Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 511: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of whole school evaluations carried out in each of the past five years in secondary schools; the name of each school where such whole school evaluation has been carried out; the cost in each year of carrying out whole school evaluations; if he will provide a copy of the assessment and value of the whole school evaluations and the consequential recommendations and improvements actually carried out as a result of the evaluations in question; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46171/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Whole-school evaluation (WSE) is a model of external evaluation for primary and post-primary schools that was formally introduced during the school year 2003/2004. WSE provides an external view to a school on the quality of its work and advice on how that work could be strengthened and improved.

In the 2004-2008 period, whole-school evaluations were conducted in 241 post-primary schools as follows:

2004 — 12 WS;

2005 — 53 WS;

2006 — 57 WSE;

2007 — 59 WSE;

2008 — 60 WSE.

Details of the schools in which a WSE was conducted during the 2004-2008 period are in the following table.

As the Inspectorate is part of the Department of Education and Science, all costs associated with its work are paid from the administrative budget of the Department. Whole school evaluations form just part of the Inspectorate's business plan in any given year. In addition, inspectors are also involved in a wide range of other work such as subject inspections, programme evaluations, the preparation of composite and thematic evaluation reports on aspects of educational provision in schools, participation in appeal boards established under Section 29 of the Education Act, and in contributing to policy formulation and development in areas such as teacher education, special education, and curriculum and assessment policy. It is not possible at present to separate out the costs specifically associated with whole school evaluations from other evaluations and from other costs incurred in carrying out the wider range of duties undertaken by inspectors. In 2007, there were 159 primary and post-primary inspectors at various grades and the total gross salary cost for 2007 was €13,450,363. The total travel and subsistence expenses paid, in accordance with Civil Service rates, in 2007 was €1,688,886.

Whole-school evaluation is designed to encourage a culture of improvement and an emphasis of the quality of provision in schools. It does so by providing an external perspective on the quality of the key aspects of the school's work including its management, leadership, teaching and learning. It seeks to affirm good practice and constructively identify areas for improvement. In doing so, whole-school evaluation complements the self-evaluation and school development planning carried out by the school (and in post-primary schools, on the development and self-review carried out by individual subject departments). It also provides a rigorous evaluation of the work of the school.

Since Feb 2006, all reports arising from WSE (as well as subject and programme inspections and evaluations of centres for education) are published on the Department's website. A total of 129 WSE reports on post-primary schools have been published since June 2006. The publication of inspection reports in this way ensures that the school community including parents, as well as other schools and the general public, have access to meaningful information on quality and standards in the education system. It also enables the school community to contribute to implementing the recommendations made by the inspection team. As part of the publication process, the school's board of management is also offered the opportunity to respond to the inspection report and set out how it intends to use the report to improve provision in the school.

An evaluation of the impact of WSE in each of the individual schools listed in the table has not been carried out. However, the Inspectorate has commissioned an independent review of the effectiveness of its work in schools. This customer survey, conducted by MORI in 2005, found that of teachers who had had recent experience of inspection, over 89% agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that "strengths as well as opportunities and recommendations were identified" during the inspection; over 86% agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that "feedback and advice were given in a supportive and constructive manner"; 80% agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that "inspectors provided constructive advice about ways of improving educational provision for pupils;" and over 80% agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that "written reports were clear and provided me with valid and constructive recommendations for development." The same survey conducted among principals whose schools had recently experienced inspection found that over 87% of principals agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that "inspectors provided constructive advice to the school about ways of improving educational provision for pupils;" and 91% of principals agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that "written reports were clear and provided the school with valid and constructive recommendations for development." Evidence from the school responses submitted by school management in response to the individual inspection reports listed for the deputy shows that in many cases, schools had either planned to implement recommendations or had already commenced doing so.

Responsibility for the implementation of improvements suggested by the inspection lies primarily with the board of management, principal and staff of each school. In some cases, schools may seek the assistance of school support services to assist them in implementing some changes. My Department deals, through its Schools Division, with the very small number of cases where very serious weaknesses are pointed out by the inspection. In such cases, it is sometimes necessary for my Department to engage with the patron, trustees or management of the school to ensure that the need for improvement and change is fully appreciated by the school and those responsible for its management.