Abstract: The role of evaluation in times of change

Authors:

Mari Räkköläinen, PhD, Councellor of Evaluation, FINEEC, President of the Finnish Evaluation Society

Hannele Seppälä, PhD, Director, FINEEC, Board Member of the Finnish Evaluation Society

High quality education is a key mean of ensuring the nation's ability to cope with and recover from difficult times of change. Decrease in learning outcomes, accessibility and segregation are challenging educational equality. The national evaluations in Finland show that there is room for improvement in quality management at all levels of education. The development of the education system requires a systematic and transformative evaluation of the practices, structures and governance of the different levels of education, and concrete action to support the quality of education. To support the development of sustainable education, decision-makers need a comprehensive, diverse and reliable evidence base. On the other hand, rapid policy cycles do not easily lead to a comprehensive overview. Finding solutions requires a multifaceted combination of scientific, ethical, philosophical, experimental and political thinking. This challenges national evaluation organisations to sharpen their evaluation vision and make their evaluation approach more visible.

Finland has more than 20 years of experience in developmental enhancement-led evaluation of education. It supports the achievement of objectives, promotes learning, helps recognize strengths, good practices and areas in need of enhancement. The increasingly complex and interconnected phenomena of education challenge also the effectiveness of developmental evaluation approach.

Based on the evaluations and theoretical review, we reflect on the role of national evaluation in education, in terms of independence and the use and usefulness of evaluations in resilience and in managing change at national and local level. We will discuss how developmental evaluation evolves over time and can provides information for the future and how it is possible to build trust in a sustainable future through the evaluation of education. 

The presentation will be illustrated with an example of a national evaluation that applies systems thinking and covers all levels of education. Discussion questions will be prepared to facilitate the discussion.

Rationale:

In the presentation, we will discuss the role of educational evaluation and the pressures for change. Education evaluation is carried out in increasingly complex and rapidly changing operating environments. Many phenomena in education are not only systemic in nature, but also complicated or complex. It is important to discuss the role and effectiveness of national evaluation organizations. The presentation will discuss the role of educational evaluation and the pressures for change. Education evaluation is carried out in increasingly complex and rapidly changing operating environments. Many phenomena in education are not only systemic in nature, but also complicated or complex. It is important to discuss the role, use and effectiveness of national evaluation organizations.  Enhancement-led evaluation is the principle of Finnish education evaluation, enshrined in legislation. FINEEC is responsible for independent external evaluation of education by law. There is currently a lively debate in education policy regarding the development and evaluation of education. FINEEC has updated its enhancement-led evaluation approach. The aim of the presentations is to discuss how systems thinking guides the planning of national evaluations, the framework and evaluation questions, the choice of methods, and participation in the evaluation process.

The review draws on the evidence we collected for the FINEEEC´s strategy review and the preparation of the National Evaluation Plan (2024 – 2027), stakeholders´ evaluation initiatives and a comprehensive stakeholder survey. In addition, FINEEC has received feedback from a recent external evaluation by the OECD 2022-2024 (the evaluation report was published 2025). The theoretical perspective is based on changes and shifts in evaluation thinking. It is also based on systems theory approaches to evaluation and the paradigm of developmental evaluation, the utility and use of knowledge.

Key words:

The enhancement-led evaluation approach, national evaluations, systemic thinking, interactive systems

Sources 

Bandola-Gill, J., Grek, s. Tichenor, M. (2022). Epistemic Infrastructure: SDGs and the Making of Global Public Policy. in: Governing the Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

Chelimsky, E. (1997). The coming transformations in evaluation. In: E. Chelimsky & W.R. Shadish (ed.) Evaluation for the 21^st century. A handbook. Sage Publications, 1 – 26. 

Dahler-Larsen, P. (2019). The Sceptical Turn in Evaluation. In: Jan-Eric Furubo & Nicoletta Stame (ed.) Evaluation as an Enterprice. Routledge. 

Eoyang, G.H. & Oakden, J. (2016). A synergy between complexity theory and evaluation practice. E:CO Journal; Dec 2016. https://journal.emergentpublications.com/article/adaptive-evaluation/

Miettinen, T. (2020). Sivistysihanteen jäljillä. Sitra. Sivistysihanteen jäljillä - Sitra

OECD. 2022. Anticipatory Innovation Governance Model in Finland: Towards a New Way of Governing | READ online (oecd-ilibrary.org). OECD Public Governance Reviews. Anticipatory Innovation Governance Model in Finland: Towards a New Way of Governing | READ online (oecd-ilibrary.org)

Patton, Q.M. (2020). Blue Marple Evaluation. Premises and Principles. The Guilford Press.

Pattyn, V., Bouterse, M. (2020) Explaining use and non-use of policy evaluations in a mature evaluation setting. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 7, 85 (2020).https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-020-00575-y

Räkköläinen, M. & Saxén, A. (2022) ”Pathway to the Transformative Policy of Agenda 2030: Evaluation of Finland´s Sustainable Development Policy. Teoksessa Juha.I. Uitto & Geeta Batra 2022: Transformational Change for People and the Planet, Evaluation Environment and Development, Springer, part of the Sustainable Development Goals book series, 237 – 249. 

Räkköläinen, M. & Seppälä, H. (2026). National evaluation of education and ECEC. Evaluation approach. https://www.karvi.fi/en/publications/national-evaluation-education-and-ecec-evaluation-approach. 

Seppälä, H., Lindblom, S. & Kallio, E. (2020). Integrating epistemic knowledge and logical reasoning skills in adult cognitive development. In E. Kallio (toim.) Development of adult thinking. Interdisciplinary perspectives on cognitive development and adult learning. London: Routledge. 

Stockmann, R., Meyer, W., Taube, L. (2020). The Institutionalisation of Evaluation in Europe: A Synthesis. In: Stockmann, R., Meyer, W., Taube, L. (eds) The Institutionalisation of Evaluation in Europe . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32284-7_19

Uusikylä, P. (2019) Endeavor to Find Evidence. The Role of Evaluation in Complex Systems of Governance. Academic Dissertation. Publication of the Faculty of Social Sciences 130. Helsinki: Unigrafia

Uusikylä, P., Hyytinen, K-M. & Räkköläinen M. 2021 Tuomarista maailmanparantajaksi: Arvioinnin muuttuva rooli kompleksisessa maailmassa. (From judge to World healer: the changing role of evaluation in a complex world) In Lili-Anne Kihn, Lasse Oulasvirta, Janne Ruohonen, Jaakko Rönkkö, Matti Urpilainen & Jani Wacker (Ed.), Tarkastus, arviointi ja valvonta murroksessa (Inspection, evaluation and monitoring in a changing world), Tampere: Tamper University Press , 211–236. http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-359-032-8 2021 https://trepo.tuni.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/133728/12_Uusikyl%c3%a4_Hyytinen_R%c3%a4kk%c3%b6l%c3%a4inen_Tuomarista_maailmanparantajaksi.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y 

Bios

Mari Räkköläinen PhD (educ.), MSc Counsellor of Evaluation at the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre, which is an independent authority responsible for the national evaluation of education in Finland. Mari Räkköläinen is responsible for the strategic development and coordination of evaluation services at FINEEC. Her professional focus encompasses enhancement-led evaluation at both national and local levels, with an emphasis on transformative evaluation methodologies. She has extensive experience in implementing and managing national and international evaluation projects. She serves as the President of the Finnish Evaluation Society (Sayfes).

Hannele Seppälä PhD (educ.) is the Director of Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC). FINEEC is an independent authority responsible for the national evaluation of education in Finland. Hannele Seppälä has over twenty years’ experience of developing and implementing national education evaluation activities at various levels of education. She has also been developing the effectiveness of national evaluation system and the methodology of enhancement-led evaluations in Finland. Her research interests also include the development of thinking skills and conceptions of knowledge in higher education. She is Board Member of the Finnish Evaluation Society (Sayfes).