[Archive] Chapter 5 New Developments

Listed below are the new developments for QA inspection:

Starting from the 2001/02 academic year, ED has used stratified random sampling to select a representative sample of 30 kindergartens, 70 primary, secondary and special schools in the territory for inspection. This is to ensure sufficient coverage of various types of schools so that inspection findings can reflect the state of school education in Hong Kong.
QA inspection procedures are further streamlined to enhance cost-effectiveness. A standard inspection model (SIM) has been launched in the 2001/02 inspection cycle. Under the SIM, the subjects inspected are sampled from each of the Key Learning Areas (KLA) and the inspection period is shortened to seven days for secondary schools. Despite the deployment of manpower to provide post-inspection support services, the launch of the SIM enables a 40% increase in the number of primary and secondary schools inspected in the 2001/02 academic year.
In 2001/02, the current set of performance indicators will be examined and refined with a view to drawing up indicators that are commensurate with the curriculum reform initiatives. Besides, upon completion of the Quality Education Fund project on the development of performance indicators for measuring pupils' affective and social outcomes as well as the academic value-added improvement of secondary pupils, the accompanied computer software and training will be made available to schools to facilitate their use of those indicators in self-evaluation.
To be in line with the curriculum reform, the focus of QA inspection will be reviewed according to the proposals put forward by the Curriculum Development Council. Inspection guidelines will also be revised accordingly.
The performance indicators for kindergartens on the domain of Learning and Teaching have been refined with two levels of evidence of performance provided. Work has also started on the refinement of the performance indicators for the other domains.
From the 2001/02 academic year onwards, the quality assurance inspection reports of the kindergartens would be uploaded onto the ED homepage to keep in line with the inspection procedures of primary and secondary schools.
Successful implementation of school self-evaluation (SSE) is crucial to the nurturing of a culture in schools for managing their own affairs. To help schools to be better acquainted and to improve their performance in SSE, a set of guidelines and resource materials for SSE have been issued to schools for their reference. Some assessment tools to support schools in SSE have been developed by ED and uploaded to the homepage of QAI as well. Besides, seminars on the use of the SSE resource materials and assessment tools were organised for school development officers of the four Regional Education Offices (REO) in 2000/01. They will support schools in this aspect of work through school development visits. It is anticipated that through SSE, schools not only seek continuous, self-initiated improvement, but they are also in full grasp of their own stages of development. In the long run when all schools are fully accustomed to SSE, QA inspection can take the form of validating a school's evaluation of its own performance. By then, the inspection cycle can be shortened.
In 2002/03, QA inspection will have been implemented for six years. It would be opportune for an overall review of the QA processes to be conducted. In this connection, local and overseas experts will be commissioned to conduct the review to ensure the efficacy of the QA processes.