Review of Independent Schools

The Evaluation process and periodical review of Independent Schools are deemed important in identifying schools’ achievements and strengths as well as areas which may require attention and improvement following their inception three years ago.

The evaluation and review processes are based on international best practice and utilize world class standards in evaluating the Independent Schools’ progress towards goals and their achievements, particularly as related to the goals of the reform.

The results from the reviews also allow us to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of the reform, illuminating areas that need improvement and further development.

The TSRs are a key element of the overall evaluation framework which also includes ongoing school monitoring, school self-review, specially commissioned reviews and annual school report cards. The evaluation framework is designed to four fundamental principles of the reform: it recognizes school autonomy; reflects school variety and individuality; provides a sound basis to guide informed choice about schools; whilst collectively ensuring accountability of schools.

Triennial reviews focus on selected areas of school functioning and performance such as leadership and management, teaching and learning, standards and achievements, curriculum and learning environment, staff deployment and development and the relationship between parents, community and the school.

There are twenty specific areas of schools functioning that could be addressed across the reviews.

Each school evaluation is individually and strategically tailored to cover five to seven of these areas. In undertaking TSRs, student academic outcomes are evaluated in all schools; three or four other specially-selected key areas of school functioning are evaluated for each school, and one or two areas of specific importance and relevance to the individual school concerned are also evaluated.

The Triennial School Review (so named because it is undertaken on a three-yearly cycle) uses have been specially designed to Qatar education context using internationally respected protocols for accessing, assessing and reporting data which are undertaken by experienced and trained school evaluation officers. In broad terms the main sources of data for the reviews are: school records, reports and documents; interviews with parents, teachers, principals and administrators; classroom visits and observations; and student assessment data from the school itself and the Qatar Comprehensive Education Assessment.