The evaluation of schools: policies, perspectives and practices

The journal Education, society and cultures calls for paper to be published in the special issue focusing on evaluation policies, perspectives and practices developed in European education systems.

Guest Editors

• Preciosa Fernandes, University of Porto, Portugal
• Isabel Fialho, University of Evora, Portugal
• Antonio Bolivar Botia, University of Granada, Spain

Issue Rationale

Within a European framework, the evaluation of schools has been identified as a tool to promote educational change (OECD, 2010). In this perspective, its importance is recognized not only for the regulation of education systems (Sheerens, 2003) but also for the organization of schools and the improvement of the educational service provided (Bolívar, 2003). This means that evaluation is matched up with the possibility of making educational systems more effective (Hopkins, Stringfield, Harris, Stoll, & Mackay, 2014), which implies taking into account not only macro-political aspects but also the ones of meso and micro order, related to school as an organization and to the processes of curriculum construction and development.

Responding to these demands the evaluation of schools has been pointed out in two ways: as a form of political regulation of the work developed in schools and therefore in a logic of accountability (Afonso, 2009; Fullan, Rincón-Gallardo, & Hargreaves, 2015) and as resource to foster the effectiveness of education (Devos & Verhoeven, 2003). The growing importance of accountability in public schools results, on the one hand, of the media coverage of the phenomena associated with the disclosure of school rankings (table leagues) and, on the other, of the focus of external evaluation of schools on school results and the consequent pressure to improve educational quality.

Several national and international studies from different areas of knowledge have given great emphasis to the evaluation of schools, contributing to the dissemination of models and practices and the production of relevant and useful knowledge for schools that aspire to achieve standards of quality.

This issue of Educação, Sociedade & Culturas [Education, Society & Cultures] focuses on evaluation policies, perspectives and practices developed in European education systems. The main objectives are to:

• Confront the evaluation policies of schools from different countries in Europe
• Disseminate studies on the evaluation of schools
• Clarify relations between the processes of schools’ evaluation and its effects in the organization of school, teaching and students’ learning outcomes
• Contribute to a better understanding of the impact of schools’ evaluation in the implementation of accountability policies
• Understand the role of external evaluation in the implementation and consolidation of processes of internal evaluation
• To advance theoretical and methodological frameworks for the evaluation of schools

Guidelines for Submission

Manuscripts must be sent by email attachment, in Microsoft Word, to ciie_edicoes@fpce.up.pt. Articles are accepted and published in Portuguese, English, French or Spanish. In the cover letter, please specify that your manuscript is being submitted for the special issue 'The evaluation of schools: policies, perspectives and practices'.

Articles should be between 6000 and 8000 words in length, including abstracts, keywords, tables, footnotes, reference list, and appendices. Each manuscript should include the title, abstract and keywords in Portuguese, English and French. Understandably, for Spanish articles, the title, abstract and keywords are also displayed in Spanish language.

Deadline is October 31, 2015.

Call for papers (Download)