Can Race Equality be Inspected? Challenges for Policy and Practice Raised by the OFSTED School Inspection Framework

Abstract

Abstract Although the system of school inspection in England has not changed radically since the 1997 general election, one significant policy development is that the Labour Government has given the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED), the school inspection agency for England, a lead role in monitoring how schools are preventing and addressing racism. This article draws on findings from research funded in 1999‐2000 by the Commission for Racial Equality which set out to examine the effectiveness of OFSTED school inspection processes in monitoring race equality objectives in schools. It considers the extent to which the school inspection framework provides an effective model for the promotion of race equality in English schools and its potential for wider applicability in other European contexts. It examines how the British Government's pledges to eradicate racism and promote race equality in British society are being interpreted in one area of social policy, that of education. In particular, the authors explore the potential of school inspection to contribute to race equality and OFSTED's effectiveness in fulfilling its designated role to examine and report on initiatives to prevent racism and promote race equality. The inspection framework is analysed in terms of its overall fitness for the purposes of promoting race equality and preventing inequality. The article focuses on the consistency and adequacy of the reporting framework as it relates to race equality; the extent to which there was a commonality of understanding among inspectors about the framework, its processes and outcomes; how headteachers understood OFSTED's role and assessments of race equality; and the potential and actual impact of that reporting upon subsequent school‐based developments. The reasons for the relatively low profile given to issues of race equality in inspection reports and the considerable variations in levels of understanding and perceptions about race equality among inspectors are discussed. New legislation at both European and national levels will strengthen anti‐discrimination legislation and place greater responsibilities on employers and on public bodies to ensure greater racial equality. Such legislation will require inspectorates, including school inspection agencies, to monitor how various public authorities and employers are fulfilling race equality objectives. The authors provide a case study where the instrument of inspection meets legal and political demands for greater racial equality but where its implementation fails as a result of institutional inertia and lack of accountability to local communities. Their conclusions point to an urgent need to revise inspection processes so that inspection might have a positive impact upon the maintenance of standards for equality and racial justice. Some key recommendations are made for policy and practice to achieve greater equality in education, addressing the relationships between external assessment and self‐evaluation and between organisations and the communities they serve.