title: Toward a model of school inspections in a polycentric system.
abstract: Many education systems are developing towards more lateral structures where schools collaborate in networks to improve and provide (inclusive) education. These structures call for bottom-up models of network evaluation and accountability instead of the current hierarchical arrangements where single schools are evaluated by a central agency. This paper builds on available research about network effectiveness to present evolving models of network evaluation. Network effectiveness can be defined as the achievement of positive network level outcomes that cannot be attained by individual organizational participants acting alone. Models of network evaluation need to take into account the relations between network members, the structure of the network, its processes and its internal mechanism to enforce norms in order to understand the achievement and outcomes of the network and how these may evolve over time. A range of suitable evaluation models are presented in this paper, as well as a tentative school inspection framework which is inspired by these models. The final section will present examples from Inspectorates of Education in Northern Ireland and Scotland who have developed newer inspection models to evaluate the effectiveness of a range of different networks.
authors.affiliation: University of Twente, Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social sciences (BMS), University of Twente, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands; Inter-Continental University of the Caribbean, Plaza Brion 1, Willemstad, Curaçao. Electronic address: F.J.G.Janssens@xmsnet.nl.
authors.forename: Frans J G
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Janssens
authors.affiliation: UCL Institute of Education, University College London, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Melanie C M
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Ehren
mesh_terms: D005246:Feedback; D006801:Humans; D017146:Models, Organizational; D011057:Politics; D011640:Public Policy; D058996:Quality Improvement; D012574:Schools / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*
keywords: Network evaluation; Networks of schools; Polycentric governance; School inspections