Quality Assurance: a case study of the work of local education authority inspectors and advisers in England

Abstract

This report begins with a very brief examination of the current national policy situation with respect to quality assurance in the United Kingdom, especially as revealed through the work of the Audit Commission, and the early responses to that work by Local Education Authorities (LEAs). The second section provides a description of the current approach to quality assurance in Barset, as it is perceived by various respondents in the authority. This description is sharpened by comparisons between Barset practice and that in another LEA, and between Barset and the approach taken by Her Majesty's Inspectors. This section concludes that Dorset's quality assurance work departs in one major respect from the recommendations of the Audit Commission and the practice of others: it is largely consistent with an ethos of collaboration or co‐management, an important part of the professional values dominant in the LEA. The major theme emerging out of the contrasts between Barset's practice and that of others is pursued through a discussion of control vs co‐management in the current scholarly literature in North America. These are competing views of how to manage educational organisations for improved effectiveness; at the moment co‐management is strongly favoured. The remainder of the report constitutes a delineation of a co‐management approach to quality assurance, which is recommended as consistent with the professional values of the LEA and with current notions of ‘best practice’ in North America.