To what extent do Swiss secondary schools use their guiding principles as a means of quality assurance and quality development? In business enterprises, effectiveness models are part of the management tasks of quality management. In educational organizations, however, it is often difficult to reconcile business-oriented and educational scientific quality thinking. Educational institutions are not companies that provide services exclusively. Learners cannot be viewed as customers, and education and training are not clearly measurable target variables.

Nevertheless, it is possible to analyze the relationship between the impact of predetermined political and pedagogical objectives and their realization within a specific timeframe in educational systems. With the Maturity Recognition Regulation (MAR) of 1995 and the introduction of New Public Management in secondary schools, quality management has recently taken on a central role in the development of the school’s guiding principles as an integrated component of the school program.

According to the directives of the BBW and the EDK, the maturity reform is being evaluated with the EVAMAR project. It is logical to examine the effectiveness of the guiding principles regarding quality assurance and quality development of high schools in this evaluation. This book, oriented towards school practice, makes a valuable contribution to the development of a theory of the school’s guiding principles.