Quality assurance in Irish schools: Inspection and school self-evaluation

McNamara Gerry, O’Hara Joe, Brown Martin and Quinn Irene
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McNamara Gerry: Centre for Evaluation, Quality and Inspection (EQI), Institute of Education, Dublin City University, Ireland
O’Hara Joe: Centre for Evaluation, Quality and Inspection (EQI), Institute of Education, Dublin City University, Ireland
Brown Martin: Centre for Evaluation, Quality and Inspection (EQI), Institute of Education, Dublin City University, Ireland
Quinn Irene: Centre for Evaluation, Quality and Inspection (EQI), Institute of Education, Dublin City University, Ireland

Administration, 2020, vol. 68, issue 4, 161-180

Abstract: In this paper, we provide an overview of the development of school inspection in Ireland over the past twenty years using the analytic and critical lens developed by Richard Boyle in partnership with the current authors. The paper is fundamentally a reflection on the nature, purpose and operation of evaluation in the Irish public sector through the lens of education. The paper provides a historical overview of developments in the linked areas of school evaluation and inspection, and goes on to explore how the implementation of this mode of quality assurance has influenced, and been influenced by, a wide range of policy actors. The argument made is that education has embedded a culture of evaluation in a unique yet systemically resonant manner and that a reflection on this reality will help illuminate our understanding of the role of evaluation across the public sector as a whole.

Keywords: School evaluation; school inspection; accountability; quality assurance; reform (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:vrs:admini:v:68:y:2020:i:4:p:161-180:n:11

DOI: 10.2478/admin-2020-0029

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