Responsible bodies

In "institutes for schulische Weiterbildung"

The principle of pedagogical freedom implies that, first and foremost, schools and their respective school authorities themselves bear the main responsibility for the quality of teaching and education in their institutions.

In addition, evaluation mechanisms ensure quality development and assurance. They aim to systematically record and analyse the structures, processes and outcomes of institutional educational work, not only in the area of traditional school types (e.g. kindergarten, primary and secondary education), but also with regard to school-based adult education provision, which may be organised within secondary schools or as part of school-based continuing education. 

External evaluation

The Autonome Hochschule in the German-speaking Community is responsible for the Externe Evaluation of schools.

The aim of external evaluation is,

• to verify whether and to what extent schools fulfil their societal mandate as defined by decree;
• to submit to the Government, the school authorities and the departments responsible for education within the Ministry of the German-speaking Community, every three years, an overall report on strengths and weaknesses based on the individual reports of the evaluated schools.

Internal evaluation

Each school must also, on its own responsibility, carry out an Interne Evaluation durchführen. at least every three years. At school level, the Pedagogical Council is responsible for organising the internal evaluation. The Pedagogical Council is the central internal body for school development. It consists of the school management, a representative of the school authority, and at least five members of the teaching, educational or specialist staff. The Pedagogical Council supports the planning, implementation and evaluation of the internal evaluation and ensures that the results are incorporated into continuous school development. 

The Government verifies whether this evaluation has taken place.

Both external and internal evaluation are anchored in the Dekret vom 31. August 1998 über den Auftrag an die Schulträger und das Schulpersonal sowie über die allgemeinen pädagogischen und organisatorischen Bestimmungen für die Regel- und Förderschulen für alle Regelgrund- und -Sekundarschule.

School inspection

Schulinspektion in the German-speaking Community also plays a central role in ensuring quality in the education system of the German-speaking Community through a variety of evaluative and supportive measures:

• Monitoring compliance with legal provisions.
• Taking note of and reviewing the quality assurance objectives defined by the school itself.
• Participating in the oral feedback of external evaluations to schools.
• Contributing to the assessment of staff members, possibly accompanied by external experts.
• Handling complaints in the school context.
• Preparing reports for the Government on the funding and recognition of educational institutions and study programmes.
• Developing and implementing framework plans for the education system.
• Planning and implementing pedagogical projects in cooperation with school authorities.
• Preparing pedagogical expert reports.
• Coordinating the development of new and the revision of existing activity plans, study programmes and curricula.
• Developing, processing and evaluating pedagogical concepts and projects.
• Taking on mediation tasks in conflict situations.

The legal basis is the Dekret vom 25. Juni 2012 über die Schulinspektion, die Schulentwicklungsberatung und die Schulberatung für Inklusion und Integration.Rechtsgrundlage ist das Dekret vom 25. Juni 2012 über die Schulinspektion, die Schulentwicklungsberatung und die Schulbe-ratung für Inklusion und Integration. 

In vocational education and training

A public-interest institution, the Institut für Aus- und Weiterbildung im Mittelstand (IAWM), ensures the pedagogical, administrative and financial supervision of the Zentrum für Aus- und Weiterbildung im Mittelstand (ZAWM) (a non-profit association with two locations).

This supervision also includes responsibility for quality assurance in dual vocational education and training as well as in dual study programmes. 

The evaluation procedures used aim to:

• verify the quality with which the ZAWM fulfils its defined mandate;
• examine whether and to what extent the organisational structures and the methods and outcomes of the pedagogical work of the ZAWM are suitable for achieving the objectives of the pedagogical project;
• provide a scientific basis for the future development of the ZAWM.

In non-formal adult education 

In order to be recognised by the German-speaking Community and thus receive a substantial grant, private, non-formal adult education institutions organised as non-profit associations (VoG) must submit an overall strategy for their activities and priorities every four years. This must comply with the provisions of the Dekret vom 17. November 2008  (among other things, non-formal adult education institutions must be open to all citizens, regardless of educational qualifications, social and professional status, political and ideological affiliation, or income level). Through the overall concept, institutions are required to set out their position on specific aspects of quality development and assurance.  It is assessed by an external panel. Based on the external assessment, the government decides on the recognition of the institution.

Approaches and methods for quality assurance

In institutions for schulische Weiterbildung 

Internal evaluation

In the context of Interne Evaluation, schools systematically collect and analyse data within the school community in order to critically assess the quality and effectiveness of their own work. The findings from this assessment lead to measures aimed at improving the school and teaching.

Key questions for schools in this context are often:

• How good is our school, really?
• What particular strengths set our school apart?
• Are there areas in our school that we really need to improve? Which ones?
• Do all those involved in our school (pupils, parents, teaching staff, non-teaching staff, etc.) share a similar perspective, or are there differences?
• What conclusions do we draw from this?
• How can we work together to find solutions and implement them successfully?

Every school is required to carry out an internal evaluation every three years. This may take place at the whole-school level or focus on a specific area determined by the school community.

External Evaluation

The department for Externe Evaluation of the Autonome Hochschule is tasked with supporting schools in systematically reflecting on and further developing their educational work. It analyses how schools use their scope for action in order to provide all pupils with the best possible educational opportunities.

In doing so, it focuses in particular on:

• the quality of teaching as well as measures for teaching development;
• the structures and processes of staff and organisational development;
• quality development as a ongoing, whole-school process.

The evaluation is criteria-based:

• at regular intervals;
• on the basis of clearly defined quality areas and aspects of the School Quality Reference Framework;
• carried out by an independent, professionally qualified evaluation team with a systemic perspective on schools.

In vocational education and training

The Zentrum für Aus- und Weiterbildung im Mittelstand (ZAWM) must submit a pedagogical project to its supervisory authority, the IAWM, by 31 May each year, which must be approved by the Board of Directors of the IAWM. This pedagogical project includes, among other things, the definition of an internal evaluation procedure that specifically assesses the achievement of objectives.

In justified cases, the IAWM may order and initiate measures for quality assurance and development and review their results. If the evaluation shows that the quality of activities at the ZAWM is insufficient, the IAWM issues an instruction to remedy the identified quality deficiencies within a specified timeframe. In a follow-up evaluation scheduled by the IAWM, the effectiveness of the jointly agreed measures is reviewed again.

The legal basis is the Dekret vom 16. Dezember 1991 über die Aus- und Weiterbildung im Mittelstand und in kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen.

In non-formal adult education 

Funded adult education institutions are required to carry out a self-evaluation once every four-year funding period. The self-evaluation process must be supervised and validated by an external expert. The evaluation must cover the implementation of the approved overall concept. 

In addition to the supervised self-evaluation, the overall concept is the most important quality criterion for the funding of a non-formal adult education institution. It includes at least the implementation of the following objectives:

• increasing motivation for continuing education;

• providing knowledge;

• developing skills;

• promoting collective capacity for action and a sense of citizenship;

• ensuring the quality of continuing education provision.

Furthermore, the overall concept provides information on the assessment of customer satisfaction and public relations, the planned expenditure and staffing levels, as well as their financing.