Vocational Quality Assurance Performance in Preparation for School Self-Evaluation in the Covid-19 Pandemic Era

Abstract

Many vocational high schools have implemented a school quality assurance system, but the quality of their graduates is still low. This study aimed to evaluate efforts made by school principals, teachers, school committees, and vocational students to achieve vocational quality assurance, especially in preparing the School Self Evaluation (SSE) as the main instrument in the accreditation activities of the school. The study was a descriptive quantitative research method. The samples were school principals, teachers, school committees, and vocational students in four vocational high schools implementing a Quality Assurance System, especially QMS ISO 9001:2008 or QMS ISO 9001:2015. The schools were located in Yogyakarta and Central Java. Research data were collected based on the results of the distribution of questionnaires (instruments), interviews, observations, documentation studies, and Focus Group Discussions (FGD). The data were analyzed based on the level of achievement of the eight National Education Standards (NES) that had been set in the syllabus. Several findings were obtained. First, schools used four stages: setting the standard, completing the standard, continuous evaluation, and quality improvement. Second, schools have taken correct and appropriate steps in achieving their vision and mission based on the formulated SPMI guidelines. Third, schools have implemented eight NESs standards, including graduates, content, process, educational assessment, educators and education personnel, educational facilities and infrastructure, education management, and financing standards. Fourth, each vocational high school had similarities and differences in strategies and methods in achieving the school's vision and mission. This study has illustrated how the vocational high school conducts the quality assurance for school self-evaluation. Future studies should focus on providing more supports for these school to improve their quality.

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“…Its primary purpose is to prevent project or service errors by comparing them to a standard (Vlachopoulos, 2016). Repairs are immediately carried out if an error occurs to avoid a more significant loss or negative impact (Arifin et al, 2022). Establishing a quality assurance system in education is advantageous since it allows students to improve schools' teaching and other supporting services (Nguyen & Ta, 2018;Vincenzi et al, 2018).…”