Council Conclusions of 16 December 1997 on the evaluation of quality in school education
Date: 1997-12-16
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: educational system, project evaluation, school results, teaching

C  1/4

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

3.  1.  98

COUNCIL  CONCLUSIONS

of  16  December  1997

on  the  evaluation  of  quality  in  school  education

(98/C  1/03)

THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  EUROPEAN  UNION,

integration  of  schools  into  their  environment  as  a
criterion  of  quality;

Having  regard  to  Article  126  of  the  Treaty  establishing
the  European  Community,

(7)(cid:217)Whereas  evaluation  is  also  an  important  element  for
assuring  and,  where  appropriate,  improving  quality;

(1)(cid:217)Whereas  the  Socrates  programme,  Action  III.3.1  of
invites  the  Commission  to
and

which, 
promote 
experience  on  questions  of  common  interest;

exchange  of 

in  particular, 

information 

the 

(2)(cid:217)Whereas  evaluating  quality  in  school  education  is

one  of  the  priority  themes  of  the  said  Action;

(3)(cid:217)Whereas  the  Commission  has,  since  March  1996,
launched  various  studies  and  operational  activities
to  examine 
from
different  perspectives  with  the  aim  of  creating  a
picture  of 
the  wide  variety  and  wealth  of
approaches  and  evaluation  methodologies  used  at
different  levels;

the  question  of  evaluation 

(4)(cid:217)Whereas,  during  the  1997/98  academic  year,  the
Commission  will  conduct  a  pilot  project  directly
involving  approximately  one  hundred  schools 
in
States  participating 
in  the  Socrates  programme;
whereas  an  Advisory  Working  Party  bringing
together  Member  States’  appointed  experts  on
the
evaluation 
programme  will 
in
implementing  the  said  project;

in 
taking  part 
the  Commission 

the  States 

assist 

in 

(5)(cid:217)Whereas  senior  education  officials  met  twice 

in
1995  tot  discuss  the  quality  of  education  in  schools;
whereas  both  meetings  considered  the  question  of
evaluation  from  complementary  perspectives,  thus
stressing 
the
richness 
approaches  adopted  in  the  Member  States;

and  diversity  of 

the 

(6)(cid:217)Whereas 

the  meeting  convened  by  the  French
Presidency  in  June  1995  considered  the  evaluation
of  pupil  achievement  and  whereas  the  meeting
convened  by  the  Spanish  Presidency  in  November
1995 
self(cid:220)
looked  at  external  evaluation  and 
appraisal  in  schools,  with  particular  emphasis  on  the

(8)(cid:217)Whereas  the  test  of  the  quality  of  an  education
system  is  its  schools  and  whereas  it  is  measured  by
the  progress  schools  enable  young  people  to  make;

(9)(cid:217)Whereas  developments 

in  contemporary  society
necessitate  more  than  ever  a  major  effort  on  the
part  of  the  State  in  favour  of  education;  whereas
the  effectiveness  of  this  effort  should  be  evaluated;

(10)(cid:217)Whereas  it  is  therefore  important  to  report  on  the
quality  achieved  as  a  result,  also,  of  the  resources
invested  in  education;

the  OECD’s  work  on  quality, 

(11)(cid:217)Whereas,  in  addition  to  the  activities  launched  by
the  Union, 
in
particular  through  the  activities  of  the  Centre  for
Educational  Research  and  Innovation  (CERI)  and
its  International  Indicators  of  Educational  Systems
international
(INES)  programme  as  well  as  the 
studies  of  pupil  achievement  by  the  International
the  Evaluation  of  Educational
Association 
Achievement  (IEA),  should  also  be 
into
account,

taken 

for 

HAS  ADOPTED  THESE  CONCLUSIONS:

I.(cid:217)General  considerations

framework,  which  comes  within 

Self(cid:220)appraisal  as  a  tool  for  schools’  development  and
improvement  of  quality  is  based  on  the  idea  that  a
vast  range  of  interconnected  factors  determine  the
quality  of  a 
the  choice  of
school.  Although 
evaluation  criteria  depends  on  the  legal,  political  and
the
budgetary 
exclusive  competence  of  the  Member  States,  the
professionalism  of 
the
teachers, 
pupils’  learning  process,  relations  within  the  school,
the 
local
environment,  the  way  in  which  a  school  is  run  and
the  characteristics  of  a  school  as  an  environment  are,
to  no  less  a  degree,  all  factors  determining  the
quality  of  a  school.

the  content  of 

integration  of 

school 

into 

the 

its 

3.  1.  98

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

C  1/5

A  school’s  focus  is  its  pupils  and  its  aim  to  impart
the  values,  knowledge  and  skills  which  they  will  use
during  their  subsequent  education  and  during  their
lives  as  European  citizens.  Evaluating  the  extent  to
which  this  has  been  achieved  is  a  major  element  in
determining  a  school’s  quality  and  the  quality  of  the
education  it  provides.

As  each  school  -  in  cooperation  with  the  country’s
relevant  authorities  -  is  responsible  for  the  quality
of  its  education,  it  should  also  be  possible  to  provide
it  with  tools  and  procedures  that  give  it  a  better
grasp  of  the  conditions  that  help  its  pupils  to  succeed
at  school.

These  tools  should  make  it  possible  for  a  school,
according  to  its  needs,  or,  where  appropriate,  under
existing  school  programmes,  to  record  the  progress
which  it  enables  a  young  person  to  make  as  a
person,  as  a  pupil  and  as  a  citizen  of  tomorrow.

II.(cid:217)In  conclusion,  the  Council  invites:

A.(cid:217)Member  States,

in  the  framework  and  within  the  limits  of  their
political,  legal,  budgetary,  education  and  training
systems,  to  step  up  their  action  by  increasing
their  cooperation  in  the  evaluation  of  quality  in
school  education  - 
the
evaluation  of  pupil  achievement  -  with  a  view  to
achieving  the  following  objectives:

in  particular 

in 

-(cid:217)promoting  the  networking  of  those  involved
in  the  evaluation  process  at  different  levels,

-(cid:217)analysing  and  disseminating  the  results  of
on

studies 

international 
comparative 
evaluating  pupil  achievement,

-(cid:217)promoting 
the  development  of  evaluation
and
so 
tools 
achievements  may  be  better  analysed  by
schools,

learning 

pupils’ 

that 

-(cid:217)disseminating  examples  of  good  practice,

-(cid:217)evaluating  the  benefits  schools  and  teachers
gain  from  taking  part  in  the  forms  of  coop(cid:220)
eration  on  offer;

B. the  Commission,

the 

framework  of 

in 
existing  Community
education  and  training  programmes  and  other
relevant  Community  programmes  and  initiatives
and  by  taking  advantage  of  the  experience  gained
in  connection  with  existing  projects  and  networks
supported  under  these  programmes,  to:

-(cid:217)strengthen  European  cooperation  and 

the
exchange  of  information  and  good  practice  in
evaluating  quality  in  school  education,

-(cid:217)put  to  good  use  and  exploit  at  European  level
national  experience  and  the  results  of  the
studies  undertaken  at  European  and  inter(cid:220)
national  level,

-(cid:217)make  the  best  possible  use  of  the  results  of
the  pilot  project  and  ensure,  in  cooperation
they  are
with 
disseminated 
appropriate,
followed  up,

the  Member  States, 

and,  where 

that 

-(cid:217)promote  cooperation  between  Member  States
with  a  view  to  ensuring  the  emergence  of
better  European  expertise  in  evaluating  the
quality  of  school  education,  and  in  particular
of  pupil  achievement,

-(cid:217)encourage, 

in 

connection  with 

existing
Community  programmes  (notably  Socrates),
the  process  of  making  teachers  more  aware  of
and,  where  appropriate,  preparing  them  for,
the  development  and  use  of  evaluation  tools
and  methods,

-(cid:217)take  account  of  the  importance  of  the  subject
of  evaluating  the  quality  of  school  education
when  considering  future  cooperation  in  the
field  of  education.