Search

This study, jointly conducted by the University of Warwick Institute for Employment Research (IER) and SQW Ltd., discusses the UK Government's intention to accelerate the process of ceding more responsibility for delivering a range of services to the local level. The logic is that local actors are better placed to identify local priorities. This raises the issue of how local skills systems--including further education and apprenticeship providers, schools, universities, employers, local authorities and associated agencies, Local Enterprise Partnerships, and the voluntary sector--can work better. Overall the study on which this report is based provides an opportunity to understand the way in which local-national and local-local collaborative working needs to develop if it is to enhance skill development in England. This entailed: (1) identifying how other countries have devolved their skills and employment policy to local or regional levels; (2) undertaking a local case study, that encompassed multiple local authorities--where moves to shape local skills provision to local demand were already in train--to understand how local skills devolution can be best realised. The Black Country in the West Midlands was selected as the case study; and (3) reflecting upon the international and local evidence to develop a framework to be used as a tool that will allow local actors to use their combined local knowledge to answer key questions about the context, drivers for change and desired outcomes to enable them to more effectively deliver local skills to meet local needs. The study provides learning lessons from abroad that were drawn from the USA, Canada, Australia, Belgium (Flanders), and Sweden. All have skill systems and models of local governance that reflect their unique historical development. But this does not preclude learning lessons from their experiences that can inform the process local areas in England are embarking upon. The following are appended: (1) Local skills ecosystem analysis framework, and (2) Key features of skills planning and delivery and local partnership working in the Black Country.

The impact of socio-economic background on mathematics performance in England can be seen from the most to least disadvantaged. As socio-economic background of pupils increases, so does average mathematics performance; the gap between the most and least disadvantaged is equivalent to over three years' of schooling. However, many factors other than socio-economic background also affect performance, and these other factors are relatively more important to pupil performance in England than in other countries. Furthermore, the impact of socio-economic background is lower among the most disadvantaged half of the population. Examining other countries and the lack of change over time suggests that it is very difficult for countries to reduce the impact of socio-economic background on performance. Disadvantaged pupils who perform better than average, given their socio-economic background, tend to be autumn-born, are more confident in their abilities, and are less likely to truant. Our analysis shows that pupils would benefit from a more granular measure of deprivation; that summer-born pupils need a strategy to ensure they are not left behind; that further research would be beneficial to understand better the characteristics of pupils that perform better than their background would predict; and that schools should be further supported in tackling underperformance of disadvantaged pupils.

This literature review aims to encapsulate existing research on the executive headteacher (EHT) position in England, building on the work of Fellows (2016). It covers three main areas: the history of EHTs in England; the skills, qualities and motivations identified in EHTs by existing literature; and the governance and school structures associated with EHTs. The review also aims to place the English EHT in an international context by identifying similar executive leadership positions in decentralised and semi-decentralised education systems in other countries. An appendix provides the literature review methodology. [This report was co-published by The Future Leaders Trust. For the full report, see ED574411. For the Technical Appendix, see ED574412. For the Case Study Compendium, see ED574414. For the Executive Summary, see ED574408.]

This report was produced for the 2012 Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers meeting in Mauritius. Its main purpose is to track the historical progress and likelihood of attainment of Education For All and education-specific Millennium Development Goals while also critically reviewing the methods used to track this progress. The analyses is presented by country, by region, and by development-level. (Contains 2 illustrations and 5 tables.) [This document was produced by the Comparative Education Research Centre (CERC) at the University of Hong Kong. The report was commissioned for the 18th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM), held in Mauritius Aug 28-31, 2012, based around the theme "Education in the Commonwealth: Bridging the Gap As We Accelerate towards Achieving Internationally Agreed Goals."]

The planning office of a large urban university produced an induced course load matrix (ICLM) analysis to support the university's plans for undergraduate enrollment growth at its three campuses. The ICLM tables, based on the complete course histories of the 1993 entering cohort, summarize the program and course selections of a cohort of students as they progressed through their studies. While the analysis involved some technical challenges, the results are useful in a number of ways. In particular, the results show how program enrollments create instructional demands across academic divisions and how some departments play an important part in service teaching at the university. Because the course load analysis involves detailed quantitative data, senior administrators were consulted during the initial planning of the project, and care was taken to present the results clearly and succinctly. Ultimately, the results were well received and have been incorporated into several planning exercises. (Author)

The Real Game is a Canadian career education simulation for 12- and 13-year-olds that is currently being adapted for the United Kingdom. The game emphasizes the following five main messages: remember that change is constant; understand that learning is ongoing; focus on the journey; follow your heart; and access your allies. The game's effectiveness in the United Kingdom was examined in a national pilot study that used the following four data collection activities: interviews with senior managers in 12 schools; questionnaires sent to teachers from all 37 pilot schools; pupil interviews; and data sets for 1,005 pupils at 16 schools (546 who participated in the game and 559 who formed a comparison sample). Although most schools used the game for an average of only 12 hours, most teachers considered the game valuable for students in its target age group, and reported that it had a relatively high rate of impact on pupils' learning. Pupils held broadly positive views of what the game taught them. Those who participated in the game showed significant gains on knowledge items and small gains on career beliefs; however, measures of "employability beliefs," self-efficacy for job exploration, occupationally relevant self-awareness, and career planning failed to show gains relative to the comparison sample. (MN)

This report reviews literature on both sides of the Atlantic to study the admissions process, specifically focusing on elements of the process which may prove to be particular barriers to disadvantaged students--including the University and College Admissions Service (UCAS) form, course choices, predicted grades, and personal statements--and looks for evidence of 'best practices' which may help equalise the chances of access to university among able students from different backgrounds. It also includes quantitative research examining the predicted grades system, and which applicants may be negatively impacted by this process. It concludes by examining the small body of research that has focused on activities within the university admissions offices, shedding further light on how universities make the decisions that affect thousands of young people each year. The evidence implies that disadvantaged students lack the information, advice, and guidance around the many parameters involved in choosing their universities. They have also been shown to be less well prepared than their counterparts when researching universities. Moreover, the UK's unique applications system means that students must make their university choices based on their predicted grades, rather than their actual exam results. Empirical research reveals that high attaining disadvantaged students are more likely to have their grades under-predicted than their richer counterparts. All of these factors could result in disadvantaged students applying to universities which are less selective than their credentials would permit.

This document contains four reports on technology and further education (FE) that Lynton Gray and Ann-Marie Warrender prepared for the Further Education Funding Council's Learning and Technology Committee. The first report, "Main Themes from Learning & Technology Committee Press Surveys," examines three themes that were identified during a review of British press coverage of the role of information/learning technologies in FE: technological developments, organizational changes and learning applications. "Learning and Technology in American Community Colleges," which is based on materials presented at an American Association of Community Colleges convention, discusses the following topics: technology and teaching, distance learning, technologies and the Internet, and industry and student-centered learning. "Multimedia and Education," which is based on materials presented at an Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education conference, examines the following topics: technology for teachers, breaching the technological barriers, the impact of national initiatives, publishing and multimedia, and Canada's Open Learning Agency. "Learning Technologies in Industrial Training" explains the uses of information and learning technologies by a small sample of British companies in their own training programs. The implications of the four papers for reform of FE are summarized in a final section titled "Evidence for Action." (MN)

Home-Start is an international organization in which volunteers offer regular support, friendship, and practical help to young families under stress in their own homes in order to prevent family crisis and breakdown. It is available to any family with at least one child under 5 years of age. This book presents a snapshot of the day-to-day activities during the first 3 months of 1993 of over 500 Home-Start families and their volunteers in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Israel, and the British Forces in Germany. The first part of the book provides an overview of the schemes and activities of the Home-Start organization. The second part presents, in words and photographs, descriptions of family background, needs, use of services, progress, parental satisfaction, detailed records of volunteers and organizers, and their time spent. Topics covered in this section are: children in need, child abuse, children with disabilities, multiple births, child parents, what volunteers do, what organizers do, rural families, inner cities, equal opportunities, homeless families, family health, isolation, widening social networks, quality of life, self-development, service families, endings (outcomes), partnership, and past families. Contains 38 references. (AP)

This book is designed to help people who want to know whether distance education is useful for them. It suggests what questions to ask in considering whether distance education makes sense in a particular context and examines the different ways in which it can be organized. Chapter 1 considers who it can teach, what it can be used for, and how well it works. Chapter 2 looks at the resources a new distance education program demands: financial support, staff, communication services, provision of face-to-face support, educational support from other schools and colleges and other parts of government, and political backing. Chapter 3 focuses on the services to be provided to students. It deals with the necessary functions of a distance teaching institution, teaching methods, the production of materials, the work of writers, students and tutors, and the award of credit. Chapter 4 addresses the choice of an organizational and administrative structure. Six organizational models are described and compared. Chapter 5 considers the cost of distance education, including fixed and variable costs, calculating a budget, comparison of costs with those of conventional education, and funding. Chapter 6 deals with planning: who should do the planning, what needs to be done in the planning phase, what staff is needed, what is left for the development phase, and how long it will take. Contains 11 references. (YLB)

This study compares tuition funding arrangements, debt at graduation, and earnings outcomes for full-time domestic undergraduates in eight Anglophone countries: the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland), United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. According to multiple estimates, the average English student faces the highest levels of graduate debt of these countries. Even compared with average graduates of US private for-profit universities, estimates suggest that English students will graduate with higher average levels of debt. However, the vast majority of English students' study-related debt is held by the state, which has relatively clear repayment conditions compared to other Anglophone countries. Despite this, the fact that English students now face some of the highest tuition fees in the world, and the highest average debts at graduation, should be cause for concern, not least because the number of part-time and mature students enrolling at UK institutions across recent years has dropped precipitously. While full-time undergraduate university enrollment has recovered since the imposition of £9,000 fees in 2012, university needs to remain a viable option for everyone, especially those from poorer backgrounds, who are disproportionately underrepresented across the UK professional landscape. This report provides the rationale for the selection of countries, the key data sources for each, and considerations required to make meaningful comparison. The policy background section offers a brief introduction to student fees and funding internationally, presenting a synthesis of previous research. Three narrative sections address: (1) Student fees, loans, and grants by country; (2) Loan repayment terms and conditions by country; and (3) Debt at graduation, starting salaries, and lifetime returns by country. Contains endnotes.

This report supplements Jerrim (2012) where John Jerrim investigated the link between family background and children's reading tests across a series of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Previous studies for the Sutton Trust (Smithers 2012) have suggested that policy and provision for the highly able in England is in a mess and that England has only 1.7% of children in the top Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) math performance level compared to 15.6% in Hong Kong and 15.6% in Singapore. This report builds upon that work using a different methodological approach to investigate the link between family background and reading performance. The focus of this study is on two particular groups of children: (1) those from advantaged family backgrounds; and (2) Those from disadvantaged backgrounds. In this report, the author has extended the 2012 study by considering differences between boys and girls. The data are drawn from the 2009 round of the PISA; a study of 15 year olds' achievement held every three years. Results show that children from the poorest backgrounds are two years, four months of schooling behind children from the wealthiest backgrounds at age 15. This report recommends that there should be a targeted scheme for highly able students from low and middle income homes and there should be clearer recognition of their attainment in the revised school league tables. Methodological details are appended.

The objectives of this study were to: (1) document government and HE (higher education) sector responses to the recession within a select number of key countries which compete with the UK; and (2) compare these responses and analyse them by theme to draw out any common patterns. The focus of the work was to find, where possible, an evidence base that enables genuine like-for-like comparison, and to provide a high-level commentary and analysis on general country responses. The report begins by describing the impact of the global economic crisis on different regions, and how countries around the world have responded, particularly in reference to spending on HE. The focus then turns to the impact of changes to public spending on the sector itself, examining changes to patterns of demand and supply in specific countries, as well as the impact on research, particular subject areas and access. Finally, how universities have responded to the changed environment is investigated, including attempts to reduce costs and diversify income. Interview list is appended. (Contains 5 figures and 9 endnotes.) [This paper has been prepared by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC).]

This policy briefing aims to raise awareness and understanding among policy-makers and UK higher institutions of the international dimensions of academic staff recruitment and the factors that may influence it. This briefing summarises recent research and considers its implications for institutions and for national policies. Annex A contains: Staff employed at higher education institutions: trends, profits and projections. (Contains 19 tables, 8 charts, and 38 notes.)

Detailing the decisions and procedures involved in the development of a community school (K-9) on the Tobique Indian Reserve in New Brunswick, Canada, this report describes the initial stages of development and presents the viewpoint of the education project director. Among the procedures, processes, problems, and conflicts described are: (1) selection of the education project director; (2) use of a community survey to determine community educational needs and preferences; (3) creation of a 4-member team of advisors to aid the chief and council in deciding on facility type and program direction; (4) securing an architect who could be made to respect Reserve authority rather than that of Indian Affairs; (5) recruitment of a suitable director; (6) a communication breakdown between the school board, the chief, and the advisory team; (7) conflict between the Reserve and Indian Affairs over land, money, personnel, etc. (an "approved" budget went from $313,000 to $250,000); and (8) authority conflicts among all decision makers. Despite the numerous problems cited, this report indicates that the school did open sometime in 1975 but still needs: (1) an acceptable education agreement; (2) renewal of discussions between the chief, council, and school board; (3) negotiation of a realistic budget and fiscal control with Indian Affairs; and (4) on-going staff and curriculum development. (JC)

Policymakers and practitioners in electronic communication and education in the United States and Canada were interviewed to identify those policies, strategies, and models of good practice used to increase access to learning via electronic communications that are relevant to the United Kingdom and Europe. Information was gathered from 5 experts and 35 representatives of the following: state/province and federal government agencies, regional public sector agencies, postschool distance learning organizations, national campaigning organizations, firms in the communications industry, and international agencies. It was concluded that if the information superhighway is allowed to continue to develop as an essentially commercial communications environment, it could prove to be a means of denying rather than promoting access to learning. A policy agenda was formulated that outlines appropriate government interventions to promote equitable access to learning on the information superhighway and help maximize its use for education and training in the United Kingdom. Key elements of the agenda were as follows: awareness raising; audits; strategies; cross-sectoral initiatives; consumer power; campaigns; public sector pioneers; product/market development; local learning networks; "big switches," where institutional providers evaluate the potential of collaborative information and communications technology (ICT)-based production and distribution systems at regional, national, and international levels; global view; closer media scrutiny of the superhighway; and government monitoring. (Appendixes constituting approximately 50% of this document contain profiles of the 40 contributors and 85 references.) (MN)

These two papers look at international aspects of quality in higher education from contrasting perspectives. The first paper, "Higher Education Quality: A European Dimension" by John Brennan asks whether there is a distinctive European dimension to quality in higher education and, if so, what are its implications for British institutions and their students. The first part of this paper reviews current higher education policy developments in the European Community and considers the issues which they raise for quality. The second part of Brennan's paper reports on the results of a number of recent projects which have attempted to assess the quality of educational programs across several countries and considers implications of these studies for British institutions. The second paper is "Towards a General Model of Quality Assessment in Higher Education" by Frans A. van Vught. It proposes a general model of quality assessment consisting of a number of elements. It puts these elements in an historical context of quality assessment in medieval universities and makes a distinction between the intrinsic and extrinsic values of higher education and types of assessment related to each. It also deduces the elements from recent experiences with quality assessment in the United States, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. (JB)

This report discusses and compares language planning and the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland and the English-speaking minority in Quebec. The report discusses four issues: historical minorities and the demographic dynamic; municipalities; the language of work; and other minority language groups. It is concluded that, despite numerous surface similarities, what clearly distinguishes Quebec from Finland is that, in Quebec, French has the characteristics of a minority language. French, unlike Finnish, does not establish itself as the language of work, and it has been necessary to pass a language law requiring children of new immigrants to go to French language schools. The competition exerted by English is very strong. What emerges most clearly from this comparison is the difference of the sociolinguistic dynamic of Quebec French and Finnish. French, the majority language, is sociologically a minority language in Quebec. (JL)

The goal of the Hamilton and Waterloo Catholic School Boards in Ontario, Canada, is to meet the needs of all children, in ordinary, age-appropriate classes in neighborhood schools. This report focuses on this approach of teaching students and disabilities, terming it "full inclusion." The report describes local school board policy and practice, covers integration strategies, investigates the parents' perspective, and shows how legislation has failed to keep up with rising aspirations. Three specific strategies used to facilitate integration are described through case studies entitled: "Circle of Friends,""Making Action Plans (MAPS)," and "Cooperative Education and Work Experience." The report concludes with 21 references and names and addresses of 11 resource organizations, mostly in Ontario. (JDD)