Use and impact of external evaluation feedback in schools

Abstract

Past findings concerning whether and how feedback from external evaluations benefit the improvement of schools are inconsistent and sometimes even conflicting, which highlights the contextual nature of such evaluations and underscores the importance of exploring them in diverse contexts. Considering that broad international debate, we investigated the use and impact of feedback from external evaluations in compulsory schools in Iceland, particularly as perceived by principals and teachers in six such schools. A qualitative research design was adopted to examine changes in the schools made during a 4–6-year period following external evaluations by conducting interviews with principals and teachers, along with a document analysis of evaluation reports, improvement plans and progress reports. The findings reveal that feedback from external evaluations has been used for instrumental, conceptual, persuasive and reinforcement-oriented purposes in the schools, albeit to varying degrees. According to the principals and teachers, the improvement actions presented in the schools’ improvement plans were generally implemented or continue to be implemented in some way, and the changes made have mostly been sustained.