Effects of Deliberative Democracy on School Self-Evaluation

Abstract

In 1996, Icelandic schools were mandated to evaluate their work.This article focuses on four schools that were selected for this case study, two primary schools and two secondary schools.They all received support from two researchers: one from Central Connecticut State University and another from the University of Iceland.These researchers coached school-evaluation teams in their self-evaluation efforts and assessed change in the schools. The schools received empowerment-based support, where the researchers taught staff to evaluate school work and take responsibility for development based on outcomes from longitudinal data collection and dissemination of evaluation information. Researcher findings include changes in teacher perceptions of administration facilitating their professional growth; systematic data collection; teacher ownership and collaboration; and shared decision-making for improvement efforts in the schools. Findings were triangulated, using different data collection methods. Results indicate that evaluation worked best when schools took a democratic stance. Program fidelity was an indication of improvement within the schools.