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Testing for sequential bias in school inspections.

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Title: Testing for sequential bias in school inspections.
Authors: Bokhove, Christian (AUTHOR), Jerrim, John (AUTHOR), Palma Carvajal, Maria (AUTHOR), Sims, Sam (AUTHOR)
Source: Oxford Review of Education. Oct2025, Vol. 51 Issue 5, p785-809. 25p.
Subjects: School inspections (Educational quality), Cognitive bias, Education research, Secondary schools, Educational evaluation, Primary schools
Geographic Terms: England
Abstract: Inspectors are tasked with judging the quality of provision based on visits to schools. They conduct these inspections sequentially, completing one before moving on to the next. However, empirical research in a range of settings outside education suggests that prior judgements in a sequence can influence subsequent judgements, despite being logically irrelevant. We investigate whether school inspectors in England display such sequential bias by testing whether they judge similar schools differently, depending on the judgements they reached in prior inspections. We find only limited evidence of sequential bias in primary school inspections. In particular, an inspector reaching an 'Inadequate' judgement in their previous inspection is associated with a 42 per cent reduction in the odds of reaching another 'Inadequate' judgement in their next inspection. Only around 5 per cent of inspection judgements result in an 'Inadequate' and we do not find consistent evidence of sequential bias at other grades, meaning this bias only affects a small minority of judgements. We also do not find the same results for secondary schools, albeit in a much smaller sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Oxford Review of Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22School+inspections+%28Educational+quality%29%22">School inspections (Educational quality)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cognitive+bias%22">Cognitive bias</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Education+research%22">Education research</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Secondary+schools%22">Secondary schools</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educational+evaluation%22">Educational evaluation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Primary+schools%22">Primary schools</searchLink>
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  Data: Inspectors are tasked with judging the quality of provision based on visits to schools. They conduct these inspections sequentially, completing one before moving on to the next. However, empirical research in a range of settings outside education suggests that prior judgements in a sequence can influence subsequent judgements, despite being logically irrelevant. We investigate whether school inspectors in England display such sequential bias by testing whether they judge similar schools differently, depending on the judgements they reached in prior inspections. We find only limited evidence of sequential bias in primary school inspections. In particular, an inspector reaching an 'Inadequate' judgement in their previous inspection is associated with a 42 per cent reduction in the odds of reaching another 'Inadequate' judgement in their next inspection. Only around 5 per cent of inspection judgements result in an 'Inadequate' and we do not find consistent evidence of sequential bias at other grades, meaning this bias only affects a small minority of judgements. We also do not find the same results for secondary schools, albeit in a much smaller sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Oxford Review of Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1080/03054985.2024.2410270
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        Text: English
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              Text: Oct2025
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