6533b826fe1ef96bd1285344

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Control and Trust in Local School Governance

subject

description

External school inspection and state supervision represent key instruments in many European countries for improving the quality of education. Although some countries, such as England, France, and the Netherlands, have a long tradition of school inspectorates, other countries such as Sweden only recently reintroduced a school inspection system (Johansson O, Holmgren M, Nihlfors E, Moos L, Skedsmo G, Paulsen JM, Risku M, Local Decisions under Central Watch – a new Nordic quality assurance system. In: Moos L (ed) Transnational influences on values and practices in Nordic educational leadership – is there a Nordic model? Springer, Dordrecht, 2013). In Denmark, the relationship between the state and the municipalities is conducted through a public governance contract. For example, subject matter aims that used to be very broad and loose at this level were supplemented with clear aims that were developed into shared aims from 2006 onwards. Moreover, a state supervision system was introduced to standardize the quality assurance procedure. In a similar vein, Norway conducted a national quality assurance system in 2006, paired with national achievement testing systems, to chart and publish the results and a state supervision system. In contrast to Sweden, the local governance level – municipalities – in Denmark and Norway is the target of state supervision; thus, inspection and control are more loosely coupled with schools and principals at the “street level.” In Finland, the National Board of Education conducts national evaluations, and this state agency is also responsible for the national evaluation of learning outcomes. Notably, in this respect, Finland deviates from the international stream of state quality assurance and inspection, not at least linked to the political system’s resistance to ranking schools and municipalities and the external publication of performance indicators.