IN THE YEAR OF THE EXTERNAL. WHOLE SCHOOL EVALUATION (WSE) Notes • For some schools this may take place in the first or second year. However, for the majority of schools this will take place in a 3 or 5 year cycle. The intention is that secondary schools will be evaluated more or less every three years and primary schools every 5 years (because of the greater number of schools). • Clearly, cyclical external evaluation should also serve to validate findings from the internal WSE and will serve to measure progress over the period of the cycle (3 or 5 years). The process of internal evaluation in the years in between provides important documented evidence of progress. • External WSE enables the Provincial Education Departments and the National Department to measure and evaluate the performance of schools in order to make judgements about the level of functioning of individual schools as well as schools as part of the public education system. In addition to measuring performance, the approach for WSE (external) is developmental and the evaluation should include highlighting strengths as well as specific areas in need of further development for each school that is evaluated. • The self-evaluations done by schools in the ongoing process of internal WSE and the measuring of progress against the targets for improvement that the school sets itself (in the School Improvement Plans) are evidence of progress that must be taken into account for the external evaluation. • Schools will use the same instrument for the internal Whole School Evaluations (linked to and informed by the process Developmental Appraisal and Performance Measurement) and the external WSE, which includes the evaluation of a sample of educators. • The external a WSE Team, including supervisors appointed by the provincial departments for this purpose, will carry out WSE. • Up to the time when the WSE team arrives at a school, the school should continue with the normal DA, PM and internal WSE processes. The normal ongoing processes are “interrupted” by external WSE for a limited time only.
