Monitoring Education: Indicators, Quality and Effectiveness (School Development Series)

Fuelled By The Interest In School Performance League Tables, Performance Monitoring Is Increasingly Influential Over The Management Of Education, Providing A Way To Monitor, Define And Achieve Quality In Education. Monitoring Education Aims To Contribute To The Process Of Designing Systems Of Monitoring That Work. With Reference To Developments In The Us, Management Strategies For Achieving Effectiveness Are Assessed And The Meaning And Meaningfulness Of 'value-added' Is Considered. The Author Argues The Importance Of Accurate Feedback For Staff On Performance, Of Tried And Tested Practical Advice And The Setting Of Realistic Attainment Goals. Two Methods Of Checking That The Educational Outcome Is Satisfactory Are Considered - The Opinion Of The Students And The Reports Of Inspectors. Students' Views Are Inherently Subjective, But The Author Argues For The Validity Of Measuring Student Attitudes And Makes Suggestions For Devising An Appropriate Methodology. The Reports Of Inspectors Are Supposedly Objective - But The Assumption Is Challenged And Inspections Are Shown To Be Subjective Judgements. The Reliability Of Superficial Overviews Is Questioned And The Validity And Cost-effectiveness Of Inspectors' Reports Are Investigated. This Rigorous And Informative Study Will Inform And Challenge All Those Who Are Responsible For Ensuring That Quality Is Achieved - From Those At The Chalk-face To Those Researching Future Policies In Education. Four Kinds Of Data -- Experiments: Finding Out The Effects Of Actions -- Do We Really Need Performance Indicators? -- Philosophical Approaches -- Science And Complexity -- Coping With Complexity -- An Up-and-running Indicator System -- The Alis Project -- Measurements For Monitoring Systems -- Measuring Achievement: Problems And Conflicts -- Assessment: Some 'solutions', Including An Assessment Transcript -- Assessing Vocational Courses -- Measuring Attitudes -- Measuring Processes -- Assessing The Quality Of Measurements -- Basic Statistical Procedures For Monitoring -- Value Added -- Relative Ratings: Assessing The Relative Performance Of Departments Using A Single Set Of Examination Data -- Aggregation And Segregation: What Does 'means On Means' Mean? -- The Design Of Performance Indicator Systems -- A General Rationale For The Design Of Performance Indicator Systems -- The Development And Use Of Indicator Systems -- Further Generations Of Indicators: Monitoring Systems Evolve -- The Impact Of Monitoring On Other Systems -- Wanted: Better Management -- Performance-related Pay Or 'merit Pay': A Dead Alley? -- Lea's: Is Resuscitation Overdue? -- Inspection: The Accounts Are Overdue -- Politics Could Be So Much Better -- Universities: Just Another Kind Of Business, Or Something Else? -- Signing Off -- Chaotic Behaviour Of A Very Simple Non-linear Equation -- Secondary Education In England And Wales: Comparisons With The Usa -- Uk Examination Boards: A Summary -- Alis Indicators And Fefc Inspection Plans: A Booklet Written For Colleges. Carol Taylor Fitz-gibbon. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 243-252) And Indexes.