ABSTRACT
As noted in chapter 2, the research carried out on advisory services in the period preceding the passing of the ERA would seem to indicate that the field of LEA evaluation was in considerable disarray. One of the effects of the Act has been to force LEAs to face the contradictions and conflicts inherent in the process of bringing their traditional practice into line with the new evaluation imperative. The indications are that the majority of LEAs still have a long way to go in resolving and reconciling the tensions associated with the latter conjunction. At the present time the primacy given to inspection by the DES vies for position in an evaluation spectrum with a less clearly emphasised role for self-evaluation and an uncertain contribution from performance indicators.
