Providing Inspection Services for Department of Education, Department of Culture, Arts & Leisure and Department for Employment & Learning.

Roles and Responsibilities

Name of Role	Abbreviation	Brief Outline of Role
Chief Inspector	CI	Leads, and has overall responsibility for the group of Inspectors who work for the three departments: Department of Education (DE), Department for Employment and Learning (DEL), Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL).
Assistant Chief Inspector	ACI	An ACI has lead responsibility for a division within the Inspectorate and leads a team of Managing Inspectors.
Managing Inspector	MI	An MI has responsibility for an area within a division, for example Primary, Further Education, Youth and Community or Planning.
Area Board Co-Ordinator	ABC	An ABC leads a team of inspectors who work within an Education and Library Board (ELB) in all phases, and provides information and advice on aspects of provision within the ELB, as required. The ABC develops appropriate links with the relevant services within each ELB.
Area of Study Co-Ordinator	AOS	An AOS Co-ordinator leads a team of inspectors who have expertise in an area of study or in a theme. The AOS Co-ordinator develops a detailed knowledge of the area of responsibility such as English, Environment and Society or ICT, and provides information and advice which is evidenced through the outcomes of inspection.
District Inspector	DI	A DI has responsibility for a group of organisations within a sector or phase, i.e. pre-school, primary, post-primary, colleges of further education, supplier organisations and youth organisations.
Link Inspector		In the context of Initial Teacher Education, the link team leader equates to the DI and is responsible for one training college.
Inspection Services Branch	ISB	ISB provides administrative support for the work of inspectors including the issuing of all documentation needed for inspections.
Reporting Inspector	RI	The RI is responsible for the management of the inspection by communicating with the organisation, deploying the team and ensuring the overall quality of the report.
Deputy Reporting Inspector	DRI	Assists the RI as necessary and will take the lead when the RI is not available.
Associate Assessor	AA	An AA is a professional with expertise and experience in a particular sector of education and/or training. An AA joins an inspection team and contributes in the area(s) within their professional expertise. AAs are appointed by public advertisement and interview.
Lay Member		A Lay Member is a member of the public who has no links with education but has an interest in this area. Lay Members are appointed through public advertisement and interview and normally serve for a period of three years.Lay Members join inspection teams and help to evaluate the ethos of a school and the links with parents. Lay Members do not evaluate the quality of teaching, learning or management within an organisation.

All inspectors are allocated to roles and groupings according to their expertise and experience. In addition to the Area Board Co-ordinating Groups and the Area os Study Groups, other panels and working groups are created as initiatives require; for example some of the panels and working groups are: -

Early Years Panel
Irish Medium Education Panel
Personal, Social and Health Education Panel
Inspectorate Staff Development Panel
Pastoral Care and Child Protection Panel
External Relations Unit

Roles and Responsibilities

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