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Partnering with purpose to tackle the biggest challenges in:
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International assessments can inform reform, but overemphasis risks narrowing focus. Systems improve when data is used diagnostically, and when inspection prioritises teaching quality, leadership, and outcomes within a coherent cycle that strengthens practice and system performance over time.
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Challenge #1
How can external school review move beyond compliance monitoring to measurable improvements in student outcomes?
External school review moves beyond compliance when it focuses explicitly on the quality of teaching, leadership, and pupil outcomes, rather than whether procedures are followed. Our years of experience working in school improvement and accountability around the world clearly demonstrate that shifting inspection frameworks in this way – supported by clear quality indicators and evidence-based judgements – enables inspectors to assess what matters most for learning (including how well systems support progress for different groups of learners), not just adherence to policy.
This shift depends on making inspection developmental and data-driven. In Zimbabwe, following our work on the TEACH programme, inspectors now provide structured feedback, support school self evaluation, and use real-time data to identify priorities and track progress over time. Similar principles underpin our work in Dubai, where inspection systems are designed to combine rigorous evaluation with system-level analysis (including the use of PISA and other data), to connect school quality with measurable outcomes.
The strongest impact comes when inspection is embedded in a wider improvement cycle. Based on our extensive experience – both in policy and in delivering inspections and related training through British Schools Overseas (BSO) and our International Schools Quality Mark (ISQM) – we strongly believe that external review is most effective when it links evaluation to professional development, leadership, and sustained support – not merely a one off judgement. Where this alignment is in place, inspection really can become a driver of better teaching and learning, rather than a check on compliance.
Challenge #2
How can policymakers use international tests like PISA constructively – without letting them distort priorities?
International tests, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), have a place in policy planning, but their role must be considered carefully. As an organisation with decades of experience supporting ministries to improve their education systems, we believe that policymakers can use these tests constructively when they treat them as a diagnostic tool, as opposed to a target. These scores often highlight where systems are strong or weak, but the use of them becomes counter productive when it drives short-term strategies to boost rankings at the expense of broader learning.
In Dubai, for example, PISA is integrated into a wider accountability system, with inspection and evaluation frameworks linking international benchmarks to teaching quality, leadership and curriculum. This allows policymakers to act on system patterns without narrowing focus to test performance alone.
Brunei offers a complementary lesson: sustained improvement comes from strengthening teaching, not reacting to test cycles. Its progress reflects long-term investment in classroom practice, with PISA used to validate direction rather than dictate it. Used this way, international assessments inform reform – but it is the quality of teaching that ultimately drives outcomes.
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Let's work together
What's the biggest challenge you're facing?
edt works strategically with partners around the world to design and implement solutions to the most pressing education challenges. To discuss the above challenges with us or find out more about our approach to inspections, get in touch.
Contact Shravan Sawant, Director Middle East and ASEAN
Shravan leads strategic growth, programme delivery, and partnerships across the Middle East and ASEAN, with over 20 years’ experience delivering large-scale education reform and skills programmes globally. He has a proven track record of delivering complex, high-impact programmes in partnership with governments and development organisations.