No.

Performance Indicator

Measures

1.1

Improvements in performance

• Performance data and measures showing trends over time
• Overall quality of education provided by individual services and establishments
• Performance against aims, objectives and targets

1.2

Fulfilment of statutory duties

• Financial performance
• Compliance with legislation, and responsiveness to guidance and codes of practice

No.

Quality Indicator

Themes

2.1

Impact on learners

• Qualitative and quantitative data that demonstrate the extent to which learners are:
  – included and participating
  – achieving and attaining
  – progressing.

• The extent to which learners, parents/carers and families report that learners’ educational experiences enable them to become:
  – successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors
  – safe, nurtured, healthy, achieving, active, respected and responsible and included.

2.2

Impact on parents/carers and families

• Quantitative and qualitative data that demonstrate the extent to which parents/carers and families are:
  – treated equally and fairly
  – satisfied with the quality of education provided
  – involved and engaged in their children’s development and learning.

• Extent to which parents/carers and families report that they are:
  – treated equally and fairly
  – satisfied with the quality of education provided
  – involved and engaged in their children’s development and learning.

No.

Quality Indicator

Themes

3.1

Impact on staff

• Quantitative and qualitative data that demonstrate the extent to which staff:
  – are motivated, confident and valued
  – improve their practice through training and development activities
  – have positive experiences of the quality of central services and external/partner agencies
  – work effectively in teams.

• Extent to which staff report that they:
  – are motivated, confident and valued
  – improve their practice through training and development activities
  – have positive experiences of the quality of central services and external/partner agencies
  – work effectively in teams.

No.

Quality Indicator

Themes

4.1

Impact on the local community

• Evaluations of quantitative and qualitative data that demonstrate the extent to which the council:
  – engages with and supports organisations in the community
  – contributes to supporting community influence and representation
  – contributes to achieving social justice
  – engages local communities in and contributes to wider developments (e.g. national or international)
  – supports social and economic development.

• Extent to which the community reports that the council:
  – engages with and supports organisations in the community
  – contributes to supporting community influence and representation
  – contributes to achieving social justice
  – engages local communities in and contributes to wider developments (e.g. national or international)
  – supports social and economic development.

4.2

Impact on the wider community

• Evaluations of quantitative and qualitative data that demonstrate the extent to which the council:
  – encourages and supports creativity and innovation
  – learns from and adopts leading-edge practice
  – influences wider policy or practice
  – anticipates and responds rapidly and flexibly to change.

No.

Quality Indicator

Theme

5.1

Delivering education services

• Service delivery
• Implementation of the council’s policies, strategies and plans
• Action to meet the needs of children, young people and adults
• Recognising achievement in the community

5.2

Inclusion, equality and fairness

• Inclusion, equality and fairness

5.3

Improving the quality of services and establishments

• Arrangements for quality assurance and improvement
• Support and challenge
• Evaluating outcomes, and feedback from learners, participants and other stakeholders
• Planning for improvement and monitoring progress
• Reporting progress to stakeholders

No.

Quality Indicator

Theme

6.1

Policy review and development

• Range and appropriateness of policies
• Coherence with council-wide policy
• Links to vision, values and aims
• Managing, evaluating and updating policies

6.2

Participation of learners and other stakeholders

• Involvement in policy development
• Communication and consultation
• Active participation in the work of the service

6.3

Operational planning

• Developing, implementing and evaluating plans
• Structure and content of plans
• Use of management information
• Joint planning with partner organisations and services
• Planning for sustainability

No.

Quality Indicator

Theme

7.1

Sufficiency, recruitment and retention

• Identifying and meeting human resource needs
• Recruitment, appointment and induction procedures
• Care and welfare
• Equality and fairness in recruitment and promotion
• Recognition

7.2

Deployment and teamwork

• Appropriateness and clarity of remits
• Deployment to achieve planned priorities
• Teamworking
• Communication and involvement in decision making

7.3

Development and support

• Processes for staff review and support
• Training and development
• Joint training with staff from partner agencies

No.

Quality Indicator

Theme

8.1

Partnership working

• Clarity of purposes and aims
• Service level agreements, roles and remits
• Working across agencies and disciplines
• Staff roles in partnerships

8.2

Financial management

• Setting budgets and enterprise in securing funding
• Range and implementation of financial procedures and controls
• Processes for collecting, evaluating and communicating financial information
• Providing Best Value

8.3

Resource management

• Accommodation
• Resources and equipment
• Efficiency and effectiveness in use of resources
• Health and safety

8.4

Information systems

• Data collection, storage and retrieval
• Linkages between, and sharing of information
• Processes for analysing, evaluating and using information

No.

Quality Indicator

Theme

9.1

Vision, values and aims

• Appropriateness and coherence with corporate and community vision, values and aims
• Sharing and sustaining the vision
• Promotion of positive attitudes to social and cultural diversity

9.2

Leadership and direction

• Strategic planning and communication
• Strategic deployment of resources
• Evaluation of risk

9.3

Developing people and partnerships

• Developing leadership capacity
• Building and sustaining relationships
• Teamwork and partnerships

9.4

Leadership of change and improvement

• Support and challenge
• Creativity, innovation and step change
• Continuous improvement

This last of the high-level questions requires a global judgement based on evidence and evaluations of all key areas. In answering this question councils should also take into account contextual issues such as impending retirements of senior staff, plans to restructure and significant changes in funding. They should also consider their ability to respond quickly to change and to be creative and innovative in the pursuit of excellence.

The council should be able to make a statement with the following components:

"The council is confident/not confident that the evidence and evaluation to date indicates that:

• overall improvements have been made to key outcomes and to impacts on stakeholders;
• leadership and management are effective; and
• quality improvement arrangements are effective and the council has the capacity to continue improving."

The levels of confidence expressed for each component may be different and may include some reservations or caveats, but should lead to an overall statement of confidence in the council’s capacity to improve in relation to its education functions.

For example, the statement could say, "The council is confident that the evidence and evaluation to date indicates that:

• improvements have been made to achieving almost all key outcomes and, overall, improvements have been made to meet the needs of service users but the attainment of secondary school pupils requires further improvement;
• leadership and management are currently effective but key posts will become vacant in the near future; and
• quality improvement arrangements are effective in all areas except youthwork and the council has demonstrated the capacity to continue improving."