Insights gained by schools and emotional consequences of school inspections. A review of evidence

Abstract

This study systematically reviews research evidence regarding two questions: (1) to what extent do schools gain insight into the quality of their own functioning as a result of an inspection ?; and (2) what are the emotional consequences of inspections experienced by school staff?It provides a review of empirical research studies published as full length articles in scientific journals and proceedings of international conferences, symposia and workshops, as well as in books or as book chapters, from 1995 until 2012. Both quantitative and qualitative data are considered. The review process identified thirty-five relevant publications that met the criteria for inclusion.The review leads to the conclusion that inspections fail to contribute significantly to schools' self-understanding, but that they lead to a severe negative emotional impact on school staff. Furthermore it is concluded that the current evidence base shows several gaps.There is no research on the question whether schools gain insights on 'how' they can improve (rather than on 'what' they can improve). The evidence base is also limited with regard to identifying underlying explanatory features that contribute to the occurrence of these effects.

Trust, Accountability and Capacity in Education System Reform

“…Positive effects would include schools reflecting on the quality of their school and implement specific improvements to adhere to inspection standards and remedy failure as addressed in inspection reports (e.g. Matthews and Sammons, 2004;Ehren and Visscher, 2006;Penninckx, 2015). A small number of studies report of changes and/or implementation of school self-evaluations in relation to school inspections and how the school's organisational capacity improves as a result (Bubb and Earley, 2008;Courtney, 2012).…”

The role of feedback acceptance and gaining awareness on teachers’ willingness to use inspection feedback

“…Wurster and Gärtner (2013), for example, stated that teachers who accept inspection feedback but perceive the inspection as a tool for accountability will feel less need to act on the feedback. The use of rewards or sanctions can interfere with teachers' initial response not to act on feedback and can encourage unintended and undesirable behaviour such as the exclusion of unrewarded activities (Penninckx and Vanhoof 2015). The finding that teachers are not always willing to change their teaching after an inspection has been substantiated in earlier studies as well.…”

“…This is in line with the results of a German study by Gärtner et al (2014) who found that teachers and principals tended to judge aspects of school quality as highly stable over time and did not report any change after their schools had been inspected. Given the scarcity of current research on the role of teachers' willingness to use inspection feedback and to engage in change processes, further research on the antecedents and consequences of this phase is urgently needed (Penninckx 2015).…”

“…A previous study of Authors (2018), however, found that teachers often receive substantive inspection feedback individually or in groups during a debriefing session regarding their classroom practices, while school-level feedback is generally included in an inspection report. Until now, it has been unclear whether and to what extent teachers are willing to engage in change processes after a school inspection (Penninckx 2015). Therefore, insight into the relationship between inspection feedback and teachers' willingness to use this feedback is essential.…”

Determinants of teachers’ feedback acceptance during a school inspection visit

“…While extensive research has been conducted on the emotions induced by inspection (see Penninckx & Vanhoof, 2015 for a review), three concerns must be considered in interpreting and using the results.…”