Our supervision is based on five principles.
- Improving the quality of the education system
- The responsibilities of the school governing board
- Assuring quality
- Promoting quality
- Proportionality and customization
The inspection works with various frameworks covering the education system as a whole. There is a framework for schools and educational institutions and a framework for school governing boards.
System level
Society has a great interest in a well-functioning education system. That is the reason why we look at how the system develops and report about this to the public. To gain insight into the system level we conduct different types of (thematic) research.
By system-level quality, we mean the degree to which all school governing bodies and schools, working with and alongside each other, contribute to achieving the core functions of education for all pupils. Together, they should ensure that the core functions of education – qualification, socialization and allocation, as well as selection and equal opportunities – are fulfilled successfully and in a balanced manner.
Board level
The governing bodies play a central role in our supervision. They are responsible for the quality of education and finances of their schools and institutions. It is their duty to monitor their schools and institutions and to promote quality improvement. We have two types of inspections for school governing boards. For governing boards at risk, we have elaborate inspections that can take weeks. These inspections usually include conversations with key figures and verification activities at schools. The other type of inspection is for governing boards not at risk. These visits consist out of one day of conversations and are not concluded with a judgement but with a written conclusion.
School level
We digitally analyze all schools every year, and the schools and institutions with the highest risks are inspected. Additionally, we visit a sample of schools and new founded schools. The schools are assessed on a standard set of standards and receive an overall judgement. In case of risk based inspections, some standards may be added depending on the risks.
Lastly, we have introduced unannounced school visits. We conduct these visits without prior announcement, focusing on important aspects of the teaching-learning process, such as teaching quality and (social) safety. The visits have a quality-promoting character without issuing an overall judgement.