Publicação
Private and vocational schools from oversight to insight: external evaluation of schools and self-evaluation in dialogue
| dc.contributor.author | Seabra, Filipa | |
| dc.contributor.author | Sousa, Joana | |
| dc.contributor.author | Álvaro, Maria Helena | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-09-01T08:55:37Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-09-01T08:55:37Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2026-08-04 | en_US |
| dc.date.updated | 2026-08-08T17:48:43Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | Introduction: External School Evaluation and School Self-Evaluation are increasingly understood as complementary mechanisms within national regulatory architectures, yet the way this relationship unfolds in types of schools only recently incorporated into state inspection frameworks remains under-researched. This study examines that relationship within Portuguese private and vocational schools, both of which entered the third cycle of External School Evaluation in 2018. Methods: The corpus comprised 47 inspection reports published between 2018 and 2025 (24 from private schools and 23 from vocational schools), analysed using quantitative document content analysis. Qualitative inspectorate judgements for the self-evaluation domain were converted into a discrete five-point numerical scale to perform non-parametric comparative tests, while specific institutional strengths and areas for improvement were coded inductively to trace longitudinal trends. Results: The statistical findings reveal a steady upward trend and progressive convergence between global inspection averages and self-evaluation scores across the cycle, suggesting that external judgements operate as a comparative baseline that stabilises internal routines. Vocational schools achieved significantly higher scores on both indicators and relied predominantly on the European Quality Assurance Reference Framework for Vocational Education and Training, which correlated positively with evaluative outcomes. Conversely, private schools relied on self-designed models, displaying lower procedural systematicity but a more pronounced textual focus on curricular and pedagogical dimensions. Discussion: Rather than establishing a direct causal link, the findings suggest that external evaluation operates as a discursive mechanism that consolidates internal administrative regularities, while the translation of evaluative evidence into concrete classroom practice persists as a complex institutional challenge. Reconciling managerial compliance with shared pedagogical reflection remains a critical condition for sustainable school development. | eng |
| dc.description.sponsorship | The author(s) declared that financial support was received for this work and/or its publication. This manuscript is supported by national funds through the FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., in the scope of project through the project UID/04372/2025, https://doi.org/10.54499/UID/04372/2025and under the Pluriannual Funding of CIEd—Research Centre on Education of the University of Minho (UID/01661/2025). The funders had no role in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article, or the decision to submit it for publication. | |
| dc.description.version | N/A | |
| dc.identifier.doi | 10.3389/feduc.2026.1811512 | en_US |
| dc.identifier.issn | 2504-284X | en_US |
| dc.identifier.slug | cv-prod-5084485 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/22323 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | |
| dc.peerreviewed | yes | |
| dc.relation.hasversion | https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2026.1811512/full | |
| dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | |
| dc.subject | Data-based decision making | |
| dc.subject | External evaluation of schools | |
| dc.subject | Private schools | |
| dc.subject | Reinforcement data use | |
| dc.subject | School evaluation | |
| dc.subject | School improvement | |
| dc.subject | School selfevaluation | |
| dc.subject | Vocational schools | |
| dc.title | Private and vocational schools from oversight to insight: external evaluation of schools and self-evaluation in dialogue | eng |
| dc.type | journal article | |
| dspace.entity.type | Publication | |
| oaire.citation.title | Frontiers in Education | en_US |
| oaire.citation.volume | 11 | en_US |
| oaire.version | http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85 | |
| person.familyName | Seabra | |
| person.givenName | Filipa | |
| person.identifier | YawJROIAAAAJ&hl=pt-PT | |
| person.identifier.ciencia-id | 991A-6004-246D | |
| person.identifier.orcid | 0000-0003-1690-9502 | |
| person.identifier.scopus-author-id | 57210809988 | |
| rcaap.cv.cienciaid | 991A-6004-246D | FILIPA ISABEL BARRETO DE SEABRA BORGES | |
| rcaap.rights | openAccess | en_US |
| relation.isAuthorOfPublication | 03e74dcb-cdcf-49c7-b3a6-e83f7bab1cec | |
| relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery | 03e74dcb-cdcf-49c7-b3a6-e83f7bab1cec |