Minimum Contract Level Collaborative Self Assessment October 2011 Chris Bealey, LSIS Adviser Emphasise for contractors (lead/sub –contractors): existing and at different levels of maturity Panel intros – CM ref to working with various groups to help them put together their contracts and specifying who does what Colin to remind group about written comments/questions … eg panel will respond after Stephen’s presentation 1

Outcomes Share the key principles of self-assessment (SA) Review the key features of effective SA Discuss how evidence can be shared, analysed and validated Quick poll after this to establish if participants are lead providers, sub contractors or both – tick the box type 2

The use by other organisations, though important, is secondary. The purpose of SA The primary purposes of self-assessment should be to support the provider’s own development needs and measure progress against its own mission and goals. The use by other organisations, though important, is secondary. Make this quite bald – lead contractors must be aware that they have full responsibility and cannot use the ‘we didn’t know’ excuse A provider may be sub-contracted to more than one lead contractor and external agencies will be able to make a judgement about the overall work of this provider in their funded provision. Link this back to the UPN 3

Key Principles of SA - 1 Self-assessment is most effective when it is a rigorous, honest and challenging evidence-based review of performance, and when it is set within a provider’s wider processes for organisational review and development. Emphasise the need for trust and professionalism. Eg CQA relies on professionals working together positively and effectively in an open and mature manner for the benefit of learners, the organisation(s) and the public good. Could give examples here like Stephen Howard at learning plus – he was very clear about his role having an ‘inspection’ function and where necessary invoking sanction 4

Key Principles of SA - 2 These will include: identifying and responding well to the needs of learners, employers and communities; setting demanding performance goals and standards as part of organisational plans; benchmarking performance and acting on outcomes; validating self-assessment judgements with care and rigour, both internally and externally; managing performance improvement, proportionate to risk; acting immediately on underperformance; and identifying and spreading good practice.

SA process checklist - 1 SA judgements address all CIF questions overall and in each subject sector section SA includes judgements about overall effectiveness SA is thorough, addressing all relevant matters SA is accurate and evidence-based – evidence supports claims clearly SA judgements are self-critical and based on benchmarking where possible SA processes are inclusive – involving staff at all levels, subcontractors, learners, and stakeholders Arrangements for involving subcontractors are effective and their role in supporting self-assessment is explicit (including data and reporting requirements) This is the key element to provoke discussion and will feed from Ofsted training, notes to come. 6

SA process checklist - 2 SA processes and judgements draw on the views of partner organisations and other external agencies and organisations SA processes enable current performance to be monitored and evaluated and action taken where necessary SA processes enable improvement and the impact of actions taken to be recognised and evaluated SAR includes clear evidence of improvement and impact of planned improvement actions SA processes inspire confidence in capacity to improve Proposed actions in QI plan resulting from SA are realistic, properly planned and resources and likely to be effective These are generic form of evidence, the key questions are how they are gathered honestly and accurately, how they are analysed and ultimately what is the impact on the learners? Poll after this slide and initial dialogue to identify which areas are considered the most difficult to evidence, ranking activity or most difficult 3 or 4, whichever works out easiest. This to prompt next discussion. We also have available the slides from the Ofsted update. These cover both the updating of the CIF and specific references to data and T&L. We can use these here as appropriate The subject of observations could be an hour on its own. If a key discussion point ensure coverage of: management of the process eg structure, sufficiency and quality, staff development, themes (use of ICT etc) Records - type and usage Validity – moderation – internal/external Grading – common patterns/disparities 7

Collaborative SA - 1 The partnership has agreed clear purposes and principles for collaborative quality assurance and improvement The partnership has published a collaborative quality assurance and improvement framework with their commitment to it Standards and associated criteria have been agreed by all partners for assessment and all areas to be quality assured and improved

Collaborative SA - 2 Comparable processes have been established to monitor provision, to analyse learner outcomes, and to evaluate quality against agreed standards Comparable processes are in place to seek stakeholders’ views (learners, parents, employers, etc.) and to inform improvement planning Frequent monitoring and evaluation procedures are in place across the partnership to review and evaluate improvement actions as well as the success of those actions

Using peer review within a partnership

A sample SA process as part of a QA cycle

Any questions? Questions if required from panel to stimulate discussion… ·       Future challenges:   ·        

Wrapping Up We’ll send you now These slides Evaluation link You maybe be interested in further support from the LSIS MCL Support Programme. If you would like to talk to an MCL Partnership Adviser please send an e-mail to mclsp@lsis.org.uk A range of resources are available on the Excellence Gateway site www.excellencegateway.org.uk/MCLsupport  Further web seminar events are planned,  you can find details and registration on events.lsis.org.uk/Pages/Event/Stage1/Events.aspx