Purpose: The purpose of this research as part of an Erasmus+ funded project tilted Aiding Culturally Responsive Assessment in Schools (www.acras.eu) is to provide an exploratory analysis of survey responses related to culturally responsive assessment policies, professional development and practices that were administered to school principals in…

This paper explores approaches to support the consistent implementation of school self-evaluation. The first part of the paper outlines the changing nature of self-evaluation in Irish post-primary schools and how a new approach introduced by the Department of Education and Skills in 2012 demonstrates real intentionality in terms of implementation.…

School inspection, school self-evaluation and the relationship between them are important themes in current educational policy debates. Many education systems are seeking to find a balance between the, at times, conflicting demands for a robust, transparent and effective system of school evaluation that at the same time allows for professional…

Evaluating schools has become a contentious issue in many countries. There seems to be a broad and growing consensus that some form of evaluation can on the one hand play a significant role in school improvement efforts, and on the other is also required to provide a reasonable level of public accountability appropriate in democratic societies.…

In recent years there has been an intense debate in many countries concerning the best approach to improving schools. The various methods being tried might be reasonably seen as constituting a continuum ranging from strict external control and inspection at one end, to self-evaluation and internal regulation at the other. In practice, most…

Analyzes recent developments in school development planning and whole-school evaluation in the Republic of Ireland; examines the outcomes of a recent national pilot project on whole-school evaluation conducted by the Department of Education and Science. (Contains 27 references.) (Authors/PKP)