QUEST RomaniaRomanian Association for
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AIMS
During the preparatory period (1995-1996), the directors and other key staff members of the founder member schools
The quality documents were produced using the EAQUALS inspection scheme (Version 3) and FIRST Charters as sources of inspiration, adapting them to the Romanian reality while making sure that all the newly designed documents reflected the concern for and commitment to quality and good practice. All the founder member schools were inspected in 1996-1997. Out of 7 founder schools inspected, 6 became full members of QUEST Romania. After the first round of inspections, QUEST applied for associate membership to EAQUALS in November 1997, at the EAQUALS conference held at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. QUEST Romania became an Associate Member of the European Association in February 1998. In the meantime QUEST has been joined by other language schools sharing the same aims and values, with more preparing for affiliation. QUEST is actively involved in supporting the activity of the Language Centres - full and observer members - and promotes networking and the exchange of expertise amongst its members. It has also developed extensive links with other national and international organisations with similar aims, particularly with the Cultural Institutes in Romania, the national associations in the region, teacher associations and educational NGOs in the country. QUEST Romania is a dynamic promoter of the European concepts and instruments developed for a more coherent approach to language learning, teaching and evaluation, such as the Common European Framework and the European Language Portfolio. QUEST Romania has produced the pilot translation into Romanian of the EAQUALS-ALTE version of the European Language Portfolio and has organised teacher training workshops and conferences country-wide for the implementation of the ELP. As a result these activities, QUEST has been included - through an Order issued by the Romanian Minister of Education - in the national education system, under 'Continuing Education'. ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE The Chair of QUEST is elected by the General Assembly for a one-year term, renewable for another year. At the moment, presidency is shared between two co-presidents to better cover the increasing range of activities. MEMBERSHIP THE INSPECTION AND ACCREDITATION PROCESS The inspection is carried out using the QUEST Code of Practice and the Checklist for Inspections. It lasts for at least one day and is carried out by two inspectors from different cities. A QUEST member school is inspected every three years. Over the last two years, QUEST has participated in the ELTeCS project for Central - Eastern Europe, coordinated by OPTIMA Bulgaria, which involved QUEST inspectors carrying out joined inspections with Bulgarian colleagues according to the Bulgarian inspection scheme, as well as OPTIMA inspectors participating in QUEST inspections alongside with Romanian co-inspectors. Learning from each other in this five-country project has been an exceptionally enriching experience for everyone involved - both at a personal and at an organisational level. In addition, QUEST has developed a system of pre-association visits, on the example of the procedures introduced by the Bell Educational Trust for the international network: prior to a school's becoming an observer member, there is a pre-association visit, paid by a representative of a QUEST school from another city. INSPECTION CRITERIA AND GRADING 1 = good, 2 = satisfactory, 3 = unsatisfactory. The inspectors give final grades to the four main categories on the Summary
Evaluation Sheet of the Inspection Report. The sub-categories of each
main category are graded on the 1-3 scale, and the grades are then used
to decide an overall grade for each main category. THE INSPECTORS WEB SITE: www.quest.ro |
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