School Quality Assurance Applications for Basic Education Schools

Abstract

This study aims to recommend applications of quality assurance for schools of basic education by analysing the school quality assurance applications of some countries which were successful at international tests and by interviewing university lecturers. This current study first analyses the quality assurance applications used in schools in some countries which achieved success at international tests. Thus, the school quality assurance applications in Estonia, Hong Kong and New Zealand were described. In addition to that ten university lecturers were also interviewed within the scope of this study. The data for the countries were collected by the document analysis method, and the views of the faculty members were collected by the interview method. The data were analysed in sub-themes such as the quality assurance applications used in schools in some countries which achieved success at international tests, the stake holders in the applications, how often the applications were used and in what processes they were used. As a result of the interviews, similar themes were classified. It may be recommended in the light of the results obtained that external evaluation should be made for self-evaluation and that national beside international tests should be used as data for school quality assurance applications. In addition, it is revealed how self-evaluation and external evaluation practices can be shaped.