Quality of teaching in four European countries: a review of the literature and application of an assessment instrument

Background From 2002 onwards, initiatives and first steps for the project International Comparative Analysis of Learning and Teaching (ICALT) have been taken by the inspectorates of education in England, Flanders (Belgium), Lower Saxony (Germany) and The Netherlands. The inspectorates of education in these European countries reviewed the results of research on the basic characteristics of good and effective teaching and selected standards and indicators for an observation instrument that could be used to evaluate the quality of teaching. The inspectorates from these countries jointly developed an instrument to observe and analyse the quality of learning and teaching in primary schools.