Quality assurance in early childhood and school education

11.Quality assurance

11.1Quality assurance in early childhood and school education

Last update: 23 June 2022

contributes to the improvement of the quality and equity of education
directs educational policies
increases the transparency and effectiveness of the education system
offers information on the degree of compliance with the improvement objectives established by the education authorities
provides information on the degree of achievement of the Spanish and European educational objectives, as well as on compliance with the educational commitments made concerning the demand of the Spanish society and the goals set in the context of the European Union.

Responsible bodies

The bodies responsible for the evaluation of the quality of the education system in pre-primary, primary and secondary education are the following:

State Educational Inspectorate
National Institute for Educational Evaluation, reporting to the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport
educational inspection bodies of the Autonomous Communities
bodies for the evaluation of the education system in the Autonomous Communities.

State Educational Inspectorate

The State Educational Inspectorate:

is carried out by the State through the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MEFP)
is in charge of ensuring compliance with the powers conferred on the State as well as observance of the constitutional principles and regulations and the different acts on education throughout the national territory.
is organized as a peripheral service of the General State Administration and is integrated in the Government delegations in each autonomous community
The Government Delegations coordinate these services in the area of non-university education, submit the reports and minutes derived from the State Inspectorate's performance in this area to the MEFP, and also establish the corresponding collaboration with the Autonomous Communities.

Its responsibilities are the following:

to check compliance with the requirements established by the State in the general organisation of the education system regarding branches, stages, cycles and specialities and the corresponding number of years in each case
to check that the basic aspects of the curriculum have been included in the curricula established by the education authorities and that they comply with the relevant national organisation
to check compliance with the conditions for the awarding, issuing and recognition of certificates, as well as their academic and professional validity
to ensure compliance with basic conditions guaranteeing the equality of all Spaniards in the exercise of their rights and duties in education, as well as with their linguistic rights
to verify that subsidies and grants are awarded in accordance with the general criteria established by national regulations.

National Institute for Educational Evaluation of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training

The National Institute for Educational Evaluation (INEE) is the body of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training responsible for the evaluation of the Spanish education system, in collaboration with the education authorities.

This collaboration was established in 2004 with the creation of the Educational Evaluation Working Group (GTEE), coordinated by INEE, in which the Autonomous Communities participate by sending representatives to the annual meetings. Its objectives are:

to serve as an instrument of representation of the educational administrations in the area of educational evaluation, as well as to become a stable information and participation body for decision-making;
to provide cohesion and consistency in the evaluation of the Spanish education system through the creation and coordination of working groups and committees dealing with specific technical aspects, such as the development of common diagnostic frameworks or the development of the national system of education indicators.

The functions and responsibilities of INEE are established in the Education Law 2/2006, of May 3, modified by Law 3/2020, of December 29 (LOMLOE) and in Royal Decree 498/2020, of April 28, which develops the basic organic structure of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, and they are the following:

development of multi-annual plans for the general evaluation of the education system (making the evaluation criteria and procedures public before they are implemented);
establishment of methodological and scientific standards guaranteeing the quality, validity and reliability of educational evaluations;
coordination of the participation of Spain in international evaluations with the relevant international bodies: OECD, IEA, European Commission;
development of the National System of Education Indicators, which will contribute to knowledge on the education system, as well as to inform decision-making by educational institutions and all the sectors involved in education. The education authorities of the Autonomous Communities will provide the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training with the relevant data required;
drafting of the diagnostic evaluations in 4th grade of Primary Education and 2nd grade of Compulsory Secondary Education;
management of information and documentation networks on education systems (EURYDICE-Spain, REDIE, and others).

The Ministry of Education and Vocational Training will periodically publish the conclusions of general interest of the evaluations carried out by the National Institute for Educational Evaluation in collaboration with the education authorities, and will share the information of the National System of Education Indicators.

Educational inspection of the Autonomous Communities

It is performed on all elements and aspects of the education system, it is the link between the administration and educational institutions, and plays a key role in external school evaluation processes.

Its main functions are the following:

to supervise, evaluate and monitor, from an educational and organisational point of view, the running of educational institutions, as well as their programmes
to supervise the teaching practice and the managerial function, and cooperate in their constant improvement
to participate in the evaluation of the education system and all its elements
to monitor compliance with the acts, regulations and other provisions on the education system that are in force in educational institutions
ensure compliance and implementation of the principles and values of the Education Act, including those aimed at promoting real equality between men and women
to provide counselling, guidance and information to the various sectors of the educational community in exercising their rights fulfilling their obligations
to submit the reports required by the relevant education authorities, or those arising from the understanding of reality inherent to educational inspection, through the established channels
to guide school management teams in the adoption and monitoring of measures that favour coexistence, the participation of the educational community, and the resolution of conflicts, promoting and participating, when necessary, in mediation processes.

The Autonomous Communities have regulated and passed regulations on the organisation and functioning of their educational inspection services. In the case of the Autonomous Communities which have defined and approved their own School Evaluation Plan, the Inspectorate carries out the external evaluation in accordance with the Plan, which occasionally implies collaborating with other regional evaluation institutions.

Educational inspection is carried out by the Inspectorate civil servants. In undertaking their tasks, they are to be considered a public authority and their activities include:

to know, supervise and observe all the activities carried out in the centres, both public and private, to which they will have free access
to examine and check any academic, pedagogical and administrative documentation of schools they may deem necessary
to have the collaboration of other civil servants and those responsible for public and private educational institutions and services in order to carry out their tasks
to raise reports and make requirements when non-compliance in the application of the regulations is detected, and draw up minutes, either on its own initiative or at the request of the corresponding administrative authority.

For more information, see Staff involved in monitoring educational quality for early childhood and school education.

Bodies for the evaluation of the education system in the Autonomous Communities

Some Autonomous Communities have set up specific institutions for the evaluation of the education system. In some others, this type of evaluation is carried out by units of the education administration which are not exclusively devoted to this activity.

The main functions of these bodies in the non-university area in all the Autonomous Communities are:

collaboration and participation together with INEE in national and international evaluations, as well as in the preparation of general diagnostic evaluations and in the evaluation of 4th year in Primary Education;
cooperation in the implementation of the National System of Education Indicators.

Furthermore, the educational authorities entrust other functions to these bodies:

the evaluation of educational centres
the drafting of reports
the dissemination and promotion of the results of educational evaluation
any processes that can contribute to the quality and improvement of teaching and education
educational research and innovation
the elaboration of educational indicators for each autonomous community.

Both the characteristics and the functions of these bodies are different in each autonomous community. More information on Bodies in charge of the evaluation of the education system and the educational authorities’ functions.

Approaches and methods for quality assurance

At State level, the education system is evaluated through:

the National System of Education Indicators
external end-of-stage diagnostic evaluations
the participation in international educational evaluation projects, led by different supranational bodies (OECD, PISA, IEA, European Commission).

At regional level, each education authority:

may conduct additional external diagnostic evaluations within the scope of its competences
carry out plans for the evaluation of their educational institutions, and conduct assessments of the managerial function and teachers in order to learn about the situation of educational institutions and students in its region and propose improvement plans.
participates in international assessment projects through INEE.

Finally, educational institutions may design and carry out their own internal or external evaluations.

Evaluation of the education system

The evaluation of the education system is the responsibility of the National Institute for Educational Evaluation (INEE), in collaboration with the education authorities. This evaluation is conducted through different mechanisms:

State System for the establishment of Education Indicators (SEIE)
External evaluations at the end of the stage in Primary Education and Compulsory Secondary Education
Participation in international evaluation studies.

National System of Education Indicators (SEIE)

The SEIE is a synthesis of educational data in Spain drawn up by the National Institute for Educational Evaluation, together with the Subdirectorate General for Statistics and Studies, with the aim of providing an overview of education in Spain:

it contributes to knowledge on the education system, as well as to inform decision-making by educational institutions and all the sectors involved in education
it presents the results of the main educational statistics, both at national level and broken down into Autonomous Communities
it provides international data placing the country in the framework of the OECD and the European Union.

Its first version was published in 2000 and, since then, fifteen editions have been released, the latest in 2021.

At present, the National System of Education Indicators comprises 21 indicators, which are in turn divided into sub-indicators corresponding to 3 dimensions. Their update is variable and depends on the availability of new data:

Schooling and educational environment
- schooling and population
- schooling rates in the notional ages of non-compulsory levels
- foreign students
- students per group and teacher
- vocational training
- foreign language learning
- student with specific educational support needs
- students per group and teacher
- teachers in the education system
- students with academic support specific needs
- information and communication technologies in education and training.
Educational funding:
- total expenditure on education
- expenditure on education per student.
Educational outcomes:
- basic skills in the 4th year of Primary Education
- basic skills in the 2nd year of Compulsory Secondary Education
- key skills at the age of 15
- minimum level of proficiency in reading and mathematics
- students’ age suitability
- early drop-out in education and training
- graduation rates
- level of training of adult population
- activity and unemployment rates according to level of training
- income according to level of training.

Several autonomous communities draw up reports in which they analyse and detail the State System of Education Indicators in their territorial context.

Some have also developed their own indicators regarding the context, resources, processes and results of the education system. To do so, they use statistics and other information from different sources, such as the educational administration itself, the National Statistics Institute, the autonomous statistical institutes, Eurostat, international studies or diagnostic evaluations.

External end-of-stage evaluations in Primary Education and Compulsory Secondary Education

Two types of external evaluations are established:

general evaluation of the education system (at theend of stage)
diagnostic evaluations.

General evaluations of the education system

The National Institute for Educational Evaluation, in collaboration with the education administrations, within the framework of the general evaluation of the educational system, evaluations will be carried out to obtain representative data, both from the student body and from the centres of the Autonomous Communities as well as the State.

These assessments will focus on the competencies established in the curriculum and will be developed in primary and secondary education. These evaluations will take into account the students with special educational needs derived from disabilities, and will include, during the evaluations, the adaptations and resources that they previously had.

End-of-stage evaluations will be undertaken both, at the end of primary school, in 6th grade of Primary Education, and at the end of secondary education, in 4th grade of Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO), and their purpose is to obtain representative data, both from students and from the centres of the Autonomous Communities, as well as the state.

They will consist of an evaluation of the competences acquired by the students and will be sample and multi-year.

Diagnostic evaluations

Educational centres will carry out an evaluation of all their students in the fourth year of Primary Education and in the second year of Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO), as provided by the educational administrations. The purpose of this evaluation will be diagnostic and it will verify at least the degree of mastery of the competence in linguistic communication and mathematical competence. These evaluations will be informative, formative and guiding for the centres, for the teachers, for the students and their families, and for the entire educational community. The educational centres will take into account the results of these evaluations in the design of their improvement plans.

It is the responsibility of the educational administrations to develop and control the diagnostic evaluations in which their dependent centres participate, and to provide the relevant models and support so that all centres can adequately carry out these evaluations, which will be of educational and internal nature.

In no case, the results of these evaluations may be used to establish classifications of the centres.

Participation in international evaluation studies

Spain participates in several international evaluation projects, which include:

INES (International Indicators of Education Systems), of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), in which Spain participates since it was established in 1992.
PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), of the OECD. Spain has participated in all the cycles of the PISA Project and has drawn up national reports based on the Spanish results in this assessment programme. Its latest edition has been conducted in 2018.
TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study), of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). Under a common theoretical framework, progress in Mathematics and Science in the 4th year of primary education and in the 2nd year of compulsory secondary education is evaluated. In 2011 and 2015 Spain participated in the assessment of primary education. In 2019, 4th grade primary school students participated in this study in Spain with the innovation that TIMSS was delivered in tablet format to a sample of approximately 11,800 students.
PISA for Schools, of the OECD. It is an external evaluation aimed at improvement. Spain took part in the pilot test in 2013. Educational centres from all the autonomous communities participate as well as others from the management scope of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training. Currently, it is conducted digitally as PISA.
PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study), of the IEA. Spain has participated in the 2006, 2011 and 2016 assessments conducted in the 4th year of primary education.
TALIS (Teaching and Learning International Survey), of the OECD. It analyses the learning environment and working conditions of compulsory secondary education teachers. Its latest edition has taken place in 2018.
ICCS (International Civic and Citizenship Education Study) of the IEA (2009), on students’ knowledge and understanding, as well as attitudes, values, perceptions and actions relating to civics and citizenship. Spain participated in this study in 2009 and will participate again in the next edition in 2022.
EECL (European Study on Linguistic Competence) of the European Union, 2011. The international report and the Spanish report of this study have been published, which provides comparable information on the foreign language skills of European students at the end of compulsory secondary education.
TEDS-M (Teacher Education Study in Mathematics), of the IEA, carried out between 2007 to assess the knowledge acquired by future teachers of mathematics in Primary and Secondary Compulsory Education at the end of their initial training. In 2012 the Spanish Report on the International Study on Initial Teacher Training in Mathematics was published.

With regard to international studies, most Autonomous Communities have extended the PISA sample in order to obtain representative data for their territory. They also participate in other international evaluation studies where they also broaden the sample.

Most of these evaluations are managed by the National Institute of Educational Evaluation.

Evaluation of educational institutions

The education authorities of the Autonomous Communities:

may draw up and carry out plans for the evaluation of educational institutions, which take into account the socio-economic and cultural situations of families and pupils, the environment of the school and its resources
must support and facilitate school self-evaluation.

External evaluation of educational institutions

Each Autonomous Community is responsible for the design and implementation of the mechanisms for the external evaluation of the schools within its territory and, in addition, can establish its own self-evaluation or internal evaluation model. Because of their complementarity, they are jointly regulated in several regions.

In addition, some of them draw up external evaluation plans including other mechanisms. Although they differ between the education authorities, their most characteristic features are the following:

their frequency varies, but often coincides with the period covered by the school management
the responsible body, which is normally the Inspectorate, in some cases in collaboration with the bodies for evaluation and educational quality of the Autonomous Communities, defines the areas to be evaluated and normally establishes indicators
contextual aspects, resources, processes and educational outcomes are evaluated. In some cases, other aspects, such as equity conditions, are assessed
the procedures used normally include the analysis of school documents, interviews and questionnaires from different sectors of the educational community, as well as the direct observation of teaching and learning situations
the results of the evaluation are included in a report which is made available to the education administration and the school for them to introduce improvement measures.

Finally, the recent participation of Spain in PISA for Schools constitutes an additional method for the evaluation of schools, since it provides data at school level and information about their performance in relation to other factors.

Internal evaluation of educational institutions

Several Autonomous Communities, normally through their bodies for evaluation and educational quality, have developed guidelines and orientations to support self-evaluation or internal school evaluation. They address different aspects such as evaluation areas, indicators, procedures, instruments or advice for the drawing up of an improvement plan.

This type of evaluation is normally annual although, in some cases, it is specified that it is continuous and its results are included in external assessments, depending on the stipulated time frame for the latter. In general, the school management is responsible for the coordination of the internal evaluation process and the Inspectorate undertakes advisory or supervisory tasks.

In addition, some Autonomous Communities have established quality programmes or procedures for the implementation of quality management systems, which are voluntary for schools.

Evaluation of the teaching and managerial functions

The education authorities of the Autonomous Communities:

must draw up plans for the evaluation of the teaching staff in the civil service in order to improve the quality of education and the work of teachers
may draw up plans for the assessment of the managerial function.

Plans for the evaluation of the teaching staff in the civil service must:

be drawn up with the participation of teachers and be public
include the aims and assessment criteria, as well as the way in which teachers, the educational community and the administration participate in the evaluation process
encourage voluntary teacher evaluation
establish the necessary procedures so that the results of these assessments, together with in-service training, research and innovation activities, are taken into account in competitions for transfers and career advancement.

The participation in international evaluation programmes such as TALIS helps to obtain information on teachers and compare it with other countries.

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