{"schema_version":"ICEQC_NEWS_ARTICLE_V1","id":"iceqc-news-78d22a386c5124cc","slug":"2016-03-31-testing-whether-improvements-in-global-citizenship-education-are-sustained","language":"en","publication_status":"READY_FOR_IMPORT","publication_date":"2016-03-31","last_modified_date":"2016-03-31","title":"Testing whether improvements in global citizenship education are sustained","summary":"Sets out a controlled approach to testing whether improvements in global citizenship education are sustained, linking diagnosis, accountable action, outcome measures.","category":{"code":"QUALITY_IMPROVEMENT_METHODS","label":"Quality Improvement Methods"},"article_type":"Quality improvement method","publisher":"International Council for Education Quality Certification (ICEQC)","jurisdictional_scope":"International","historical_reference_basis":"SDG target 4.7 implementation","reference_authority":"Relevant public authorities and official international sources","sections":[{"heading":null,"paragraphs":["Against the background of the SDG target 4.7 implementation, education authorities and providers should review how global citizenship education is defined, implemented and evidenced. For the issue under review, effective improvement requires ownership, a time-bound intervention and independent confirmation that the intended result has been achieved. The decision should address both public impact and the responsibilities attached to entrusted educational resources. Assessment should focus on the public outcome rather than presume one administrative arrangement.","The historical reference basis is the SDG target 4.7 implementation. Its relevance to the issue under review should be assessed against the affected jurisdiction, learner population and form of provision. In relation to testing whether improvements in global citizenship education are sustained, the international development warrants attention, but a consequential conclusion still requires current, attributable and representative evidence for the affected scope.","For the improvement objective, the public interest is not confined to institutional compliance. For the practice, quality assurance should connect stated educational purposes with implemented controls, reliable evidence and action where outcomes fall below expectation. Learner protection requires intelligible information and a timely means of reviewing consequential mistakes or unfair decisions."]},{"heading":"Defining the problem","paragraphs":["In practical terms, global citizenship education should be reviewed against a stated method rather than general assurance. A decision concerning the practice should recognise that effectiveness is the demonstrated change in the condition the action was intended to address. Completion of training, publication of guidance or installation of a system is an output and should not be reported as an outcome without further evidence. The method, assumptions and limitations should be stated in terms suitable for responsible decision-making.","Implementation of the practice should be organised around a decision that can be tested. For the intervention, a complete improvement record should define the baseline, affected scope, causal hypothesis, responsible owner, resources, milestones and measures of effectiveness. Resources and activity should be reconciled with the operating evidence and result for which the responsible function is accountable."]},{"heading":"Improvement method","paragraphs":["Failure in relation to global citizenship education may arise even where the stated policy is reasonable. Material concerns include policy detached from practice, learner experience omitted from review, variation across sites or programmes, and responsibility distributed without clear ownership. Review should consider whether an exception is prolonged, recurring or capable of affecting learners outside the cases examined.","Relevant evidence for the intervention will normally include verified corrective action, representative outcome information, learner and staff evidence, independent checks of material claims, and approved objectives and responsibilities. Evidence outside the relevant period or scope should be identified and given no more weight than its limitations permit. Contradictory evidence should be investigated and resolved, not omitted from the record.","The review method for the issue under review should be reproducible. A competent review of the practice should set a baseline and success measure before intervention, define the review period, compare the result with the intended outcome and examine adverse or unequal effects. In relation to testing whether improvements in global citizenship education are sustained, continue monitoring long enough to determine whether the improvement is sustained. Documentation should be sufficient to reconstruct the judgement without relying on unrecorded explanation."]},{"heading":"Measures and review","paragraphs":["A decision to close improvement work on global citizenship education should be made by a person with authority and sufficient independence from implementation.","Interpretation of the issue under review should avoid two errors: treating a formal commitment as proof of effect, and treating one adverse case as proof that every part of the system has failed. Oversight of testing whether improvements in global citizenship education are sustained should reflect the principle that quality cannot be inferred from reputation, intention or documentation alone. Documented intention should be tested against practice and observable result. Oversight of testing whether improvements in global citizenship education are sustained should reflect the principle that methods should be proportionate to the significance and recurrence of the problem; low-risk local issues and systemic learner-protection failures require different levels of control.","The assurance record for the improvement objective should retain the date of the evidence, the source responsible for it, the scope examined and the version of any instrument or definition applied. A later reviewer should be able to identify whether the condition changed or the evidential record was corrected. Revision should not remove an earlier conclusion from the record where reliance has occurred.","Accountability for the issue under review should follow decision-making authority. Delegation of delivery does not remove the need for a named authority to oversee material learner impact.","The appropriate response to the corrective programme is therefore one of controlled implementation and review. The decision record should connect the stated objective to suitable evidence and the position of those affected. Assurance should be withheld for the affected scope until the limitation is resolved."]}],"word_count":785,"content_hash":"sha256-2e7fd94e1ed539817bd6c3f1ca630d892c4416f0c3fd09d378ea5eefeaedf0e9","seo_keywords":["testing whether improvements in global citizenship education are sustained","education quality improvement","education quality","ICEQC"],"schema_type":"TechArticle"}