The first causal mechanism relies on a process of setting expectations defining good
education for schools and their stakeholders. The standards and procedures of the
inspection are assumed to infuse schools and their stakeholders with notions and
practices of what is considered ‘good education’ in each country. These notions will
stimulate schools to embark on processes of adaptation to these norms and of
institutionalizing them into their work structures and culture. The idea is that schools
will attend to the information included in inspection standards and procedures; they
will reflect on it, process it and adapt their goals and their practical ways of working
in such a way that they come closer to the normative image of schools communicated
by the inspection. Eventually, these notions should drive the school’s own planning,
self-evaluations and daily practices.