Quality Development in Education: a case of supported self‐evaluation in Birmingham

Abstract

Abstract Birmingham's further education service has developed a flourishing quality development programme. This has been achieved as a result of the commitment of the LEA and its eight City Colleges to an approach to monitoring and evaluation termed ‘Supported Self‐evaluation’. This paper describes and analyses this approach by tracing the progress made since the appointment of a Co‐ordinator for Monitoring and Evaluation in 1985 to the implementation of a full‐scale monitoring and evaluation policy in 1989 as a key aspect of strategic planning in further education post Education Reform Act. In this context the paper will: (1) explain the conceptual base of the approach; (2) describe the development strategies employed, the support mechanisms developed and the methodology devised to implement the policy. Issues arising from the work will be discussed and its impact assessed in terms of outcomes for clients and of the demands it makes on staff in the colleges. The paper will conclude with an examination of the relevance of the approach to quality development within schools.