SUPERVISION AND EVALUATION: CONCLUSIONS FROM THE 26TH USIE MEETING IN VALLADOLID

Abstract

The 26th International Meeting of Education Inspectorates, organised by the Spanish Education Inspectors' Union (USIE) in Valladolid from 30 September to 2 October 2026, brought together lectures, expert panels and professional experiences under the theme ‘Supervision and evaluation for an education system in transformation’. This article examines the main issues discussed throughout the three-day meeting and their implications for education inspection.

Contributions on international learning evidence, improvement-oriented supervision, artificial intelligence, regulatory developments, mediation and impact evaluation highlight a number of shared challenges. These include protecting inspectors' presence in schools, combining legal safeguards with pedagogical advice, strengthening independent professional judgement, interpreting data in context and maintaining human oversight in digital processes. The meeting also demonstrated the value of professional communications and exchanges of practice in developing collective expertise. The central argument is that supervision and evaluation become meaningful when their findings inform decisions and lead to demonstrable improvements in educational communities.