The aim of school inspection is to identify strengths and weaknesses in order that schools may improve educational quality and raise standards. This text examines the role of school inspectors and advises teachers and heads on methodologies for internal review and improvement.

This book provides an overview and discussion of the evidence base of effective school inspections; reflecting on issues of validity and reliability of school inspections in relation to school effectiveness research, unintended consequences and emergent roles and responsibilities of Inspectorates of Education. Chapters include findings from systematic literature reviews and primary research while also presenting a range of practical examples from inspections systems from all over the world. The book provides relevant background materials for Inspectorates of Education who aim to improve the effectiveness of their systems and working methods, as well as clear examples for researchers aiming to analyse and understand the effectiveness of these systems. The final chapter reflects on changes in the current education landscape and discusses newer models of school inspections that fit within a more decentralized inspection system.

This book traces the development of different forms of inspection. It contributes to the debate about the most appropriate and effective form of school inspection.

This timely book examines what a meaningful school accountability system could look like in England. The book starts with a deep dive into our current inspection model, discussing some of the current pressures within the system, and comparing our inspection approach to that of other countries and sectors. It moves on to show how Ofsted and school inspections are perceived and portrayed - using first-hand accounts, academic papers, government publications, and media reports - and pulls together some of the current thinking on how the model could be improved. The author ends with her own proposals for a more meaningful and humane school accountability system. She suggests we rethink what we do, and how we do it, with a call for wide-ranging consultation leading to evidence-informed reform of the school inspection process.

Boys are being trained at one school for geniuses, girls at another. Neither knows the other exists—until now. The New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box invites you into a world of secrets and chills in a coming-of-age story like no other. NOMINATED FOR THE BRAM STOKER AWARD • “Josh Malerman is a master at unsettling you—and keeping you off-balance until the last page is turned.”—Chuck Wendig, New York Times bestselling author of Blackbirds J is a student at a school deep in a forest far away from the rest of the world. J is one of only twenty-six students, all of whom think of the school’s enigmatic founder as their father. J’s peers are the only family he has ever had. The students are being trained to be prodigies of art, science, and athletics, and their life at the school is all they know—and all they are allowed to know. But J suspects that there is something out there, beyond the pines, that the founder does not want him to see, and he’s beginning to ask questions. What is the real purpose of this place? Why can the students never leave? And what secrets is their father hiding from them? Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest, in a school very much like J’s, a girl named K is asking the same questions. J has never seen a girl, and K has never seen a boy. As K and J work to investigate the secrets of their two strange schools, they come to discover something even more mysterious: each other. Praise for Inspection “Creepy. . . a novel whose premise is also claustrophobic and unsettling, but more ambitious than that of Bird Box . . . Inspection is rich with dread and builds to a dramatic climax.”—The Washington Post “This unlikely cross between 1984 and Lord of the Flies tantalizes.”—Kirkus Reviews “Malerman builds a striking world. . . . As he did in Bird Box, Malerman’s crafted an irresistible scenario that’s rich in possibility and thematic fruit. . . . Where [Bird Box] confined us behind a blindfold, Inspection rips it off.” —The A. V. Club “A must read . . . It’s a wonderful thing, digging into a new Josh Malerman novel—no idea what to expect, no clue where his twisted mind is going to take you.”—Cemetery Dance