Part 1: How can we improve our school?

Abstract

Evaluating and improving the quality of education Learners are at the centre of the work of every school, sub-county and district. This series of guides by the Directorate of Education Standards (DES) aims to help education professionals improve the experiences and achievements of learners in schools and business, technical and vocational institutions (BTVET). Each guide covers a key area of the school's work, one with a major and positive impact on the learning, achievements, safety and happiness of young people. Guides can be used in any order, to address the specific needs and priorities of individual schools. Each guide explains how your school or district can: evaluate the quality of education you provide; identify key strengths on which to build; identify any gaps between what you are aiming for and actual practice; and select priorities, targets and measures of success to include in your improvement plan. Who are the guides for? This series of guides is for use by the following groups of people. Headteachers and school staff (primary, secondary and BT/VET) Members of governing bodies, including Foundation bodies Local government officials responsible for quality assurance and improvement Tutors in primary and national teachers' colleges, both pre-service and outreach Ministry officials, including national inspectors working for DES Education specialists working in international and non-governmental organisations Associations for headteachers and other education professionals How can the guides help you in your work? Each guide can be used to: identify areas of focus for support supervision, school performance review and inspection; provide topics for discussion at meetings with learners, parents and staff; select priorities for improvement to include in the school/sub-county/district improvement plan, and to strengthen performance agreements at sub-county level; train education professionals at all levels within the system; provide advice about educational priorities to a range of audiences; evaluate, monitor and report on the quality of education in individual schools, within local areas and across the country as a whole; encourage consistent, valid and reliable approaches to evaluation among education professionals working at local and national level; and foster partnerships among education stakeholders. Each guide is based on a group of quality indicators (Qls) taken from the Handbook for School Inspectors, Education Standards Agency 2005, and refers to Basic Requirements and Minimum Standards (BRMS), MOES March 2010.