Regional Seminar 2005 EVALUATING POLICY Are your policies working? How do you know? School Development Planning Initiative

2 Policy as Action What is policy for? What is the role of self- evaluation in keeping policy on track?

3 What is a Policy? A written guide to desirable and consistent practice in a given area of school life

4 What is a Policy for? Regulate practice Achieve an improvement Solve a problem Comply with external requirements Assign responsibility Promote equality of access/participation (as required by ‘Education Act 1998’)

5 Why Evaluate our Policies? Select an important policy that has been in operation in your school for some time List the reasons why an evaluation of that policy might be worthwhile (Short discussion in groups and brief general feedback 5 mins.)

6 Self-evaluation can… Determine the impact of a policy in relation to its aims Draw on teachers’ knowledge of their own schools Challenge complacency Revive dormant or neglected policy Identify hidden problems Sustain ownership of a policy Restate core values in a practical way

7 What Is Self-evaluation of a Policy? Systematic evaluation of a policy, conducted within a school, to see if it is achieving its aims and how it might be improved

8 Towards a culture of school self-evaluation Self- Evaluation Process Consultation Review Decisions Document Aims Content Roles Implementation Monitor Manage Adapt Impact Outcomes Improvements Next steps..

9 Impact What happens in the targeted area of school life as a result of the policy? Intended outcomes Unintended outcomes Significance

10 ‘Looking at our School’ ‘Towards school improvement through internal review and self-evaluation’ ‘…internal school review and self-evaluation with the support of external evaluation carried out by inspectorate’

11 Evaluating Implementation To find out about the implementation of the policy’s proposed actions… What questions would you ask? Who would you ask? How would you gather the responses? (e.g. questionnaire, staff meeting discussion, school records, other data……..?) When?

12 Evaluating Impact To find out if the policy had the intended effect…. What would you look for? What questions would you ask? Who would you ask? How would you gather the responses? (e.g.questionnaire, staff meeting discussion, school records, other data……..? When?

13 Workshop: What Would You Look at? You have been asked to be part of a group that will conduct a formal evaluation of a particular policy in your school What questions would you ask in order to evaluate: 1. Implementation of the policy? 2. Impact of the policy? Where would you find the relevant information that would assist the evaluation? Homework – anti-bullying – attendance & participation (choose one) Homework – anti-bullying – attendance & participation (choose one) 20 minutes group exercise: feedback

14 Step by Step Guide to Policy Evaluation Prepare and inform stake-holders Decide which policy and the scope of the evaluation Establish success criteria Agree survey methods Collect information Analyse findings and prepare report Present findings to stake-holders Follow through on findings Each of these steps is considered in more detail in Unit 5 of the Draft Guidelines (Yellow Folder)

15 Resources for Evaluation 1.Policy guidelines 2.Pro forma template 3.Evaluation pre-questionnaire 4.Sample evaluation template

16 Next Steps for Your School What policy will you evaluate? What are the first steps for your school?