Quality Review

There is much to learn, share and communicate about best practices in Distributed Learning (DL). A Quality Review is a planned and documented site inspection of a DL school. An external team observes school leadership, instruction and program delivery.

The review process is intended to be short-termed to assist the Ministry of Education in establishing, confirming and promoting sound practice in all DL schools in the province. The goal of the review is to improve the quality of distributed learning, including, program completion, achievement, choice and satisfaction of students.

The Quality Review examines:

Learner success, which is based on DL achievement data, provincial exam data, Foundation Skills Assessment results, satisfaction surveys, district and school-level data such as standard test and reports, observations of BC’s Performance Standards for Learners.

Instructional practice which is based on DL standards, research on emerging DL instructional practice, DL staff experience and training, integration/use of educational technologies, strategies for supporting learner engagement, and learning materials.

Leadership practice, which is based on parent, student, and staff involvement input, school planning, School Act required structures and processes such as the Parents’ Advisory Council and the School Planning Council.

The Quality Review process includes:

  1. Internal review by DL staff done annually as part of regular school planning, before the external review.
  2. External review by the external review team composed of Ministry staff, retired and active DL educators during a site visit.
  3. Report by external review team to the DL school, including:
    • observations about the school’s operations and practices, and
    • recommendations to the DL administration and staff on ways to improve their program.
  4. Follow-up conversation with DL school and district staff regarding immediate items.
  5. Post-Quality Review Report by the school principal on changes made to the program in response to external review team’s recommendations.