Eurydice Presentation at the Conference ‘Europe needs Teachers’ organised by ETUCE Brussels, 12 June 2006

Structure of the presentation 2.Accreditation and Evaluation of Initial Teacher Education 3.Accreditation and Evaluation of In-Service Teacher Education 1. Scope and Definitions 4. Quality Assurance in Teacher Education: Future Challenges

Scope of the study 30 countries covered Reference year: 2005/06 Teacher education for general compulsory and upper secondary education (ISCED 1- 3) Evaluation types focusing on the quality of provision of teacher education

Definitions Evaluation: A general process of systematic and critical analysis leading to judgments and/or recommendations for improvement regarding the quality of a (teacher) education institution or programme. Accreditation: A process by which an institution or a programme is judged by the relevant legislative and professional authorities as having met predetermined standards in order to provide (teacher) education or training and to award the corresponding qualifications (where they exist). The accreditation procedure presupposes that the programmes or institutions to be accredited are evaluated.

The Accreditation and Evaluation of Initial Teacher Education

Issues 1. Specific or general regulations on accreditation/ evaluation 3. Frequency 2. Main features of external and internal evaluation 4. Use made of results

Official regulations for the evaluation of initial teacher education In a few countries, specific regulations do also exist, and apply only to a particular stage of initial teacher education General regulations on the evaluation of higher education apply to the evaluation of teacher education

Main features of external evaluation (1) Coordinated by an evaluation agency or evaluation committee or an independent body Evaluators are peers and/or evaluation experts Evaluation is based on a site visit and on internal evaluation results

Main features of external evaluation (2) Legislation on higher education, a list of evaluation criteria and documents concerning teacher education are used to draw up evaluation criteria Evaluation criteria cover a variety of issues

Frequency of external evaluation Evaluation conducted at variable intervals: Frequency fixed by the evaluators and/or the institution evaluated Evaluation conducted at fixed intervals: Intervals of 1 to 12 years, fixed or maximum

Main features of internal evaluation Less regulated than external evaluation Coordinated mainly by the management or an evaluation committee Management, academic staff and students participate Internal evaluation criteria are often based on external evaluation criteria

Frequency of internal evaluation In most countries, internal evaluation is undertaken annually In some countries, it takes place at least every 3 to 10 years Internal evaluation is often linked to external evaluation. However, in many countries, internal evaluation occurs more frequently.

Use of evaluation results Evaluation follow-up Impact on (re-)accreditation of programmes or institutions Impact on funding Publication of findings

Publication of evaluation findings The publication of internal evaluation results is compulsory in 6 countries only The publication of external evaluation results is compulsory in 19 countries Results are usually available to the management of institutions and their academic staff and students

The Accreditation and Evaluation of In-Service Teacher Education

Issues 2. Existence of official regulations on accreditation/ evaluation 1. Types of providers of in-service teacher education 3. Main procedures 7. Use made of results 4. External bodies undertaking accreditation/evaluation 5. Scope 6. Frequency

Types of providers of in-service teacher education Private-sector training centres (i.e. private language schools) Teacher unions or teacher associations Other providers (e.g. NGOs, private companies) Higher education institutions Public authority in-service teacher education centres Institutions for initial teacher education

Existence of official regulations on accreditation/evaluation

External bodies undertaking accreditation/evaluation Agency for evaluation or evaluation committee Ministry of education Independent body working on behalf of public authority Inspectorate for school education  Several bodies responsible in some countries

Main procedures of accreditation/evaluation  11 countries use all or almost all of the procedures, mainly on a compulsory basis Internal evaluation External evaluation/accreditation Analysis of written plan Analysis of self-evaluation report Analysis of background documents Site visit

Scope of accreditation/evaluation  No regulations on the scope of accreditation or evaluation in about half of all countries Most covered aspects (where regulations exist): Content of activity and teaching methods Infrastructure (ICT, teaching material etc.) Competences of trainers

Frequency of accreditation/evaluation  Subject to regulations in 12 countries only Depends also on the procedure followed (self-evaluation, external evaluation or accreditation) Annual to up to every six years

Use made of results of accreditation/evaluation Setting-up of improvement plans, adaptation of teacher education programmes to needs of teachers and schools Award of accreditation Withdrawal of accreditation Publication of results

Scope and players involved Acceptance of and trust in evaluation Frequency Quality Assurance in Teacher Education: Future Challenges The further use of results

Thank you for your attention! Visit us and download our publications at

Publication of evaluation findings The publication of internal evaluation results is compulsory in 5 countries only The publication of external evaluation results is compulsory in 18 countries Results are usually available to the management of institutions and their academic staff and students