Use and impact of external evaluation feedback in schools

Funding Information: None. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors Past findings concerning whether and how feedback from external evaluations benefit the improvement of schools are inconsistent and sometimes even conflicting, which highlights the contextual nature of such evaluations and underscore...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ólafsdóttir, Björk, Jónasson, Jón Torfi, Sigurðardóttir, Anna Kristín
Other Authors: Faculty of Education and Diversity, Faculty of Education and Pedagogy, Education
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/3920
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2022.101181
Description
Summary:Funding Information: None. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors Past findings concerning whether and how feedback from external evaluations benefit the improvement of schools are inconsistent and sometimes even conflicting, which highlights the contextual nature of such evaluations and underscores the importance of exploring them in diverse contexts. Considering that broad international debate, we investigated the use and impact of feedback from external evaluations in compulsory schools in Iceland, particularly as perceived by principals and teachers in six such schools. A qualitative research design was adopted to examine changes in the schools made during a 4–6-year period following external evaluations by conducting interviews with principals and teachers, along with a document analysis of evaluation reports, improvement plans and progress reports. The findings reveal that feedback from external evaluations has been used for instrumental, conceptual, persuasive and reinforcement-oriented purposes in the schools, albeit to varying degrees. According to the principals and teachers, the improvement actions presented in the schools’ improvement plans were generally implemented or continue to be implemented in some way, and the changes made have mostly been sustained. Peer reviewed