The Peer Review procedure
The European Peer Review procedure developed for VET can be presented in four phases:
Phase 1: The preparation of the Peer Review visit should start at least three months before the actual date. In this first phase, the Peer Review is organised (a timetable needs to be drawn up); at least one month before the visit the school should have written its self-report (basis: self-evaluation of the school); in this phase, the peers are being recruited and trained.
Phase 2: In this phase, the peers visit the school and conduct an evaluation, which usually comprises a tour of the premises, observations (for example by visiting classes) and above all interviews with different groups of stakeholders (i.e. students, teachers, principal, parents etc.). During these two to three days, the peers work intensely with the information they gain, i.e. they collect, summarise, analyse, and evaluate it. The peers give an initial oral feedback at the end of the peer visit.
Phase 3: No later than four weeks after the peer visit, a draft report is drawn up by the peer team. The VET provider can comment on this report and the final Peer Review report is issued.
Phase 4: This phase is crucial for the subsequent improvement of VET provision and for organisational development. The results and recommendations from the Peer Review are translated into goals and concrete actions for improvement derived from these. These improvements are planned and implemented before a second peer review (after two years at the earliest) is planned. The quality cycle closes.
Diagram taken from the European Peer Review Manual for initial VET (p. 8)
The Peer Review procedure, which has always been conceived along the lines of the CQAF (Common Quality Assurance Framework), is characterised by a bottom-up approach and its formative, development-oriented nature. It focuses on establishing continuous quality improvement. Bottom-up means that the selection of the quality areas as well as the selection of the peers is up to the respective schools.
The circularity of the Peer Review model indicates that Peer Review is not primarily an instrument of quality assessment, but a tool for school and organisational development. Peer Review should create a feedback loop, which should make it possible to compare the current and the desired state as well as planned and actually achieved measures, and to translate the gain of knowledge into a continuous learning and improvement effect.
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