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EQI: Centre for Evaluation,Quality & Inspection
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Prof Joe O'Hara, Dr Martin Brown and Dr Karen Jones make the Case for OFSTED reform

EQI Directors Prof Joe O'Hara and Dr Martin Brown along with EQI Advisory Board member Dr Karen Jones, recently wrote an article for Public Sector Focus, the UK's leading journal for public sector managers and professionals commenting on Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED). The article argues that OFSTED should consider adapting its model of school inspection, taking account of recent work undertaken by EQI and European colleagues on models of inspection.

The case for inspection reform in England and Wales 

 

The school inspectorate in England, Ofsted, came under renewed scrutiny early this year
following the death of headteacher Ruth Perry. According to her family, Ruth Perry’s death
was a “direct result of pressure” due to the recent Ofsted inspection report judging the school
as “inadequate”. (1) With concern about the negative impact of the climate of fear and stress
schools operate under in England, the Beyond Ofsted Inquiry was set up, chaired by Jon
Knight, Rt Hon Lord Knight of Weymouth. The findings of the inquiry have recently been
published and call for the urgent review of Ofsted. (2) The inquiry finds that Ofsted is no
longer trusted and significant reform is required. The inquiry reviewed existing research on
school inspection and collated new evidence from surveys and focus groups. Amongst their
recommendations the findings suggest schools should conduct their own self-evaluation,
working with school improvement partners to meet plans for improvement.


Recommendations also call for a change to the role of inspectors, moving away from the
inspection of teaching practice and pupil outcomes towards the focus of the school’s
capacity to self-evaluate. The inquiry also calls for an immediate postponement of school
inspections to regain trust in the system and to ensure a duty of care within the profession.
These findings and recommendations mirror the findings and recommendations from our
cross-European study (running from 2011 to 2014) involving comparisons between Ofsted in
England and inspectorates in the Netherlands, Ireland, Czechia (Czech Republic during the
study), Sweden, Austria and Switzerland.

 

The full article is available here https://flickread.com/edition/html/65788c94600c5#56