The plans will be implemented and monitored for up to
three years.
As the school gains experience and confidence in using SSE, it will be able to
use the process to examine and improve further aspects of its work each
year.
Figure 2 provides more detail about the six steps in the SSE process. These six
steps can be used to examine, report on and improve any aspect of the work
of the school in a systematic way.

5


Figure 2: A SIX-STEP SCHOOL SELF-EVALUATION PROCESS

Step 1
Gather evidence

Step 2
Analyse evidence
(evaluation criteria)

Step 3
Draw conclusions
(judge quality)

Step 4
SSE report

Step 5
Improvement plan

Step 6
Implement and
monitor

6

Outcomes

Learning

Attainment
Knowledge
Skills
Attitude
Progress

Significant
strengths

Purposeful
Pace
Approaches
Differentiation
Assessment

Active
Collaborative
Challenging
Motivating

Strengths
outweigh
weaknesses

Attainment
Focus of evaluation
Knowledge
Context
Skills
Findings
Attitude
Progress

Teaching

Weaknesses
outweigh
strengths

Significant
weaknesses

Strengths
Areas for improvement
Legislative requirments

Targets
Actions
Responsibility

Timeframe
Measurable outcomes
Review date

Actions at class level
Actions at subject department level

Actions at school level
Progress on targets
Changes

Step 1: Gathering evidence
Step 1 is the gathering evidence phase. Schools already gather data for a
variety of purposes and much of this will be very useful in the SSE process.
When evaluating an aspect of teaching and learning in the school, the
teachers’ views and their records of students’ work are obvious starting
points. This will include information about the progress students are making
in subjects, their commitment to learning in general and the extent to which
they are achieving the broad objectives of syllabuses and programmes.
Teachers will also be able to provide more general information about uptake
at foundation, ordinary and higher level in specific subjects in state
examinations and information from assessment and attainment in state
examinations and school tests.
It is also important to ensure that the views of other members of the school
community, including the views of students and parents, are gathered.
Possible sources of information for evaluating teaching and learning:
• Assessment records and data – formative and summative
• Learner and parent surveys (student/parent voice)
• Focus-group discussions
• Interviews
• Individual teacher reflection
• Subject-department reflection
• Whole-school reflection
• Peer dialogue/sharing experience among teachers
• Professional collaborative review among teachers.
Professional reflection and dialogue between teachers, focusing on specific
aspects of teaching and learning, will be very important when gathering
evidence. As collaborative practices are developed among the teaching staff,
team teaching and professional collaborative review will become further
effective ways in which to gather evidence.
It is important to guard against gathering too much information.
Schools should carefully select the sources of evidence most suited to the
information they require.

7


Step 2: Analyse your evidence
Step 2 involves analysing the information gathered and benchmarking this
against standards for the evaluation theme. These standards are provided in
the evaluation criteria in the School Self-Evaluation Guidelines for PostPrimary Schools.
Example
When a school evaluates the quality of its provision in the area of literacy,
students’ outcomes are an obvious place to start. Teachers might:
• Check the knowledge and skills of students in
o Oral work (listening and speaking)
o Reading
o Writing
o Application of knowledge and skills
• Check attainment levels
o What standards have the students attained?
o How do these standards compare with their attainment last
year/when they enrolled in the school?
o How does the attainment of our students compare with national
norms (standardised tests, examination results)?
o Are there any trends in student attainment?
• Check student disposition
o How motivated are our students?
o How well are they developing positive attitudes to using
language/reading/writing?
o How well are they engaged in learning?
• Use evaluation criteria and literacy checklist to help identify strengths
and areas for development.

8

Step 3: Draw conclusions
Step 3 is about drawing conclusions based on the analysed data. Schools
should determine, affirm and celebrate the strengths they identify in the
aspects of practice being evaluated. They should also acknowledge the areas
that should be prioritised for improvement.
In order to be as objective as possible, they should judge the quality using the
quality statements in the Guidelines as a set of standards. The quality
statements illustrate the highest level of practice. Schools may have
considerable strengths without reaching this level.

Step 4: Complete the self-evaluation report
Step 4 ensures that schools keep a record of their self-evaluation and
particularly of the findings. This will result in the completion of a concise selfevaluation report. Reports should be no more than 2-3 pages in length.
The self-evaluation report should record:
• Aspects of practice chosen for self-evaluation
• A brief account of school context
• The findings
• A summary of strengths
• A summary of areas requiring improvement.
It is also useful to review the legislative and regulatory requirements that
schools have to fulfil. This should be done once a year and the Guidelines
provide an easy-to-use checklist that can be completed by the board of
management and appended to the school self-evaluation report.
Each school should draw up a brief summary of the report under the
direction of the board of management and issue this summary to the whole
school community.

9


Step 5: Develop a school improvement plan
In Step 5, schools will devise a school improvement plan. The plan will
contain:
• A summary of the areas for improvement identified in the evaluation
• Targets for improvement with a focus on learner outcomes
• Actions required to achieve the targets
• Reference to those who are responsible for undertaking actions, for
example teachers or particular groups
• A statement of how the school will check if the targets have been
achieved
• A timeframe for achievement of the targets.
The school improvement plan should be no more than one or two pages
long. A short summary should be provided to the whole school community.

Step 6: Implement and monitor
Step 6, the final step, is vital if the school self-evaluation process is to bring
about improvement. It is only when the actions in the improvement plan are
implemented, that the work of the school can improve. All teachers should
be aware of the actions to be implemented at individual teacher, class,
subject department or whole-school level. These actions should become part
of the normal teaching and learning process.
Actions must be monitored. Schools will need to decide:
• How monitoring will occur
• Who will be responsible for monitoring
• How progress will be determined and reported
• When and to whom progress will be reported (for example: staff
meetings, planning meetings, board meetings)
• If targets and actions are realistic or need to be changed.

10

3.

How should we start the SSE process?

Decide on the focus of the self-evaluation
It is important to be clear about the focus of the self-evaluation from the
outset. School self-evaluation activities should focus on teaching and
learning.
There are many aspects of teaching and learning in a school that could
become the focus of self-evaluation. Focusing on a tightly defined aspect is
important, especially in the early stages of implementing self-evaluation.
Schools will start the process of self-evaluation in 2012-13. In the four years
from 2012-13 to 2015-16, schools are asked to evaluate the quality of
teaching and learning in literacy, numeracy and at least one aspect of
teaching and learning across all programmes and subjects. Schools are free
to decide the order in which these are covered.

Ask key questions
Schools should start the self-evaluation process by asking a few key
questions about teaching and learning. These might include the following:
• How well are we doing?
• How do we know? What evidence do we have?
• How can we find out more?
• What are our strengths?
• What are our areas for improvement?
• How can we improve?

Examine outcomes, learning and teaching
Answering the question “how well are we doing?” is a good starting point
for SSE. Teachers could begin to reflect on this by focusing on learner
outcomes. This will lead them to reflect on the effectiveness of their teaching
and of the learning experiences they provide for students. These teaching
and learning themes: learner outcomes, students’ learning experiences and
teachers’ practice; and a set of sub-themes related to them, are illustrated in
the teaching and learning framework (Figure 3).

11


Use the evaluation criteria and quality statements
The evaluation criteria and quality statements in Chapter 4 of the Guidelines
will help teachers when they review learner outcomes, learning experiences
and teachers’ practice. They describe what very good practice looks like. The
criteria are designed to serve as benchmarks and should assist schools to
judge the effectiveness of their practice.
It is not necessary for schools to review in detail all evaluation themes. Rather,
schools should select the themes for SSE according to their own needs.
Learner outcomes is a good place to begin. Schools could then examine the
learning experiences (for example engagement in learning) and teachers’
practices (for example teaching approaches) that led to the learner
outcomes. Schools can benchmark their practice in each case against the
evaluation criteria and the quality statements.
Figure 3: TEACHING AND LEARNING FRAMEWORK

TEACHING and LEARNING
Learner
outcomes
• Attainment of subject
and programme
objectives

Learning
experiences

Teachers’
practice

• Learning environment

• Preparation for teaching

• Engagement in learning

• Teaching approaches

• Learning to learn

• Management of students
• Assessment

12

Celebrate strengths, identify areas for development
Schools will identify strengths and areas for development during their review
of each aspect of their work. These will help them to develop a school
improvement plan for the aspect of practice they have evaluated. This plan
will then be implemented over a three-year period.
By evaluating literacy and numeracy across the school in the early stages of
the implementation of SSE, schools will fulfil key requirements of the
National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy.
Each year, schools will be reviewing further aspects of their teaching and
learning and monitoring the implementation of improvement plans
developed in previous years.

4.

Who should be involved in school selfevaluation?

School self-evaluation should be led by the school principal. Under the
direction of the board of management and patron, school leaders should
ensure that responsibility for school self-evaluation is shared and becomes
part of the everyday practice of all teachers in the school.
Staff meetings or other school structures, such as the additional time
provided under the Public Service Agreement 2010 – 2014 (Croke Park
Agreement), should enable all teaching staff to work together to determine
the focus of evaluation, to draw conclusions based on the analysis of
evidence, to make judgements about overall strengths and weaknesses and
to set targets and decide on actions for improvement.
Other members of the school community, such as parents and students,
should play an active role in the aspects of self-evaluation that are
appropriate to them. The board of management should provide overall
direction to the process and ensure that the evaluation takes account of the

13


school’s particular ethos and characteristic spirit. The board should also check
the school’s practice regarding legislative and regulatory requirements on a
regular basis. A checklist provided in the Guidelines should assist boards in
undertaking this. The board should also draw on the school’s self-evaluation
report and school improvement plan when preparing its report to parents as
required under Section 20 of the Education Act, 1998.
Parents and students should be consulted when it is appropriate to do so, for
example in gathering evidence about attitudes to literacy and numeracy or
their experience of learning. Summaries of the school’s self-evaluation report
and its improvement plans should be made available to the whole school
community.

As principal, what is my role in the SSE process?
Principals should lead the school self-evaluation process. They should view
SSE as an effective tool for implementing change and should cultivate
positive attitudes towards the process. They may delegate responsibility for
leading aspects of the SSE process to an individual or a small team.
Once the aspects of practice for self-evaluation have been identified, school
leaders could delegate responsibility to others for gathering information,
collating and analysing data and providing feedback.
As a principal I should ensure that:
• SSE becomes part of the day-to-day work of the school
• The main focus of SSE is on improving outcomes for learners
• Structures are in place to enable all teachers to engage in the school selfevaluation process. Such structures might include ensuring that time is
made available for SSE, for example, at staff meetings or during Croke
Park hours
• All teachers are aware of their roles and responsibilities in relation to SSE
• A whole-school approach is taken to identifying strengths and areas for
improvement
• The voices of students and parents are heard
• Teachers are encouraged to take steps beyond their current practice
when gathering evidence and taking action for improvement.
14

As a teacher, what is my role in the SSE process?
All teachers should be involved in and should benefit from the school selfevaluation process. They should play a central role in determining the areas
of focus for SSE. Having determined the areas of focus, SSE will become part
of the day-to-day work in the classroom. Many of the evidence-gathering
processes will already be part of teachers’ work. For example, teachers will
have assessment data, including state examination results. They will already
be engaged in reflection on their practice in the classroom. They may be
already eliciting the views of students about aspects of their practice.
Teachers will benefit from the professional dialogue which takes place as part
of the SSE process. It will enable them to share experiences and enrich their
practice.
As a teacher I should ensure that I:
• Am aware of the area of focus for SSE
• Am open to sharing experiences with colleagues
• Gather the necessary evidence to make judgements about strengths and
areas for development
• Include the voice of students
• Am familiar with the criteria for the themes and sub-themes being
evaluated
• Am open to making changes in my practice to improve learning
experiences and outcomes for students.

As a board of management member, what is my role in the SSE
process?
The board of management has overall responsibility for ensuring that
appropriate education is provided for the students, within its own context
and reflecting its own ethos and characteristic spirit. It is also responsible for
arranging for the development of a school plan, in consultation with parents,
staff and students and for the circulation of the school plan.
As a board member I should ensure that:
• The school has the skills and capacity to engage in SSE. This may require
professional development for all or some teachers
15


• Suitable arrangements are in place to enable the teaching staff to engage
in the SSE process
• An atmosphere is cultivated over time so that management, principals,
teachers, parents and students can make honest and helpful
contributions to the SSE process
• SSE is on the agenda of each board meeting to enable board members to
ask questions about progress and to affirm achievements
• A summary SSE report and summary school improvement plan are provided
to the school community each year. These will be short (one page)
documents outlining the areas of focus of SSE in the school, the strengths
identified and the areas that the school will be focusing on for improvement
• The legislative and regulatory requirement checklist is used annually to
evaluate the extent to which the school is adhering to its obligations.
Action should be taken where requirements are not met.

As a parent what is my role in the SSE process?
Parents are important partners in education and they can provide schools
with valuable insights into what is working well and what can be improved.
Parents take an interest in their children’s learning and check regularly on the
progress their children are making.
As a parent I should ensure that I:
• Take part in the SSE process and in SSE activities where relevant
• Take part in surveys when requested
• Take part in parents’ interviews or focus groups when invited by the
school
• Am aware of the areas the school has prioritised for improvement
• Offer my help, if possible, when the school requests assistance in taking
action for improvement
• Assist the parents’ association to fulfil its role in the SSE process
appropriately.

As a student what is my role in the SSE process?
Students are very aware of what is effective in relation to their learning.
Students’ views on the learning environment, on learning experiences and on
how they learn best can be insightful.
16

As a student I should ensure that I:
• Take part in discussions about how I learn when requested
• Complete surveys when requested
• Cooperate with the student council, where relevant, to assist in the SSE
process
• Contribute to the overall development of the school.

As a patron what is my role in the SSE process?
The patron appoints a board of management to manage the school on its
behalf. The board is responsible for upholding the characteristic spirit of the
school and consults with and keeps the patron informed of decisions and
proposals of the board.
As a patron I should:
• Require that the board of management adheres to and is mindful of the
characteristic spirit of the school when engaging in school self-evaluation
• Receive a summary of the school self-evaluation report and the school
improvement plan from the board of management.

5.

What structures and supports do
schools need for school self-evaluation?

Schools need to ensure that SSE becomes part of everyday practice. Schools
will need time to decide on the focus of SSE and the process and actions
required. They will need to have structures in place to enable collaborative
decision making, to analyse evidence and to develop improvement plans.

Support for schools
A number of supports are available to assist schools in the SSE process. In
addition to this Introduction to School Self-Evaluation, an information
leaflet providing schools with an update was sent to all schools in
September 2012.
A more detailed publication, School Self-Evaluation Guidelines for PostPrimary Schools, has also been prepared to assist schools in the school self17


evaluation process. It has been developed in consultation with the education
partners. An early draft of this was used in a trial phase by a small number of
schools. These guidelines detail the school self-evaluation process and
provide evaluation criteria and quality statements for teaching and learning,
along with sample tools to assist in gathering evidence. School SelfEvaluation Guidelines for Post-Primary Schools is available at
www.schoolself-evaluation.ie. Printed copies will also be provided for
schools.
Guidance and support for school self-evaluation will also be offered to
schools by the PDST and the Inspectorate. In order to facilitate all teaching
staff to attend support sessions, it is suggested that schools assign a portion
of the additional time allocated under the Croke Park Agreement to SSE. This
will enable presentations to be made and questions and queries to be
answered within specific school contexts.
A dedicated website has been set up to provide further support for schools
at www.schoolself-evaluation.ie . The website will contain presentations,
guidelines, tools and messages from school principals who have already
undertaken SSE activities. As additional resources are developed, these will
be placed on the website. Over time, schools may wish to share their school
self-evaluation resources or experiences. The website will facilitate such
sharing. If you would like to contribute to the website you may send your
suggestions to info@schoolself-evaluation.ie.

6.

What should be the result of school selfevaluation?

SSE is about better learning
School self-evaluation should result in better learning outcomes for students.
This will happen when teachers reflect on their practice, engage in dialogue
and share experience. SSE should help teachers to focus on the type of
learning experiences they give to their students. It should also lead to
changes in practice where necessary. Overall, teaching and learning should
18

be more student focused and suited to the needs of all students, taking
account of their age and ability.

What paper work is needed for school self-evaluation?
Good SSE is not about paperwork – it is focused on improving the way all
teachers teach and the learning achieved by students. Some documents and
records will be developed as the school engages in the process, but these
should be kept to a minimum. The effect that SSE has on teaching and
learning is far more important.
Schools should focus in the first instance on enabling all teachers to gather
and use available assessment data and other evidence effectively to
determine the quality of their current practice. The range of evidence will
vary, depending on the school’s circumstances and the aspects of teaching
and learning that are reviewed. Reflection on, and thorough discussion of
this evidence, will be needed among the teaching staff and at board of
management level, as appropriate.
It is necessary to record the findings of self-evaluation. While the primary
focus should not be on the written report, a concise school selfevaluation report (no more than two to three pages) should give details of
the school context, the themes and sub-themes selected for evaluation and
the sources of evidence used. It should indicate the conclusions drawn from
the evidence in terms of where the school places itself on the quality
continuum and should outline a small number of significant strengths and
areas for development. The areas for development identified in the SSE
report should be the areas for which the school sets targets for improvement
in its school improvement plan. The self-evaluation report should also contain
a checklist confirming that the school is complying with legislative and
regulatory requirements (for example, that the school has the required
policies covering issues such as child protection procedures, a behaviour
policy, an enrolment policy, etc.).
The self-evaluation report will enable all teachers and the board of
management to have a clear record of what the evaluation has revealed and
the priorities that the school has set for development. Every teacher and
19


member of the board of management should have a copy of the selfevaluation report. Department inspectors will also have access to the selfevaluation report in the course of their work.
A summary of the self-evaluation report, listing the strengths of the
school and the priorities that the school has set for development will be
needed for communication to the wider school community. It will enable the
school leadership and management to report to parents on the operation of
the school as required under Section 20 of the Education Act, 1998.
Schools are required to have a school improvement plan from the school
year 2012-13 onwards. The school improvement plan should be concise and
should indicate the areas targeted for improvement. Targets focused on
improving learner outcomes that are specific and measurable should be set
out in the improvement plan. The plan will illustrate the actions to be taken,
those responsible for the actions and those responsible for monitoring the
effectiveness of the actions. The timescale for the actions and the criteria by
which success will be measured should be outlined. The school improvement
plan should be no more than two pages long and should become a very clear
guide to implementing actions for improvement in classrooms and in other
learning settings. A good school improvement plan will be the basis for
managing change within classrooms.
It will also provide the board of management with a way to monitor
development and improvement. It will be equally useful for school
management as they prepare their annual report for parents on the
operation of the school. Inspectors will have access to the school
improvement plan in the course of their work.
A summary of the school improvement plan should be provided to the
whole school community.

20

7.

Frequently asked questions

How does school self-evaluation fit with school development
planning?
The school development planning process entails a cycle consisting of review,
planning, implementation and evaluation. School self-evaluation reframes
the school development planning cycle to give greater focus to gathering
evidence, analysing evidence and judging quality. The school self-evaluation
process therefore has six steps (Figure 2).

How does school self-evaluation fit with the literacy and
numeracy strategy?
School self-evaluation is not an additional initiative – it is an integral part of
the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy. The Programme for
Government 2011 sets out specific targets in relation to school selfevaluation and school improvement. These targets are reflected in the literacy
and numeracy strategy, which requires all schools to engage in robust selfevaluation and to put in place a school improvement plan with specific
targets for the promotion and improvement of literacy and numeracy. SSE is
being supported now to assist schools to fulfil these requirements. Schools
will be expected to engage in self-evaluation of literacy and numeracy within
the first four-year cycle.
SSE is a useful tool to assist schools in affirming good practice in their literacy
and numeracy provision and in deciding the aspects of literacy and numeracy
that need to be improved.

Where do we find the time for school self-evaluation?
SSE is part of the school development planning process. Many schools have
structures in place to enable ongoing collaborative planning to take place.
Staff meetings, year-group meetings, subject-department meetings and other
group meetings and structures are some of the means by which schools
provide time for planning activities. SSE should be an important aspect of
such planning.

21


Circular 25/2011 (post primary) provides an outline of how school
management may designate the additional time provision required of
teachers as part of the Croke Park agreement. School planning is one of the
activities included in the list of items for which the additional time may be
used. School management should consider including SSE among the
activities for which the additional time is used.
Much of the work related to SSE will become part of the ongoing practice in
classrooms and other learning settings. Embedding SSE within normal
classroom practice is an effective means of engaging in school improvement.

Do DEIS1 schools need to engage in self-evaluation and set
targets again to improve literacy and numeracy?
Since 2006-07, schools that are part of the DEIS School Support Programme
have received support to evaluate current levels of attainment in literacy,
numeracy and examination attainment (post-primary) and to set targets for
improvement. Some schools have been successful in improving attainment
levels in literacy and numeracy. These schools should review their current
cycle of planning for improvement and should continue to implement those
plans if they are based on robust self-evaluation (clear evidence to support
their judgements and the aspects prioritised for development) and if targets
for improvement are specific and measurable. Rather than starting the school
self-evaluation process again, they should continue the DEIS planning cycle
and engage in the self-evaluation process as outlined in the Guidelines when
the current three-year plan has been implemented.
Some DEIS schools are still at an early stage in the development of
improvement plans. These schools should review their current practice and
ensure that their DEIS action plans are based on robust self-evaluation and
that targets to improve literacy, numeracy and examination attainment are
specific and measurable.

1

22

Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools, An Action Plan for Educational Inclusion,
Department of Education and Science (2005)

Do special schools need to engage in self-evaluation and set
targets to improve literacy and numeracy and other aspects of
teaching and learning?
Yes. Special schools should engage in the process of self-evaluation as
outlined for primary schools or for post-primary schools depending on the
age range of the students. They should adapt the process to meet the needs
of students in their particular context. They should ensure that targets for the
improvement of literacy and numeracy are consistent with the specific needs
of their students.

How should Irish medium schools engage in self-evaluation
and set targets to improve literacy in Irish and in English as
well as numeracy?
Irish medium schools should engage in self-evaluation of literacy in Irish,
literacy in English, and numeracy over the first school self-evaluation cycle.
For example, they may select literacy in Irish as a priority in the first year. This
will enable them to complete a self-evaluation report and put a three-year
improvement plan for the area they have prioritised in place. They may then
select literacy in English as a priority so that they will have a self-evaluation
report and a three-year improvement plan for literacy in English in place.
Finally, they will select numeracy and have a self-evaluation report and threeyear improvement plan in place. Thus, by the end of the first cycle, they will
have self-evaluation reports written and improvement plans in place for
literacy in Irish, literacy in English and numeracy. They will then be in a
position to evaluate other aspects of practice.

Should the school’s summary self-evaluation report include
information on the performance of students in assessment
tests?
The content of the summary self-evaluation report will be determined by the
board of management of the school. The key aim of the summary report is
to convey judgments about the strengths of the school and its priority for
development. These will have been drawn up based on a wide range of
evidence about teaching and learning. The summary report may include
general statements about the performance of students in key areas, but
detailed analysis of the outcomes of assessment tests and statistical data on
examination results should not be included in the summary self-evaluation
report.
23

PROMOTING THE QUALITY OF LEARNING

Inspectorate
Department of Education and Skills
Marlborough Street
Dublin 1
Ireland

An introduction-to-school-self-evaluation-of-teaching-and-learning-in-post-primary-schools

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