The context-input-process-output (CIPO) model is a basic systems model of

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

functioning, which can be applied to several levels within

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

, namely system level, school level and classroom level. The model also functions as analytical framework through which the educational quality can be reviewed. According to his model, education can be seen as a production process, whereby ''input'' by means of a ''process'' results in ''output''. Input, process and output are all influenced by context. The context gives input, provides resources for the process and sets requirements to the output. In this way all components of the CIPO-model are interconnected to each other. The CIPO-model is developed by Jaap Scheerens (1990).

Four components

Context

:Concerns developments that influence education, like technological, demographic and economic developments. National

policies Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an orga ...

for education also provide an influential context, by determining goals and standards. This has an important potential influence upon quality of education.

Input

:Refers to the

financial Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

resources and the material infrastructure, like the school buildings and

textbooks A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions, but also of learners ( ...

. In addition to these resources and materials, input refers to the

knowledge Knowledge is an Declarative knowledge, awareness of facts, a Knowledge by acquaintance, familiarity with individuals and situations, or a Procedural knowledge, practical skill. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is oft ...

level of students at commencement, student and teacher characteristics (like

gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...

and

ethnicities An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, rel ...

) and teachers’ qualifications.

Process

:Includes initiatives to get (desirable) output, like activities. Other process features are didactical and

pedagogical Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

approaches, school culture and school climate, peer-group processes and

leadership Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

(style).

Output

:Contains the results and revenues. Revenues in short term are student achievements, like acquired knowledge of language and mathematics and social competencies. A revenue on mid long-term is obtaining a

diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offi ...

and examples on revenues on the long term are getting a (paid)

job Work, labor (labour in Commonwealth English), occupation or job is the intentional activity people perform to support the needs and desires of themselves, other people, or organizations. In the context of economics, work can be seen as the huma ...

Criticism

Existing

criticism Criticism is the construction of a judgement about the negative or positive qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response. , ''the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the ...

on the CIPO-model is that students are being seen as ‘

raw materials A raw material, also known as a feedstock, unprocessed material, or primary commodity, is a basic material that is used to produce goods, finished goods, energy, or intermediate materials/Intermediate goods that are feedstock for future finished ...

’ who are ‘created’ through a production process. According to critics there is an exaggerated focus on

measurable In mathematics, the concept of a measure is a generalization and formalization of geometrical measures (length, area, volume) and other common notions, such as magnitude, mass, and probability of events. These seemingly distinct concepts hav ...

revenues. ‘Malleability’, however, is a sensitive topic with regard to

systems thinking Systems thinking is a way of making sense of the complexity of the world by looking at it in terms of wholes and relationships rather than by splitting it down into its parts.Anderson, Virginia, & Johnson, Lauren (1997). ''Systems Thinking Ba ...

. This from

systems theory Systems theory is the Transdisciplinarity, transdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or artificial. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, de ...

derived

terminology Terminology is a group of specialized words and respective meanings in a particular field, and also the study of such terms and their use; the latter meaning is also known as terminology science. A ''term'' is a word, Compound (linguistics), com ...

leads to resistance in educational and pedagogical communities. However, according to others, input can be seen as children who enter school with certain characteristics. When they finish school, some characteristics will have (been) changed, more knowledge will have been acquired and new

skills A skill is the learned or innate ability Abilities are powers an agent has to perform various Action (philosophy), actions. They include common abilities, like walking, and rare abilities, like performing a double backflip. Abilities are in ...

will have been obtained.

Perspectives of quality of education

On the basis of the model’s analytical framework, five important perspectives of quality of education can be distinguished.Dijkstra, A. B., & Janssens, F. J. G. (2012). ''Om de kwaliteit van het onderwijs: kwaliteitsbepaling en kwaliteitsbevordering.'' Boom: Lemma.

Productivity

:From the perspective of

productivity Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proce ...

, quality of education is only assessed on the basis of revenues. The achieved results determine the extent to which education has met the expectations and thus the success of the whole system.

Effectiveness

:The effectiveness perspective focuses on context-, input- and process factors that are positively

correlated In statistics, correlation or dependence is any statistical relationship, whether causal or not, between two random variables or bivariate data. Although in the broadest sense, "correlation" may indicate any type of association, in statistic ...

to the output (revenues). The

effective Effectiveness or effectivity is the capability of producing a desired result or the ability to produce desired output. When something is deemed effective, it means it has an intended or expected outcome, or produces a deep, vivid impression. Et ...

ness is determined by the extent to which an education system is able to achieve predetermined goals. Like productivity, effectiveness is often expressed through student performance.

Efficiency

:This perspective seeks to achieve the highest possible effectiveness with the lowest possible of costs. This can be done in two different ways, namely achieving the same yields with fewer resources or by achieving better yields with the same resources.

Educational (in)equality

:From this perspective, quality of education is being reviewed by analysing the distribution of input, process and output (results) between different groups in education. The ideal is that all groups, like students from diverse socioeconomically backgrounds, can benefit from education equally. Academic achievement should not be, or as little as possible, the result of background factors.

Adaptivity

:The last perspective is the extent to which education adequately responds to specific questions from the broader social-, cultural- and economic context. Adaptivity can be achieved by choosing objectives that meet the expectations from

society A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...

. Because of the constant changes in society and the flow of new developments this requires flexibility.

References

{{Reflist

External links

CIPO, het referentiekader van de onderwijsinspectie

Context Input Process Output-model (CIPO-model)