Quality assurance in Danish early childhood and school education is characterised by external as well as internal quality assurance.
No major reforms have been implemented within this area in recent years.
The main provisions in this area are the Act on Day Care Facilities, the Folkeskole Act, ministerial order on the general upper secondary education and the Danish Evaluation Institute Act (links in Danish).
Early childhood education and care (ECEC)
Responsible bodies
External quality assurance performed by the municipalities
The municipalities are responsible for public ECEC settings. The Act on Day Care Facilities (Dagtilbudsloven) requires municipalities to prepare a quality report, which describes developments in the municipal ECEC system.
External quality assurance performed by The Danish Evaluation Institute
External quality assurance in ECEC is also performed by the Danish Evaluation Institute, EVA, which is an independent state institution operating at national level. The purpose of the Danish Evaluation Institute is to contribute to securing and developing the quality of teaching, education and learning in Denmark.
EVA gives advice to and co-operates with the Ministry of Children and of Education as well as other public authorities and educational institutions in matters of evaluation and quality assurance.
EVA’s mission is to deliver knowledge, possibilities to act and tools for quality development of day care for children as well as the educational system in order to allow children, young people and adults to learn and develop in the best possible way.
EVA is an independent institution formed under the auspices of the Ministry of Children and Education. The institute was established in 1999 by an Act of Parliament. Today, the provision governing EVA is the Consolidation Act on the Danish Evaluation Institute (link in Danish).
Approaches and methods for quality assurance
External quality assurance performed by the municipalities
- Frequency of the quality assurance is determined by the municipal council.
- The municipal council is responsible for carrying out the quality assurance. In practice, the council can delegate the task to the municipal administration or an external organisation.
- The foci and guidelines of the evaluation follow the objectives for ECEC facilities set by the municipal council.
- The municipal council sets objectives within the top-level legal framework. The objectives and guidelines for evaluation must be accessible at the municipality’s website.
External quality assurance performed by The Danish Evaluation Institute
In the area of ECEC, EVA works within two main arenas:
- Carrying out evaluations as well as collecting and conveying knowledge in the field. This work can e.g. be about children’s development of language skills or about how the local authorities carry out the obligatory task of assessing the language skills of three-year-old children;
- Working to enhance the local knowledge and competences within evaluation and quality issues in day care centres and local municipalities. This is done through presentations, seminars and the specially designed ‘EVA days’ on quality issues tailored to the specific needs of local authorities and day centres.
EVA’s role within ECEC is laid down in the Act on Day Care Facilities (Dagtilbudsloven).
EVA carries out evaluations in corporation with the Central Evaluation and Counselling Unit within ECEC. The unit is responsible for collecting, analysing and communicating information and evaluation within ECEC.
The Minister for Children and Education can set regulations regarding evaluation and the follow-up on evaluations.
Internal quality assurance performed by the ECEC institution
- The primary tool for the internal quality assurance is the pedagogical curriculum.
- The head of the ECEC institution is responsible for composing the pedagogical curriculum and for evaluating the curriculum at least every second year.
- The foci of the evaluation follows in the pedagogical curriculum. The curriculum contains six themes:
- Comprehensive personal development;
- Social development;
- Communication and language;
- Body, senses and motion;
- Nature, outdoor life and natural phenomena;
- Culture, aesthetics and community.
- The guidelines of the evaluation are based on the regulations set by the Minister for Children and Education.
- The curriculum and the evaluation must be published.
Primary and lower secondary education (The Folkeskole)
Responsible bodies
External quality assurance performed by the municipalities
The municipalities are responsible for public schools, and this includes school quality. The Act on Primary and Lower Secondary Education (Folkeskoleloven) requires municipalities to prepare a quality report every two years, which describes developments in the municipal school system.
External quality assurance in school education performed by the National Agency for Quality and Supervision
- The National Agency for Quality and Supervision, which is part of the Ministry of Children and Education, is responsible for monitoring municipalities in the preparation of their reports.
- The agency conducts an annual screening of all public schools (primary and lower secondary education).
- Where schools show repeated signs of poor quality (non-compliance with legislation or results below national averages), the agency staff engage in a dialogue with the relevant municipality about the specific actions to be taken.
External quality assurance performed by The Danish Evaluation Institute
External quality assurance in school education is also performed by the Danish Evaluation Institute, EVA, which is an independent state institution operating at national level. The purpose of the Danish Evaluation Institute is to contribute to securing and developing the quality of teaching, education and learning in Denmark.
EVA gives advice to and co-operates with the Ministry of Children and Education as well as other public authorities and educational institutions in matters of evaluation and quality assurance. EVA is furthermore tasked with collecting national and international knowledge on evaluation and quality assurance as well as continuously developing and renewing methods of evaluation and quality assurance.
The provision governing EVA is the Consolidation Act on the Danish Evaluation Institute (link in Danish).
Approaches and methods for quality assurance
External quality assurance performed by the municipalities
- The municipal council prepares a quality report every two years in compliance with the Act on Primary and Lower Secondary Education. The quality report is published.
- The Minister for Children and Education can set regulations regarding quality reports including the scope and content of the evaluation.
- Several assessment measures are used in quality assurance. For further information on evaluation and assessment in single-structure education please consult chapter 5.3.
External quality assurance performed by the National Agency for Quality and Supervision
- The National Agency for Quality and Supervision conducts evaluations once a year.
- The foci of the evaluation are teaching and learning as well as student performances and the internal quality report.
- Requirements to the quality reports are laid down in the Ministerial Order on Quality Reports in Primary and Lower Secondary Education (link in Danish).
- In case of continuing low performance in the evaluation, the agency can request the municipal council to develop an action plan. State-level authorities can impose sanctions in case the action plan is not carried out.
External quality assurance performed by The Danish Evaluation Institute
EVA typically works within two main arenas.
- Conducting evaluations. Often these evaluations are large-scale and focus on current themes or subjects in primary and lower secondary schools;
- Conveying the knowledge about evaluation methods to schools, municipalities etc. to build local competences within evaluation and to foster a local evaluation culture. This is done through presentations, seminars, project days, conferences and the specially designed ’EVA days’ about evaluation and quality issues, where municipalities and others spar with EVA.
The frequency, scope and methods of the evaluations are determined by EVA. Evaluations are published.
Measures in place for internal quality assurance
- The head of the school is responsible for the planning and organisation of the teaching as well as the teaching quality within the legal framework.
- Parents and pupils corporate with the school to fulfil the objectives.
- The objectives of the Folkeskole are stated in the Act on Primary and Lower Secondary Education (Folkeskoleloven).
General upper secondary education
Responsible bodies
External quality assurance performed by the National Agency for Quality and Supervision
General upper secondary education institutions are self-governing institutions under the Ministry of Children and Education.
The National Agency for Quality and Supervision, which is part of the Ministry of Children and Education, is responsible for quality assurance in general upper secondary education. The background for the quality assurance is that compliance and quality assurance generally is a local responsibility.
External quality assurance performed by The Danish Evaluation Institute
External quality assurance is also performed by the Danish Evaluation Institute, EVA, which is an independent state institution operating at national level.
EVA gives advice to and co-operates with the Ministry of Children and Education as well as other public authorities and educational institutions in matters of evaluation and quality assurance.
The provision governing EVA is the Consolidation Act on the Danish Evaluation Institute (link in Danish).
Further information on EVA can be found under the equivalent heading under ECEC.
Approaches and methods for quality assurance
External quality assurance performed by the National Agency for Quality and Supervision
- The National Agency for Quality and Supervision conducts evaluations once a year.
- The evaluation is based on three kinds of supervision: risk based supervision, thematic supervision and single-case supervision.
- The foci of the evaluation are indicators for the students’ academic level and well-being as well as the yearly internal quality report and follow-up report.
- Requirements to the quality reports are laid down in the Ministerial Order on general upper secondary education (link in Danish).
- In case of continuing low performance in the evaluation, the agency engages in a dialogue and requests a statement accounting for the background of the continuing low performance.
- The agency can decide to impose sanctions if the quality is not improved.
External quality assurance performed by The Danish Evaluation Institute
- EVA’s tasks are typically divided into two main fields:
- Conducting evaluations of subjects, innovative aspects of reforms and efforts - either on the institute’s own initiative or on request from the Ministry of Children and Education, school leader assemblies and others;
- Building knowledge and competencies on evaluation and quality work locally at schools. This is done through presentations, seminars, project days and conferences about evaluation and quality issues.
The frequency, scope and methods of the evaluations is determined by EVA. Evaluations are published.
Internal quality assurance performed by the education institution
- The internal quality assurance is laid down in the Ministerial Order on general upper secondary education (link in Danish).
- The education institutions conduct an internal quality report and follow-up report once a year.
- Institutions providing general upper secondary education must have and utilise a system for quality assurance. The quality system must include systematic and regular self-evaluations.
- The institutions have autonomy to decide their own quality assurance system within the legal framework. The quality assurance system must be published at the institution’s website.
- The internal quality report and follow-up report are used in the external quality assurance.
- For further information on assessment and quality assurance in general upper secondary education, please consult chapter 6.3.
References
Legislation and Official Polocy documents
EMU – Denmark's Learning Portal, 2020. The strengthened pedagogical curriculum. [Accessed 16 November 2020]
Legal Information (Retsinformation), 2015: Guidelines on ECEC etc. (Vejledning om dagtilbud m.v.), VEJ no. 9109 of 27/02/2015. [Accessed 16 November 2020]
Legal Information (Retsinformation), 2017: Ministerial Order on general upper secondary education. (Bekendtgørelse om de gymnasiale uddannelser), BEK no. 497 of 18/05/2017. [Accessed 16 November 2020]
Legal Information (Retsinformation), 2019: Act on Denmark’s Evaluation Institute. (Bekendtgørelse af lov om Danmarks Evalueringsinsitut), LBK no. 600 of 21/05/2019. [Accessed 16 November 2020]
Legal Information (Retsinformation), 2020: Ministerial order on quality reports in the Folkeskole. (Bekendtgørelse om kvalitetsrapporter i Folkeskolen), BEK no. 204 of 13/03/2020. [Accessed 16 November 2020]
Legal Information (Retsinformation), 2024: The Folkeskole Act. (Folkeskoleloven), LBK no. 90 of 29/01/2024. [Accessed 24 June 2024]
Legal Information (Retsinformation), 2024: The Act on Day Care Facilities. (Dagtilbudsloven), LBK no. 55 of 17/01/2024. [Accessed 24 June 2024]
Ministry of Children and Education (Børne- og Undervisningsministeriet), 2019: Quality assurance plan 2020. (Tilsynsplan 2020). [Accessed 16 November 2020]
Ministry of Children and Education (Børne- og Undervisningsministeriet), 2020a: Monitoring of the development in the Folkeskole. (Sådan følges udviklingen i folkeskolen). [Accessed 16 November 2020]
Ministry of Children and Education (Børne- og Undervisningsministeriet), 2020b: Supervision of professional quality. (Tilsyn med faglig kvalitet). [Accessed 16 November 2020]
Ministry of Children and Education (Børne- og Undervisningsministeriet), 2020c: The strengthened pedagogical curriculum. (Den styrkede pædagogiske læreplan). [Accessed 16 November 2020]
Ministry of Higher Education and Science, 2020: The Danish Education System. [Accessed 16 November 2020]
The Danish Evaluation Institute (EVA), 2020. EVA evaluates and develops the Danish educational system. [Accessed 16 November 2020]