An Effective National Evaluation System of Schools for Sustainable Development: A Comparative European Analysis

Abstract

An international context of increasing attention to the quality of educational systems in school establishments is becoming more important to develop a governance that is compatible with the principles of sound and prudent management, inspired by effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainable development, in the long run. The article initially investigates the evolution of national evaluation system of schools as an important tool for management and for school quality improvement. The analysis is carried out on the 43 education systems belonging to the Eurydice Network in the period July–September 2018. Mainly, we have noticed a wide diffusion of evaluation and self-evaluation mechanisms and therefore the development of a school management culture to improve the quality of the system and students’ performance. Subsequently, we aim to verify whether it is possible to identify a linear relationship between the assessment indicator expressed by the international statistical surveys on student performance and the overall quality of the school system. In this regard, the research data on the evolution of the national evaluation system and the statistical data of the OECD-PISA surveys are cross-referenced. Briefly, results on student performance show that the assessment of the quality improvement of the school system cannot be based exclusively on pupils’ performance. However, there is a generalized evolution in the adoption of national evaluation systems, confirming that the managerial culture in European schools is growing. As a further future study, the research will observe the above reflections taking into account the evolution of student performance results for the three-year period of 2015–2018 (OECD-PISA 2018 will be published in December 2019), considering a substantial evolution of national evaluation systems in schools during this three-years period.