Models of self-evaluation

Various frameworks exist that can be used in self-evaluation, such as the EFQM Excellence Model, the CQAF model or the CAF model. Developing a specific model often takes too much time and it is also not expedient when the aim is to compare an educational organisation’s operations and results with other educational organisations or with organisations operating in another sector. Many educational organisations have therefore modified or combined existing models to better serve their own needs.

The EFQM Excellence Model

The EFQM Excellence Model is used by thousands of organisations both in the private and public sectors throughout the world as a tool to evaluate and develop their own operations. When an educational organisation wants to benchmark its operations and results with parties operating in other sectors either nationally or internationally, this model will provide good opportunities to do so. The model is also used to provide assessment criteria for the European Quality Award and for most national Quality Awards competitions in Europe, including the Finnish Quality Award, the Finnish Quality Award for Vocational Education and Training and the Finnish Quality Award for Apprenticeship Training. The model was developed by the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM).

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The EFQM Model is a tool that educational organisations may use for the following purposes, among others:

• as a framework for self-evaluation that enables an educational organisation to identify its strengths and areas for improvement and the extent to which its operations and results are in line with the characteristics of an excellent organisation;
• as a framework for the educational organisation’s management system;
• to identify individual areas for improvement.

The EFQM Model is divided into nine evaluation areas, five of which are related to organisational operations, while the remaining four focus on results. The operations evaluation areas, known as ‘enablers’, examine how an organisation functions. The results evaluation areas, in turn, assess what the organisation has achieved. In addition, each evaluation area includes several sub-criteria (32 in all) examining each specific area in more detail.

The EFQM Model is based on the fundamental concepts or characteristics of excellence, which are:

• results orientation
• customer focus
• leadership and constancy of purpose
• management by processes and facts
• people development and involvement
• continuous learning, innovation and improvement
• partnership development
• public responsibility.

The characteristics of excellence have links to different evaluation areas and also to each other. Partnership development, for example, requires identification of partnerships, prioritisation and setting objectives for partnerships such that they generate added value for customers.

In addition, customer focus in vocational education and training requires identification of the needs of customers, such as students and the world of work, development of products and services based on these, and monitoring and analysis of customer results achieved. Results should be used as a basis to improve operations and set new objectives.

The CQAF model (Common Quality Assurance Framework)

The Common Quality Assurance Framework (CQAF) was developed as part of the Copenhagen process in vocational education and training by the European Commission’s Technical Working Group on Quality in VET, which included experts in VET quality management from different Member States and candidate countries and representatives of different social partners, the Commission and the CEDEFOP.

The Copenhagen process aims to reinforce vocational education and training by improving its quality, increasing its attractiveness and promoting mobility among vocational students and qualification-holders within the European Union. In terms of quality assurance, the objective of the Copenhagen process is to promote co-operation in this area with particular focus on exchange of models and methods, as well as common criteria and principles for quality in vocational education and training. The CQAF model was adopted by the Education Council in May 2004 as the Common Quality Assurance Framework for Vocational Education and Training for use by the Member States to promote quality assurance and management on a voluntary basis.

The Common Quality Assurance Framework (CQAF) emphasises continuous quality improvement. The CQAF is designed to help Member States and other countries participating in the development work to develop, improve, monitor and evaluate their own systems and practices, supported by a common reference system and concrete tools. A key principle is to encourage parties operating at different levels of vocational education and training to share experiences, identify and make use of good practices and learn from each other on a voluntary basis. Involvement of stakeholders is important in terms of improving the quality of national and local systems.

The CQAF model can be applied as a quality assurance framework by both national education systems and individual education providers. The phases of quality assurance used in the model are shown in the diagram below.

The elements of the model are planning, implementation, evaluation and assessment and review (feedback and procedures for change), each of which is assigned a set of quality criteria. Considering the variety of choices made by Member States for dealing with quality assurance and development in vocational education and training, the core quality criteria are also presented such that they can be applied to different operating environments. The questions associated with these criteria aim to draw attention to factors that are critical in terms of quality. The model also facilitates comparison of operations and results in different Member States and at different levels of the education system.

Read more about the European Quality Assurance Framework (CQAF), its application to self-evaluation and quality improvement in VET.

The Common Assessment Framework, CAF 2002

The public sector also uses the Common Assessment Framework (CAF), which involves the same principles as the EFQM Model. The first version of the CAF was published in May 2000 and was subsequently reformed in 2002. The CAF is a model jointly developed by the EU Member States and the European Commission. Responsibility for development of the model rests with the Innovative Public Services Group (IPSG), a joint working group of EU Member States operating under the auspices of the meetings of EU Ministers and Directors General in charge of Civil Service and Public Administration. In addition to the IPSG, development work also involved representatives from the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) and the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM).

The CAF has primarily been designed as a self-evaluation tool for public sector organisations at both national and local levels. The model is also intended to facilitate introduction of more detailed evaluation criteria, such as the EFQM Model. Its content and structure follow the same logic as well-known Quality Awards models, such as the EFQM Excellence Model (the European Quality Award model). The model involves five evaluation areas describing operations (‘enablers’): leadership, strategy and planning, human resources management, partnerships and resources, and process and change management. Results are presented in the following evaluation areas: people results, customer and citizen-oriented results, society results and key performance results.

The model is also used to identify good practices within public administration in different countries, which are then presented at biennial Quality Conferences for Public Administrations.

Read more about the CAF model (also in Finnish).
Read more at www.eipa.nl.

Finnish and Swedish translations of the CAF document are available via the first link above, together with CAF+ appendices (personnel policy, e-government, output/outcome orientation). The appendices were drawn up in Finland for the selection process of the 3rd Quality Conference for Public Administrations in the EU held in Rotterdam in September 2004. In addition, the Ministry of Finance has produced a separate appendix about language policy in service provision.

Comparison of different models

Both the Common Quality Assurance Framework (CQAF) and the EFQM and CAF models are based on continuous learning and systematic improvement of operations. Both models are based on the principle of continuous improvement known as the Deming Quality Cycle (plan, do, check and act). The models guide education providers to pay attention to aspects that are important in terms of quality, but they do not provide an answer about how providers should operate. The CQAF model is a more generalised framework than the EFQM Excellence Model, which can mainly be applied to an education provider’s or another organisation’s quality management and assessment.

The CQAF model is not context-dependent, which means that it can be applied as a quality management framework by organisations operating in different environments and that it is possible to apply different methods at each different phase, such as the EFQM or CAF model in self-evaluation and the ISO standard system as the framework for the operating system during implementation. At the planning phase, it is possible to use various strategic management tools, such as the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) model. The Balanced Scorecard is a management and measurement system aiming to support embedding strategy into everyday activities. The Balanced Scorecard provides the organisation’s management and entire staff with a tool to implement and improve their operations based on set objectives. The BSC model is related to strategic and operative planning, setting and monitoring of objectives, evaluation and assessment and learning from the effectiveness of the strategy.