Evaluation of special education as an example of evaluation culture development in a decentralized education system
Title:
Evaluation of special education as an example of evaluation culture development in a decentralized education system
Author:
Laukkanen, Reijo
Appeared in:
European journal of special needs education
Paging:
Volume 12 (1997) nr. 1 pages 1-11
Year:
1997-03
Contents:
In Finland, as in many other countries, the evaluation of educational developments and change has become an important topic for research. Decision-makers want to know what is happening in schools and to justify national policy decisions on the grounds of evaluation findings. Furthermore, this information is supposed to be used as a basis for steering educational change by local decision-makers and the schools themselves. In a highly decentralized education system, as in Finland, the use of evaluation findings in policy formulation is limited. Since the evaluation culture in this society is still very young, there are certain difficulties in the utilization of national evaluations at the local level. The paper analyses the twin issues of the use of national evaluations at both local and national levels. It is argued that criticism of the decision-makers, in this respect, is paradoxical. They are criticized in two ways: not using the knowledge gained from evaluations, but also for using this knowledge. Although there are promising signs of a new evaluation culture, its development takes time. It is also argued that we need research that studies the official hypotheses of the functions of evaluation. A case study of the evaluation of the Finnish special education system is presented.
Journal description