QUALITY ASSURANCE IN AN EDUCATIONAL-PSYCHOLOGY SERVICE - WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM EARLIER EXPERIENCE IN-SERVICE EVALUATION

The primary aim of this review of evaluation studies is to analyse wha t strategies a team of educational psychologists can use to assure the quality of their service to the public. The review covers methods of record keeping, strategies of evaluation and methods of data collectio n. The article ends by discussing the implications of this experience of service evaluation for the new approaches to quality assurance that are now being imposed on educational psychologists, approaches such a s contract monitoring, audit and inspection. It is argued that the qua lity assurance process itself has to be cost-effective. Previous revie ws of this subject have focused on the North American literature. A se condary aim of this article is to introduce readers to developments re ported in the UK.