Foreword
In the 2005/06 school year, External School Reviews (ESR), focus inspections on various themes and Quality Assurance (QA) Inspections were conducted in 340 schools.
The Education and Manpower Bureau (EMB) launched ESR in the second half of the 2003/04 school year. Since then, ESR has become the major inspection mode, with 196 primary and secondary schools being reviewed during the 2005/06 school year. In the light of school contexts, teachers’ feedback and professional advice, EMB has made modifications to the review procedures and reporting requirements which include not requiring schools to provide ratings on the 14 Performance Indicators in their School Self-Assessment (SSA) report; submitting only three documents for ESR and not uploading the ESR report for the current cycle onto EMB’s website. In addition, the e-platform on School Development and Accountability (ESDA) was officially launched by EMB in November 2005. This provides schools with a one-stop means to expedite collection and management of data in preparation for SSE and ESR, alleviating teachers’ workload. Schools can also have access via ESDA to the Key Performance Measures (KPM) reference and norm data prepared by the Bureau for reference when conducting SSE and formulating their development plans.
There are 5 chapters in this report. Chapter 1 summarizes the information on Inspections in the 2005/06 school year. Chapter 2 focuses on the performance of these schools in the four Domains of “Management and Organization”, “Learning and Teaching”, “School Ethos and Student Support” and “Student Performance”.
The 2003/4 and 2004/05 Annual Inspection Reports did not cover special schools as the number of these schools having undergone ESR was relatively small. By the end of the 2005/06 school year, 37 special schools, or 60% of the special schools in Hong Kong have undergone ESR or been inspected as part of ‘A Study of the Effectiveness of Special Schools’. Chapter 3 of this report summarizes the performance of special schools undergoing ESR and ‘A Study of the Effectiveness of Special Schools’ in the 2005/06 school year in order to provide an overview of the performance of special schools.
Chapter 4 summarizes the major findings of two series of focus inspections (FI), including “Focus Inspections on Life-wide Learning” conducted in the 2005/06 school year and “Focus Inspections on Effectiveness of Curriculum Leadership in Schools” in the 2003/04 and 2004/05 school years to report on the development and implementation of these two major areas of the curriculum reform.
Schools which underwent ESR in the 2005/06 school year displayed a positive attitude towards the review. They opined that ESR not only gave recognition to achievements and provided professional advice for continued development, but also helped to enhance learning and
i teaching effectiveness. The ESR procedures had also undergone a self-improvement process to benefit from the implementation of the SDA Framework. In response to teachers’ views, EMB officers started to conduct pre-visits before the 2006 summer vacation to schools scheduled for ESR in the 2006/07 school year. The purpose of the pre-visits was to communicate directly to teachers and brief the whole school on the ESR procedures and requirements, with a view to clarifying any misconceptions and averting unnecessary preparation work. We will continue to maintain a close partnership with schools in strengthening the reciprocity of SSE and ESR in school development.
ii Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction ...... 1
Chapter 2 Major Findings of External School Review: Performance of Schools in Individual Areas ...... 4 2.1 Introduction...... 4 2.2 Management and Organization...... 4 2.2.1 Self-evaluation...... 4 2.2.2 Planning and Administration ...... 7 2.2.3 Professional Leadership...... 8 2.2.4 Staff Management...... 10 2.2.5 Planning and Management of Resources...... 12 2.2.6 Summary...... 14 2.3 Learning and Teaching ...... 15 2.3.1 Curriculum...... 15 2.3.2 Teaching ...... 18 2.3.3 Student Learning...... 20 2.3.4 Performance Assessment...... 22 2.3.5 Summary...... 23 2.4 Student Support and School Ethos...... 24 2.4.1 Support for Student Development ...... 24 2.4.2 Links with Parents and External Organizations...... 27 2.4.3 School Culture ...... 29 2.4.4 Summary...... 30 2.5 Student Performance...... 30 2.5.1 Attitude and Behaviour...... 30 2.5.2 Participation and Achievement...... 31 2.5.3 Summary...... 31 2.6 Chapter Conclusion...... 32
Chapter 3 Major Findings of Special Schools Inspections in 2003-2006...... 34 3.1 Introduction...... 34 3.2 Major Findings of Inspection – Performance of Schools in Individual Area...35 3.2.1 Management and Organization...... 35 3.2.2 Learning and Teaching ...... 37 3.2.3 Student Support and School Ethos ...... 43 3.3 Chapter Conclusion...... 45 3.4 Key Issues ...... 46
iii Chapter 4 Thematic highlights: Summary of major findings of Focus Inspections ...... 47 4.1 Introduction...... 47 4.2 Life-wide Learning ...... 47 4.2.1 Inspection Methodology and Aims...... 47 4.2.2 Major Findings...... 47 4.2.3 Concluding remarks...... 52 4.3 學與教領導效能...... 53 4.3.1 背景 ...... 53 4.3.2 視學方法 ...... 54 4.3.3 視學結果 ...... 54 4.3.4 關注事項 ...... 57
Chapter 5 Conclusion...... 58 5.1 Curriculum Reform and SDA ...... 58 5.2 Follow-up on Major Concerns...... 59 5.3 Recommendations...... 61 5.3.1 Establishing Consensus and Strengthening Middle Management...... 61 5.3.2 Promoting self-learning through a student-oriented approach ...... 62 5.3.3 Internalization of Self-evaluation for Continuous Improvement...... 63 5.4 Support and Way Forward...... 63 5.4.1 Successful Experience Sharing...... 64 5.4.2 Developing the Internet Resource System...... 64 5.4.3 Advance Visits before ESR ...... 64 5.4.4 Strengthening Focus Inspection on Key Learning Areas ...... 64 Appendix 1(1) Schools which underwent ESR in 2005/06 ...... A-2 Appendix 1(2) Special Schools which underwent ESR in 2003 to 2006...... A-6 Appendix 1(3) Special Schools which underwent ‘A study of the Effectiveness of Special Schools’in 2005/06...... A-7 Appendix 1(4) Schools which underwent ‘Focus Inspection on Life-wide Learning’ in 2005/06 .....A-8 Appendix 1(5) Schools which underwent ‘Focus Inspections on Effectiveness of Curriculum Leadership in Schools’ in 2003/04 and 2004/05 ...... A-9 Appendix 2 Statistical Analysis of Post-ESR Questionnaires on ESR in 2005/06 ...... A-10
iv Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 In the 2005/06 school year, ESR, focus inspections on various themes and QA Inspections were conducted in 340 schools.
1.2 A total of 196 schools underwent ESR in the 2005/06 school year, as summarized in Table 1: Table 1: Number of schools undergoing ESR
Primary Schools Secondary Schools Special Schools (Note 1) Government 4 3 -- Aided 96 81^ 12 Sub-total 100 84 12 Grand Total 196
Of the 100 primary schools, 14 are bi-sessional, including 5 AM sessions and 9 PM sessions; 12 are under transition from bi-sessional to whole-day schools; and 74 are whole-day schools.
^ One of the secondary schools is operated on the Through-Train Mode.
1.3 A total of 139 schools underwent focus inspections in the 2005/06 school year (Note 2). The areas of inspection and the number of schools involved are summarized in Table 2: Table 2: Information on Focus Inspections
Focus Inspection Primary Schools Secondary Schools Special Schools Chinese Language Education 5 4 -- English Language Education 5 13 -- Mathematics Education 5 3 -- Personal, Social and -- 3 -- Humanities Education Science Education -- 1 -- General Studies 4 -- -- Arts Education 3 -- -- Technology Education -- 1 -- Physical Education 4 -- --
Note (1): As the number of special schools inspected is relatively small and their situations vary, it is inappropriate to compare their performance with those of mainstream primary and secondary schools. Chapter 2 “Major Findings of External School Review” analyzes and reports on the general performance of 84 mainstream secondary schools and 100 mainstream primary schools. For reports of special schools that underwent ESR, please refer to Chapter 3. (2): As the number of schools involved in some focus inspections is too small, this report only covers focus inspections marked with *.
1 (cont’d) Table 2: Information on Focus Inspections
Focus Inspection Primary Schools Secondary Schools Special Schools Medium of Instruction -- 6 -- A Study of the Effectiveness -- -- 10 of Special Schools Follow-up Inspection 1 5 -- Enhancing Curriculum 4 4 -- Planning and Development through School Self-evaluation *Life-wide Learning (Note 2) 19 14 -- *Curriculum Leadership 7 17 1 Sub-total 57 71 11 Grant Total 139 1.4 A total of 3 schools underwent QA inspection in the 2005/06 school year, as summarized in Table 3: Table 3: Number of Schools Inspected in QA Mode (Note 3)
Primary Schools Secondary Schools Special Schools Government ------Aided 3 -- -- Sub-total 3 -- -- Grand Total 3
1.5 A total of 2 Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) schools underwent Comprehensive Review, as summarized in Table 4: Table 4: Number of Schools Inspected in Comprehensive Review Mode (Note 4)
Primary Schools Secondary Schools Special Schools DSS schools 1 1 -- Sub-total 1 1* -- Grand Total 2
* Another 4 DSS secondary schools underwent Comprehensive Review conducted by external educational organizations.
Note (3) and (4): This report does not cover schools that underwent QA inspection and Comprehensive Review as the number of these schools in the year is too small.
2 1.6 The Inspection Section adopted the published Performance Indicators for Hong Kong Schools (2002) to evaluate school performance. Depending on the mode of inspection, various methods were used to consolidate an understanding of schools’ present stage of development, including scrutinizing school documents and information, observing lessons and school activities, and interviewing SMC members, school heads, teachers, parents and students.
3 Chapter 2 Major Findings of External School Review: Performance of Schools in Individual Areas
2.1 Introduction
The purpose of ESR is to validate schools’ SSE findings and to examine their SSE mechanism and processes for quality assurance. This validation process will focus particularly on whether schools have taken into due consideration their own development needs, capacity and potential, whether they are able to formulate appropriate development plans, implement their work strategically, evaluate their effectiveness and draw up follow-up measures to enhance their quality of learning and teaching. This chapter summarizes the major strengths and areas in need of improvement in (Note 5) the area of SSE, as well as the other 13 areas for the primary and secondary schools that underwent ESR in the 2005/06 school year.
2.2 Management and Organization
2.2.1 Self-evaluation
Major Strengths