engleski

Quality Assurance Through Self-Evaluation Process in Croatian Education System: A School Self-Evaluation on the Level of Early and Preschool, Primary and Secondary Education.

The aim of the paper is to present the key elements of development and implementation of the self-evaluation process in early childhood education and care institutions, primary and secondary schools in the Croatian educational system. The key objectives of the National Centre for External Evaluation of Education (NCEEE) are to establish a system of standardized evaluation of knowledge and skills, and to establish a system for improving the quality of education. Since its establishment, along with the development of a variety of external evaluation approaches, NCEEE started developing the methodology and instruments for self-evaluation in schools. Quality is defined according to contemporary learning and development paradigms and child-centered educational approaches. The key hypothesis was that quality is improving within each and every educational institution, starting with the responsibility of each and every stakeholder. The development and implementation of the self-evaluation process started in 2006 in secondary schools, after first national examinations were implemented in gymnasiums, followed by vocational schools in 2007. Based on the secondary schools self-evaluation model, in 2008, the self-evaluation of primary schools was developed and implemented. Finally, in 2010, drawing from experiences of implementing self-evaluation in primary and secondary schools, the model of self-evaluation of early childhood education and care was developed, implemented and began in 2011. The key role of NCEEE was to establish the methodology and to provide support through key stages of the process of implementation. The process of implementation was turbulent, with positive momentums and setbacks taking place in a dynamic exchange. Through the years of the implementation of self-evaluation, the process was developing while catering for specific needs of different stakeholders and alongside ongoing developments in the Croatian educational system. There is an ongoing analysis of key elements for each self-evaluation model: methodology and instruments, along with key findings, collected within the ten-year period of process implementation. These findings will be the starting point of the development of a unique holistic approach of self-evaluation, complementary with external evaluation approaches, at the level of early and preschool, elementary, and secondary education.

quality assurance, school self-evaluation, ECEC, primary education, secondary education

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