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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Introduction
1. The former Scottish Executive Department of Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning (from now on referred to as the Scottish Government) commissioned GEN to undertake a 2 year evaluation of the Careers Scotland Enhanced Resource Pilot ( ERP). The 2 year pilot consisted of an offering of enhanced Careers Scotland support in selected schools in 7 local authority areas, with the aim of improving school leaver destinations.
2. The pilot operated from August 2006 to June 2008, providing participating schools with an ERP Careers Adviser for 2.5 days per week to work with pupils who were identified as being at risk of not making a successful post-school transition, providing a more intensive form of careers guidance than is available through mainstream services.
3. ERP Advisers worked with a caseload in each school in an intensive and flexible way, providing support tailored to the individual pupil, and taking account of the range of barriers to progressing into employment, education or training. They worked with pupils to help them identify potential career aspirations and routes in to their chosen career; supported them with the practicalities of applying for further or higher education, training or employment; and where necessary supported them or referred them to relevant agencies to help them overcome barriers to making a successful transition.
4. Through this enhanced careers provision it was anticipated that the pilot would contribute to improved outcomes for the young people across a number of measures, including:
- Post-school destination
- Attendance
- Behaviours
- Attainment
- Measures of core and soft skills.
5. The evaluation focussed on 13 pilot schools that received Scottish Government funding, although there were a number of other schools that had ERP provision through other funding sources. The aim of the evaluation was to determine which elements or models of delivery best promote the overall aim of improving post-school destinations among those identified as being at risk of moving into a negative post-school destination. Although the pilot ended in June 2008 this learning will be used to inform any future approaches aimed at improving the post-school destinations of young people in need of more choices and more chances.
6. Our methods involved data analysis, with a particular focus on the annual School Leaver Destination Returns ( SLDR) data; consultation with pupils, senior management team representatives in the schools and ERP Advisers; and telephone surveys with participating pupils and their parents.
Impact on SLDR Figures
7. Ultimately the primary measure of success for the ERP pilot is its impact on reducing the number of pupils moving into negative destinations upon leaving school as reflected in the annual SLDR data for each school.
8. Prior to the introduction of ERP, school leaver destinations had improved in the 13 Scottish Government funded pilot schools from an average of 71.3% of pupils entering positive destinations in 2002/03 to a high of 80.5% in 2004/05 and 79.8% in 2005/06. Over the duration of the pilot there was a net increase of 2.7 percentage points in the percentage of leavers achieving a positive destination, an average 2.1 percentage point increase in 2006/7 and a further 0.6 percentage point increase in 2007/8. Over the duration of the pilot, 8 of the 12 schools for whom data was available saw a net decline of between one and 8 percentage points in the proportion of pupils entering negative destinations.
9. Whilst this improvement is a positive finding, the extent of the improvement has not been sufficient to meet the ambitious targets that were set for the pilot. Each of the pilot schools aimed to reduce by half the percentage of pupils moving into negative post school destinations between 2006/7 and 2007/8. None of the schools have achieved this target, having fallen short by between 3.5 and 20 percentage points. It could be argued that these targets were set at an unrealistically high level.
10. As a control, a comparator group of schools was identified to enable us to isolate the impact of ERP provision on SLDR figures from external factors such as the impact of the economic climate on school leaver destinations. It was found that the slight improvement in positive destinations achieved in pilot schools in 2006/7 and 2007/8 also took place in comparator schools which did not have the ERP intervention. This suggests that ERP provision has not had significant additional impact on school leaver destinations across all the pilot schools.
11. The most likely explanation for not meeting the targets and the lack of additional impact is that ERP did not engage with a large enough proportion of those moving into negative destinations. In 2007/8 353 pupils from the 13 pilot schools went into negative destinations upon leaving school. Only 26% of these (92) received support from an ERP Adviser. The remaining 74% (259) were not referred for support. Further work is therefore needed to develop a systematic method of identifying those most likely to benefit from enhanced careers support.
Impact on Beneficiaries
12. Whilst the pilot has not had the desired impact on SLDR outcomes, there have been a number of important positive impacts on beneficiaries. Over the 2 academic years ERP Advisers supported 1247 pupils, the majority of whom have moved into positive destinations. In year one 75% of ERP pupils moved into a positive destination and in year 2, 65% achieved a positive destination.
13. Not only did the majority of ERP pupils secure a positive destination, but sustainability of these was high amongst ERP clients. Three months after leaving school over three quarters of ERP pupils were in a positive destination. The proportion in a positive destination did decrease gradually over time, however after one year an average of two thirds of leavers were found to have sustained a positive outcome.
14. The vast majority of pupils reported that prior to meeting the ERP Adviser they had expected to move into a positive post-school destination. However, ERP Advisers had a significant positive impact on the expectations of those who, prior to engaging with the ERP Adviser, thought they would be unemployed when they left school or had no expectations about their future career.
15. Around a third of pupils reported that their ERP Adviser had supported them to complete an application for employment, further education or training place, which they would not have applied for without support. Although not an aim of the pilot, ERP support also led to pupils attending school more regularly, with a third of pupils reporting this to be the case.
16. ERP Advisers helped pupils make a decision about their future career, with a quarter of pupils reporting that they would not yet have made a decision about their future career had it not been for the ERP Adviser. A further 25% of those surveyed in year 2 and 42% of those in year one believed that although they would have made a decision the ERP Adviser had helped them to make a better one.
17. Pupils reported that ERP support had a significant impact on their personal development. Over two thirds reported feeling more confident; better understanding the link between attending school, working hard and getting a job or college place; and better understanding the importance of getting a job, training place, college or university place or apprenticeship.
18. Employability skills have also improved with upwards of 70% of pupils reporting that ERP support has helped them to have more knowledge about information sources that will help them find out about the various post-school destinations; better understanding of how to present themselves for an interview; more awareness of career options; and more understanding about how to complete an application form.
19. The majority of parents who were surveyed were aware that their child was receiving ERP support, although most were informed by their child rather than the school or ERP Adviser. Findings from the telephone survey show that parents of ERP pupils are keen to be involved in supporting their child to make their career choices. They felt that they could usefully be supported to do so by having a meeting between themselves, their child and the ERP Adviser and by receiving a progress report from the ERP Adviser.
Lessons Learned
20. There are 3 key elements of ERP delivery, where effective practice within these is crucial for best promoting the overall aim of improving post-school destinations among those identified as being at risk of moving into a negative post-school destination. These elements are:
- The referral process
- Model of delivery
- Integration within the school.
The referral process
21. Three quarters of pupils who entered a negative destination in 2007/8 were not referred to ERP. A more systematic identification process would be required to ensure that a higher proportion of these pupils are identified.
22. The knowledge and experience of school staff (pastoral care teachers in particular) was invaluable when identifying pupils most at risk of not making a successful post-school transition. The most effective approach to identifying caseloads was where ERP Advisers were involved in a discussion with Pastoral Care staff and the senior management team to identify the most appropriate 'at risk' indicators and agree the caseload.
23. The risk of pupils slipping through the net could be minimised by establishing strong links with a wide range of referrers to enable referrals through a range of routes, including subject teachers, joint assessment teams and learning support teachers.
24. The information about pupils that ERP Advisers were provided with at the referral stage was considered crucial for enabling them to work effectively with pupils but the quality of information provided by referrers was inconsistent between schools. There must be strong leadership at the local authority level and in the school to ensure that all staff buy into the process and there is good, comprehensive information sharing. There should be overarching guidance, based on best practice, designed to promote consistency of approach.
25. The methods by which data was collected did not allow us to analyse the size of caseloads in schools over the 2 years of the pilot. However ERP Advisers reported inconsistency in the number of referrals across the schools, with low levels of activity in some schools giving cause for concern because it limited the potential impact that the ERP Adviser could have on SLDR figures. A more strategic approach is required in determining the size of the caseload in each school and ideally schools should be allocated a level of support that is in line with the level of need.
26. Where there was a myriad of provision targeted at the ERP client group that was not delivered in a co-ordinated way it was found that there was potential for duplication and, more worryingly, apathy from school staff towards new initiatives, leading to their under-use. The integration of ERP Advisers into existing school structures is vital and is particularly important in schools with a number of other initiatives and processes in place to support young people in need of more choices and more chances.
27. ERP Advisers had limited success in engaging those who were not attending or had been excluded from school. Schools and local partnerships should work together to better understand the characteristics of those most at risk of moving into a negative destination. If a sizeable proportion of school leavers who entered negative destinations were those who had stopped attending school, which might be for a number of reasons, including through choice or because they had been excluded from school, then provision delivered out with the school environment should be considered as a means of engaging with this group and impacting positively on their destinations and ultimately SLDR figures.
28. The study found a strong desire from school staff for some kind of preventative early intervention with 'at risk' S1 to S3 pupils. In the absence of an alternative, school staff have identified ERP as a potential means of providing this, however, this or indeed any other employability intervention offered by Skills Development Scotland would not necessarily be the most appropriate or effective means of delivering early intervention. The report recommends that schools and local partners should work together to better understand the need for and aims of such an intervention, and then explore potential delivery models should an intervention be considered necessary.
Model of delivery
29. The key feature of ERP provision was that the ERP Advisers took a flexible approach, tailored to the needs of the individual pupil. This was the principle strength of the pilot. Models of delivery did not vary significantly between schools. All ERP Advisers offered one-to-one support sessions incorporating career planning support at an appropriate pace and taking account of individual's barriers, mentoring support, and practical support with application forms, job search skills and interviewing techniques.
30. Around half of the ERP Advisers provided regular group sessions to develop a range of employability skills, such as team working, problem solving, communication and negotiation. These were very popular with the pupils and enabled the ERP Advisers to work with significantly more pupils and to develop skills that could not be developed through one to one sessions. As such these should be an integral part of any future ERP or equivalent programme.
31. Where there were other initiatives in the school aimed at the ERP target group, delivered by for example campus police officers, Princes Trust, and community learning and development staff, some ERP Advisers were able to build links, enabling joint delivery, cross referral and peer support. This was good practice, which avoided duplication, maximised the reach of the ERP Adviser and added value to the support provided through ERP.
32. It was crucial that ERP Advisers had the time and personal attributes to support pupils who lacked the motivation, confidence or self-esteem to be proactive about their future career. Ideally ERP Advisers should have the time to "hand hold" and they need to be approachable, sensitive, empathetic, supportive, understanding and non-judgemental. These softer skills are just as important as the harder, more career focussed ones.
33. Parents were less involved in the pilot than both they and the ERP Advisers would have liked. Some ERP Advisers reported significant benefits where parents had been involved in supporting their child towards a positive destination. Any similar approaches in future should ensure that parents are contacted when the child becomes involved and they should continue to be involved through meetings and progress reports.
34. Where ERP Advisers organised activities aimed at raising awareness of and overcoming some of the psychological barriers to entering further education, employment and training, such as College visits, work experience, and Get Ready for Work ( GRfW) events these were highly valued by pupils. Such activities should be incorporated into similar initiatives in future.
Integration within the school
35. As with any new initiative, "buy in" and the development of working relationships and practices took some time, however, good progress was made in most of the pilot schools over the duration of the pilot. By "buy in" we mean the recognition amongst school staff of the potential value of the project and, as a result, their motivation to use the provision and support its integration into existing school structures.
36. There is no evidence that "buy in" leads to better SLDR outcomes. However, the evidence showed that without school "buy in" (namely the full support of the head teacher; senior management contact (normally the person responsible for pastoral care); and Pastoral Care staff) ERP Advisers were often faced with insufficient numbers of appropriate referrals and they were hampered in their efforts to work with pupils in a meaningful way.
37. In future, appropriate levels of "buy in" should be encouraged through:
- Strong leadership and support at both local authority and school level for integration of the ERP approach into the school and alignment with other initiatives aimed at the client group.
- A requirement that, before provision is made available, the senior management team demonstrates how they intend to maximise the impact of the support by integrating it into the school's infrastructure, and where schools fail to support this integration there should be a process in place to address this.
- Head teachers ensuring that the member of the senior management team who is the named contact, is someone who understands the potential of the initiative to improve young people's outcomes and school leaver destinations, and is therefore highly committed to the approach and is motivated to work effectively with the ERP Adviser.
38. It was fundamental to the ERP pilot that ERP Advisers were allowed the freedom to experiment with and learn from new approaches to working with the client group. However, this fluid approach often meant that the school management contact did not have a good understanding of the level or nature of activity taking place. Moving forward from the pilot period, schools would like a more formal approach to be introduced, where ERP Advisers provide the senior management contact with a delivery plan at the start of the year (based on learning from the pilot) and regular reports on activity and progress.
39. ERP offered an approach for a particular set of pupils who often do not respond well to the traditional school focus on academic achievement. Schools in Scotland are in the process of implementing Curriculum for Excellence which will provide a coherent flexible curriculum for all young children and people from 3-18. The curriculum should be flexible and meet the needs of all young people, including those in need of more choices and more chances. It includes an entitlement to support in moving into a positive and sustained destination, for all young people. Local authorities and schools are responsible for planning and supporting young people in moving to positive destinations and should be looking at how they can implement the Curriculum and provide support to young people in a way that best meets their needs.
40. Schools would like to see a more streamlined careers provision in future, where the numbers of careers staff is kept to a minimum.
41. For ERP or an equivalent approach to be introduced smoothly into schools, ERP Advisers should be given appropriate accommodation, a telephone, a computer, and internet access from the outset. Their accommodation should be both accessible and visible to the pupils and pastoral care team.
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