External evaluation of EVA in 2005
Summary of the external evaluation of EVA
Terms of reference and the nature of the task
The brief was to evaluate the totality of the activities of EVA in three central areas: evaluation, knowledge centre activities and revenue-generating activities. The strategic considerations of the Institute have been examined as well as the processes and methods chosen. The management and internal organisation of the Institute have also been analysed. The external framework and conditions applying to the work of the Institute have been considered in the assessment.
The evaluation is a continuation of the extensive quality assurance efforts carried out by EVA since the establishment of the Institute. Another aim has been to qualify the Institute for inclusion in the register of quality assurance agencies active in Europe, which is now being developed within the framework of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA).
The evaluation process
The evaluation has been carried out by a panel of assessors consisting of five Nordic experts: Henrik Tvarnö (chair), Secretary General of the Danish Folketing, Sigbrit Franke, University Chancellor and Director General of the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education, Kirsi Lindroos, Director General of the National Finnish Board of Education, and Rolf Sandahl, Head of Department, The Swedish National Financial Management Authority. Eva Åström, Project Manager at Högskoleverket has been the panel's secretary and been responsible for the implementation of the evaluation.
The self-evaluation report prepared by EVA has served as the basis of the assessments of the panel. Supplementary information has been gathered during four days' site visit to EVA. The staff, management, Board and Committee of Representatives have been interviewed, as well as chairs of panels of assessors, representatives of stakeholders and the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.
The panel's overall assessment
The Danish Evaluation Institute was established in 1999. In the course of the more than five years that have passed since then, EVA has taken on all the tasks included in its broad mandate and has built up, with enthusiasm, a sphere of activities, which is to a large extent new. In our opinion, this is an achievement which the management and staff of EVA can be proud of.
The approach and the methods used are in agreement with international practice.
The panel of assessors has examined the activities of EVA in relation to the European standards and guidelines for quality assurance agencies proposed by ENQA. The panel finds that EVA complies with the ENQA quality standards in all essentials. The Institute should, therefore, be well qualified to be included in the register of quality assurance agencies active in Europe in the category of European national agencies that have been reviewed and fulfil all the European standards for external quality assurance agencies.
The mission and responsibilities of the Danish Evaluation Institute
The Danish Evaluation Institute was established with the mission to carry out systematic evaluations of primary and lower secondary education, upper secondary education, higher education and adult education and continuing training. The mission is specified in the Lov om Danmarks Evalueringsinstitut (The Danish Evaluation Institute Act, the so-called EVA Act).
The broad mission should be reconsidered
In the opinion of the panel, there are several reasons to reconsider the present broad mission of EVA. The Danish prioritisations with regard to education are different today from when EVA was established. Changes of management and monitoring systems within various sectors of education have been implemented and further modifications are in progress.
The role of EVA as an evaluator of educational quality appears unclear at the present moment, and the independence which is to characterise the work of EVA according to the EVA Act is limited in several respects.
The panel of assessors recommends that the present broad scope of EVA's mission, i.e. the responsibility for evaluation within all educational sectors, be reconsidered.
In late February 2006 EVA has published the institute's plan for following up the recommendations of the external evaluation. The plan is written in Danish only. However, you are welcome to contact us if you would like to know about the content of the plan for following up.
