External Quality Assurance System (Part 2) PDF

External Quality Assurance System (Part 2) Prepared by Dr. Walaa Elsaied Sakr Assisstant Professor of Comparative Education & Educational Adminstration Faculty of Education- Ain Shames University This lecture will dea...

External Quality Assurance System (Part 2) Prepared by Dr. Walaa Elsaied Sakr Assisstant Professor of Comparative Education & Educational Adminstration Faculty of Education- Ain Shames University This lecture will deal with the following: Types of external quality assurance. Roles of external quality assurance. External quality assurance team (external reviewers’ team). 1-Criteria of choosing external reviews (Standards). 2-External quality assurance Team formation. 3-Role/tasks of external review team. 4-External reviewers’ practices and standards Types of external quality assurance. Compulsory system Voluntary system It requires all institutions or It means that institutions and p ro g ra m s t h a t fa l l u n d e r E Q A d e p a r t m e n t s m ay a p p l y t o mechanisms to periodically undergo undergo EQA. Their motivation the QA process, and frequently set to do so may be the chance to up because there is no licensing acquire a special status through system. They may also apply to accreditation, which would give types of programs where the State them an advantage in a has a special responsibility, such as competitive environment in te a c h e r t ra i n i n g o r p ro g ra m s , finding students and funding. Or preparing for professions vital for they may be motivated by access national development and security, to specific funding (such as such as medicine, architecture and student funding or special civil engineering. incentive schemes) Types of external quality assurance. Institutional EQA Programmatic EQA It investigates whet he r t he It focuses on individual study mission and objectives of an programs, many of which educational institutions are prepare students for a specific appropriate. It also considers profession. Each study program m ay h ave i t s ow n p o l i c y o n whether its resources and student standards and curricula, processes are suitable to achieve and in addition be subject to them or whether certain requirements arising from standards are attained in the national qualification whole institution. frameworks. It therefore makes sense to quality assure individual programs Roles/tasks of external quality assurance Enhancing or improving specific procedures at educational organization. Identifying weaknesses and training needs at educational organization. Get good benefits from the inputs of the educational organisation. Improving quality audit impact. Improving or ensuring quality of work. Certification of work. Improving or ensuring the quality of management and organization. Confirmation if the internal manuals are in line with the quality agencies standards / other relevant standards and international best practices. Ensure accountability. Inform students and employers about the quality of the educational organisation. Roles/tasks of external quality assurance: Accountability/ Improvement Quality control purposes Guidance External quality assurance team (external reviewers’ team) 1-Criteria of choosing external reviews (Standards) They should possess sufficient quantitative and qualitative resources for conducting the external review proposed. They must have successful experiences and enjoy a high reputation. The work at a similar organizational structure (at the time proposed for the external review) They are known for having a vast experience in the fields to be covered by the external review. They have experience in revising and evaluation field. They have experience in communication and information technology field. Head of peer/panel review panel should be a recognised expert in the field of the target institution. They shall receive appropriate training in the field of the external review. External quality assurance team (external reviewers’ team) 2- Quality reviewers team formation The team should be formed from 2-5 or more members experts in different fields according the size of the institution, each member should fulfill the standards to be external expert , and has a license to do external reviewing for a limited period can be renewed or declined from the quality assurance agency, every team has a head with the competences of leadership, and knows the following: - Rules of writing reports with scientific way, - The capability of communication with the institution , quality assurance agency and the team members, - Got training courses/programs from quality accreditation agency/ies in quality assurance and accreditation procedures, techniques and writing the external report for accreditation. External quality assurance team (external reviewers’ team) 3- Role/tasks of external review team Participating in investigating the educational institution‘s file to get accreditation. Participating in preparation of field study plan for the institution. Using tools of evidence collecting which is related to institution performance. Participating in evaluation to fulfill accreditation standards by the institution.  The head of quality external reviewing team role: Coordinating between the reviewing team and distribute tasks and roles between them. Coordinating to prepare the schedule of team site visit to the educational institution requested for the accreditation process. Performing the coordination site visit to the educational institution as an introduction for external reviewing Assuring that the reviewing team implemented the plan which is put for external reviewing Meeting the manager of the education institution regularly during the days of external reviewing to the institution and update him daily by any news. Supplying the educational institution with the excellent performance and the insufficiency in performance and suggest ways to improve it. Writing the external report of accreditation with sincerity and objectivity. Acting as the official spokesperson for the team. Professional and ethical standards of external reviewing: Verification of evidences which is used in decision making process. Preparation of flexible and good plan for external reviewing, and determine it‘s procedures obviously. Execution the external reviewing in practical situations, to decrease losing of information. Keeping the security of all information and data. Making judgments based on correct, complete data and factual evidence. Respecting institution members, students, colleagues. Cooperating, and giving help to institution members, and enhance their self- confidence to improve performance. Publishing the results of external reviewing. The external review practices: It focuses most frequently on the following areas of analysis: Mission; governance; effective management; academic programs; teaching staff; learning resources; students and related services; physical facilities; and financial resources. It is essential to focus on accountability, ensures the integrity of educational institutions, catalyst role for internal improvement within the school, provides information to various stakeholders.