Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 July 2006
46 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of whole school evaluation reports she expects her Department to publish in 2006 and in a full school year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25905/06]
View answerOn 30 January this year, I laid new regulations on the publication of school reports before the House. In accordance with the regulations, all reports arising from general inspections of schools will be published where evaluation work commenced on or after 6 February 2006. It is planned to conduct 273 WSE evaluations in primary and post-primary schools in 2006. Reports arising from 225 of these inspections, which will have commenced after 6 February, will be eligible for publication. These WSE reports will be published when the evaluations are completed and schools have had an opportunity to submit a school response to the inspection report. Already, by 29 June last, a total of 41 WSE reports have been published by my Department.
In accordance with the "Guidelines on the Publication of Inspection Reports", published by my Department earlier this year, schools are given 10 school days to check the factual accuracy of the reports before the final report is issued to the school for school response. A further 20 school days is allowed for the board of the school to submit its response, if it wishes. A further short period is required for the technical preparation of reports for publication on the Department's website. Given this timescale for the publication of a report from the period when the in-school activity is finished, it is estimated that over 100 WSE reports will have completed all stages of the process and will be published by the end of December 2006. The remainder of the 2006 evaluations will be published early in 2007.
WSE reports are written as a record of the external evaluation of a school. In the first instance, the reports provide direction and advice for the ongoing development of the school by its board of management and teachers. The reports contain both positive and critical statements about the work of schools. Where good work is identified in schools, the reports rightly acknowledge this work and point out best practice so that it may be emulated by others. Where criticisms need to be made, they are made clearly but sensitively. The aim of the inspection process is to encourage the school to address the issues identified and make improvements.
Up-to-date information on the WSE inspections that have been carried out in primary and post-primary schools and the list of published reports are available on the website of my Department (www.education.ie) at any time. The availability of the reports will now mean that the school community can play a more informed role in the ongoing process of school review and development.
