Using evaluation to strengthen self-assessment

This resource provides information on:

the place of self-assessment in an environment of evaluative quality assurance
the role of self-assessment in bringing about organisational improvement
implementing self-assessment activities.

The ideas and examples provided here are a guide only. Tertiary education organisations (TEOs) will need to develop their own approach, suited to their organisation.

Any approach to self-assessment should remain consistent with the key features of effective self-assessment outlined in this resource.

Self-assessment

Self-assessment includes the ongoing processes a TEO uses to gain evidence of its own effectiveness in providing quality education.

Responsibility for effective self-assessment is organisation-wide, actively involving governors, managers, teachers and support staff. Effective self-assessment is integrated into the business so that informed understanding of what is being achieved directly influences organisational decision-making, prioritising, planning and actions. It impacts throughout the organisation.

Effective organisational self-assessment uses evaluative enquiry to foster organisational improvement and create a positive change in the outcomes for learners.

An important consideration will be ensuring that educational standards are maintained (for example as evidenced through moderation) at the same time as TEOs drive towards improving student retention and achievement.

Self-assessment is considered to be effective when it can demonstrate that it meets the key characteristics outlined below.

TEOs may choose to involve people from outside the organisation in their self-assessment but it is basically an internally conducted process.

Key features of effective self-assessment

NZQA does not prescribe how you should conduct your self-assessment. However, any process you use should be comprehensive, authentic, transparent, robust, and focused on:

needs assessment - the extent to which TEOs systematically determine and address the needs of learners, employers and the wider community
processes and practices - the processes and practices that help to achieve outcomes, for example, the primary importance of good teaching, or the role of effective learner support services
learner achievement - the impact of educational provision on learner progress and achievement
outcomes - what is being achieved and the value of that for learners, employers and the wider community
using what is learned - self-assessment should result in evidence-based conclusions and decision-making that will feed into strategic and business planning, leading to positive change
actual improvement - the extent to which improvements are relevant and worthwhile.

External evaluation and review

External evaluation and review is a periodic evaluation of a TEO to provide a statement of confidence (judgement) about an organisation’s educational performance and capability in self-assessment.

It uses a systematic process to make independent judgements about educational performance and capability in self-assessment.

Educational performance

The extent to which the educational outcomes achieved by a TEO represent quality and value for learners and other relevant groups. An evaluation of educational performance involves answering questions focused primarily on the quality of learning and teaching, and the achievements of learners.

Capability in self-assessment

The extent to which an organisation uses self-assessment information to understand performance and bring about improvement. It reflects the extent to which an organisation effectively manages its accountability and improvement responsibilities.

External evaluation focuses most directly on the:

extent to which the TEO systematically determines and addresses learner and wider community needs
key processes contributing to the achievement of outcomes for learners
quality of educational provision and its impact on learner progress and achievement
achievement of outcomes for learners and the wider community (employers, regions, local or national interests)
effectiveness of the TEO’s self-assessment in understanding its own performance and using this for improvement.

Go to the external evaluation and review page

Evaluation tools

Key evaluation questions (KEQs) and tertiary evaluation indicators are the main tools of external evaluation and review, along with performance criteria used to reach judgements about educational performance and capability in self-assessment.

A TEO may find the KEQs and the tertiary evaluation indicators useful when it is undertaking its self-assessments. They can create a strong link between self-assessment and the external evaluation and review.

By using the same tools, evaluators can engage in conversations using common definitions and understandings.

There may, however, be times where a TEO will need to use its own questions or indicators for self-assessment activities, to reflect features unique to its organisation.

"It makes you look at yourself and be honest and see what you can do to improve… I like that it focuses on the learner and the delivery of programmes and what the learner is getting out of the programme."

- TEO staff member

Using evaluation in self-assessment

Evaluation can be useful in self-assessment as it provides a way of creating knowledge that can be used for improving organisational effectiveness.

There are many different approaches to evaluation, but most use quantitative and qualitative data to better understand what is happening in a programme or organisation.

Using evaluation enables a deep level of understanding to be gained by staff engaged in the process. The methods of evaluation involve dialogue, reflection, questioning and interpreting data and evidence. In addition, evaluation includes identifying and clarifying beliefs, and challenging assumptions and knowledge.

A TEO may use evaluative self-assessment to explore an aspect of its business it wants to know more about. The open-ended, key evaluation questions used in external evaluation and review could provide a useful starting point.

The tertiary evaluation indicators can also be useful as they present an understanding of what constitutes quality in the way TEOs operate and the outcomes they achieve. In addition, the indicators can be used to assist in:

defining the scope of a self-assessment activity or activities
framing evaluative conversations
identifying strengths, areas for improvement, and opportunities for innovation.

Using self-assessment in your organisation

The process below shows the key features of effective self-assessment. It is a guide only and offers a way to approach self-assessment systematically and from an organisational view.

This high-level approach to self-assessment can be tailored to suit individual TEOs and is represented in the figure below.

Stages of a Self-Assessment

The stages of self assessment

Ultimately, self-assessment is about understanding how well your organisation is achieving its educational outcomes. You will be interested in asking questions that enable you to build up a picture of how well this is being done.