School Evaluation Studies

Based on the research of the school evaluation criteria, the author gives a clear definition of the school evaluation; analyses the problems and the states both in research and practice of the school evaluation in our country; points out the shortcomings at different levels in the relative research; makes it clear that we face the difficulties or challenges in system construction, criteria and indicators development, the use of multi-methods; and points out that the cause of the problems are due to the lack of systematic school evaluation, and the unfitness or both in standards or criteria and indicators, the unreasonableness of the school evaluation programs and the inspection organization structure, etc.From the view of the school evaluation criteria, the problems we now face lies in three aspects: the school inspection criteria and the practice, other school evaluation criteria, and school self-evaluation criteria. The school inspection criteria we made are to some extent unsystematic, unmeasured, mixed index system for all schools and governmental agencies, and lack of the support or foundation of theories, the scientific judge of the school performance, etc.From the view of the comparative study, the author introduces the Baldrige National Quality Award Program and its Education Criteria for Performance Excellence. The Education Criteriacan not only be used as a guideline to evaluate the organizations for the Award, but also to serve as a tool for all the other organizations to find the shortcomings in the organizational management and to improve the performance and quality. The Education Criteria is both unique and universal, and acceptable.After the general introduction of the background, the establishment, the management and process, and the significance of the Baldrige National Quality Award Program and its Education Criteria for Performance Excellence, the author focuses on the theoretical bases, the main contents, the key themes, the core values, characters and structures of the Award and its Education Criteria. The Education Criteria reflects the general or basic views and spirits of the Total Quality Management and the organizational system for performance excellence, emphasizes the effective management of the organizational system, and pays much attention to the organizational planning, deployment, check and improvement of the organization. Although the Education Criteria leads to the final performance of the organization, it also focuses on the process and the operation of the organization, ie, both formative and summery ways are applied. And evaluation is regarded as a necessary part of a learning organization, not just for the selection.So we regard the Education Criteria a good model and worth learning from. It is a good idea to copy the structure of it to develop our own school quality evaluation criteria, and then to call on school organizations to use it as a tool or guideline to carry out self-evaluation. It is widely considered that learning from the successful experience of other countries can speed up our own school evaluation research and is a short cut to catch up with them.Based on the research of all the analysis and introduction above, the author puts forward some suggestions of reforming our school evaluation system and developing the evaluation criteria. Mainly, the suggestions include three parts: Firstly, to develop our own national quality education criteria and to set up our own national quality award, open for all the education organizations; Secondly, to establish a so-called: "Three Dimensions evaluation system" , so as to improve our school evaluation system as a whole; and to set up evaluation system for schools to choose for self-evaluation, and to encourage schools to do more self-evaluation for their own sake.The second part is the core part of the "Three Dimensions evaluation system" . From the point of view of a systematic order, it is a reassurance of methodological and mechanical ways. The content of "Three Dimensions evaluation system" includes: the inspection to the sch...