The school evaluation guide

Seven steps through school evaluation: its aims, its process, its instruments, its domains and its terms, set out in order

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The idea of Self-evaluation

As the procedural guide defines it:

The processes and procedures schools carry out to monitor their performance and verify its effectiveness and efficiency using the standards and tools approved by the Authority; to enable the school to develop and improve its performance and sustain excellence in it.

Source: Procedural Guide for School Self-Evaluation in General Education — third edition, 1447H – 2026, Education and Training Evaluation Commission, p. 6. The wording belongs to this platform and the information to the source.

Objectives Self-evaluation

1

Embedding a culture of self-evaluation

2

Continuous improvement

3

Stakeholder participation

4

Making the best use of resources

5

Beneficiary satisfaction

6

Innovative solutions

7

Raising readiness for external evaluation

Requirements Self-evaluation

1

Regulations and bylaws

2

Improvement plans

3

Applying the approved standards

4

Evaluation ethics

5

Training the team

6

Data confidentiality

7

Uploading to the Tamayuz platform on schedule

The phases three

The self-evaluation journey runs through three successive phases holding eighteen stations, the same stations as the journey map on the dashboard

Phase 1

Preparation

  1. 1 The official framework
  2. 2 Evaluation cycle
  3. 3 The self-evaluation team
  4. 4 Self-evaluation plan
Phase 2

Delivery

  1. 1 The prelude: readiness and school data
  2. 2 Surveys
  3. 3 Document analysis
  4. 4 Classroom observation
  5. 5 Learning-environment observation
  6. 6 Interviews
  7. 7 Recording evidence and indicators
  8. 8 Diagnosing capacities and development areas
  9. 9 Final report and setting priorities
Phase 3

Closing

  1. 1 Priorities and development issues
  2. 2 Improvement, development and sustainability goals
  3. 3 Programmes, initiatives and implementation procedures
  4. 4 Following up and evaluating the plans
  5. 5 The self-evaluation file

Roles in the Preparation

Group Duties
School principal
Registering on the platform Forming the team and delegating to it Presenting the plan to the education office
Evaluation team
Reading the guides Training The work plan Awareness sessions
Teaching and administrative staff
Attending the briefing Gathering evidence honestly
Learners and parents
Attending the sessions Cooperating during delivery

Standards and performance levels

Domain ← Standard ← Performance indicator ← Rubric

1 · School management

  • 1-1 Planning
  • 1-2 Leading the educational process
  • 1-3 The school community
  • 1-4 Institutional development
  • 1-5 Learner rights and protection

2 · Teaching and learning

  • 2-1 Building learning experiences
  • 2-2 Assessment of learning

3 · Learning outcomes

  • 3-1 Educational attainment
  • 3-2 Personal, health and social development

4 · School environment

  • 4-1 The school building
  • 4-2 Safety and security

The rubric

Every performance indicator is rated on a four-point scale against a written description of each level

1

Poor

2

Acceptable

3

Good

4

Excellent

Performance levels

Excellence

90% and above

Calls for sustaining the excellence and innovating on it

Advancing

From 75% to below 90%

Calls for continued follow-up to improve and develop

Starting

From 50% to below 75%

Calls for substantial improvement in some domains

Preparing

Below 50%

Calls for fundamental interventions to improve and develop across most evaluation domains

Source: School Evaluation, Classification and Accreditation Standards for General-Education Schools — second edition 2026, p. 8; and the Procedural Guide for School Self-Evaluation (third edition, 1447H/2026), p. 13 — Education and Training Evaluation Commission. The wording belongs to this platform and the information to the source.

Instruments of Self-evaluation

The self-evaluation instruments are applied to gather data on school performance against the school evaluation standards and their indicators; the school administers them itself, in the following required order

Readiness form

A form The delivery phase starts with it
Filled in by the principal Administrative staff details Teaching staff details Learner details Learner attainment The school learning environment School planning
1

Surveys

Anonymous Confidential For all learners and teachers
2

Document analysis

School management Security and safety Teaching effectiveness Learning outcomes
3

Classroom observation

At least 15 observation forms Each member files their own form on Tamayuz A subject specialist where possible Attending the whole lesson No intervening and no remarks Not tied to job performance
4

Learning-environment observation

Applied by the whole team Safety, security and maintenance Classrooms, learning resources and technology Yard and sports equipment Laboratories and their equipment Equipment for learners with disabilities Canteen and dining halls Facilities and toilets
5

Interviews

Learners (focus group) Teachers (focus group) The student counsellor School administration Splitting the roles between a speaker and a note-taker Every interview's results documented

Source: Procedural Guide for School Self-Evaluation in General Education — third edition, 1447H – 2026, Education and Training Evaluation Commission, p. 8, 14–18. The wording belongs to this platform and the information to the source.

The self-evaluation Self-evaluation

Five components the self-evaluation team keeps, each from its own screen on the platform.

Open your school's live file
1

General school data

Filled in on the baseline

Open the screen
2

Learner data

Their numbers, economic circumstances, attainment and attendance rates.

Open the screen
3

Teacher data

Their numbers, specialisms, qualifications and years of experience.

Open the screen
4

Learning environment data

The number of classrooms, average learners per class, and the laboratories and their technical equipment.

Open the screen
5

Educational achievement and academic attainment reports

National tests and the previous self-evaluation

Open the screen

Source: Procedural Guide for School Self-Evaluation in General Education — third edition, 1447H – 2026, Education and Training Evaluation Commission, p. 19. The wording belongs to this platform and the information to the source.

Glossary

The terms self-evaluation rests on, as defined in the guide of the Education and Training Evaluation Commission

Term Definition
The school self-evaluation procedural guide A description of the regulated internal processes and procedures a school carries out to identify strengths and areas for improvement in its actual performance, and to verify its efficiency and effectiveness against the Commission's standards and methodology, using the Commission's digital self-evaluation platform. It is a preliminary stage in preparing for external evaluation. The procedural guide itself is defined as: detailed guidance setting out the self-evaluation processes and the teams' roles and duties.
The school management domain A set of processes that effectively influence the school community's behaviour in order to steer it towards advanced levels of outstanding performance.
The teaching and learning domain The set of learner-centred processes, strategies and activities that meet the learner's needs and develop their capacity to acquire knowledge, analyse it and reproduce it.
The learning outcomes domain The knowledge, skills, attitudes and values a learner has acquired and embodied in their behaviour as a result of planned educational experiences.
School environment domain This domain requires the school environment to meet the basic requirements and to assure the quality of its safety and security, so that every group in the school community can reach its educational goals, and learners can reach the intended level in the targeted learning outcomes.
The preparation phase The first phase of self-evaluation, in which the evaluation team is prepared and trained. The whole school community takes part: the principal and the self-evaluation team, the teaching and administrative staff, and the learners and parents, each according to their role.
Fact A declarative statement describing a real event or an existing thing that can be established and proven, built on direct observation.
Opinion A statement expressing belief or feeling, such as a personal point of view on a subject.
Document Written, audio or visual material in any format, electronic or paper, that provides information about an event.
Interview A guided conversation between the school's self-evaluation team and the interviewees, held to gather information on a specific subject. The self-evaluation team conducts it while carrying out the school's self-evaluation processes across all domains.

Source: the “School Self-Evaluation” training course, and the school evaluation, classification and accreditation criteria (second edition, 2026) for the school-environment domain — Education and Training Evaluation Commission

The procedural guide's terms

Term Definition
The Authority The Education and Training Evaluation Commission.
The Ministry The Ministry of Education.
The education directorate A government body that supervises general-education schools across the regions and governorates, and reports organisationally to the Ministry of Education.
The school An educational establishment supervised by the Ministry that delivers general-education services for the educational stages (kindergarten, early childhood, primary, intermediate, secondary).
School evaluation A systematic, continuous process of gathering data on a school's performance using varied evaluation methods and tools; to analyse it, determine the quality of its performance against previously defined standards and criteria, and offer proposals for improvement and development.
Self-evaluation The processes and procedures schools carry out to monitor their performance and verify its effectiveness and efficiency using the standards and tools approved by the Authority; to enable the school to develop and improve its performance and sustain excellence in it.
The self-evaluation team A team formed by the school principal to carry out the self-evaluation processes, with the participation of members of the school community, based on the school evaluation and accreditation standards approved by the Authority.
The Tamayuz digital platform A technical system for automating and managing the processes and procedures of school evaluation (self and external).
The school evaluation report A document that states the school's level of performance against the school evaluation, classification and accreditation standards approved by the Authority.

Source: Procedural Guide for School Self-Evaluation in General Education — third edition, 1447H – 2026, Education and Training Evaluation Commission, p. 6. The wording belongs to this platform and the information to the source. The authoritative text is the one printed in the guide; the English here is a translation for reading.