North Lanarkshire Curriculum Flexibility Project: Evaluation Report - Executive Summary

Introduction

This is a report of the evaluation of the North Lanarkshire Curriculum Flexibility Project conducted by the Quality in Education Centre, University of Strathclyde, as part of the national evaluation of projects supported through the Scottish Executive Education Department's Future Learning and Teaching Programme (FLaT). The evaluation was undertaken between November 2003 and May 2004.

The aims of the Curriculum Flexibility Project identified by North Lanarkshire are:

to secure higher attainment in overall terms
to provide pupils with improved choice and more appropriate provision within an eight-subject/course programme
to develop consensus on the way forward with teachers, pupils and parents
to facilitate curriculum planning in schools that is responsive to need and effective in delivering outcomes; to create time for activities that promote social competence, creativity and education for work
to ensure the centrality of the principles for planning the delivery of the curriculum which lie at the heart of the authority's strategy, Raising Achievement for All
to emphasise the school as a "learning community", with a firm emphasis on a positive and inclusive ethos.

Aims of Evaluation

The aims of the evaluation were:

to assess the overall impact of the guidance from the local authority on teachers, pupils and parents in the five named schools and identify what, if any, improvements it has made to attainment, attendance, patterns of pupils choice, school ethos and teaching environment
to identify the methods employed by the local authority in managing the diversity of approaches within its schools and assessing the effectiveness of these methods
to identify the approaches taken by the local authority in providing support and encouraging innovation in schools and assessing the effectiveness of these approaches
to assess the local authority system for monitoring achievement of the project aims, and similarly the ability to be aware of problems with schools. ability to take forward the main ideas outlined in the guidance.

Evaluation Methods

The evaluation comprised three phases: Phase 1 involved collecting and analysing data at local authority level, while Phase 2 involved the collection and analysis of data from five case study schools and Phase 3 involved cross-analysis of Phase 1 and Phase 2 data. The evaluation used a range of qualitative and quantitative methods that included policy and document analysis, pupil, teacher and parent questionnaires, local authority personnel and teacher interviews and pupil focus groups. The five case study schools involved in the evaluation were selected by North Lanarkshire and presented a range of types of approach to curriculum flexibility and were at different stages in the implementation process.

The main focus of Phase 1 was the collection of the education authority policy and other relevant documents concerning curriculum flexibility (eg Raising Achievement for All, 1998 and The Curriculum of the Secondary School: Guidance for Schools, 2001). The documentation was analysed within the context of national guidance (eg Curriculum Design for the Secondary Stages: Guidelines for Schools [SCCC, 1999] and Circular 6/99: Curriculum Design for the Secondary Stages [SOEID, 1999]).

During Phase 2, interviews were conducted with the headteachers/members of the Senior Management Team in each of the 5 case study schools. Questionnaires were administered to all pupils in S2, S3 and S5 and their parents and all teachers in each of the five schools. The questionnaires were designed to gather information about what pupils, teachers and parents think about the range of subjects available in their school. A total of 1663 pupils, 130 teachers and 392 parents completed questionnaires.

Statistical data were collected from the education authority during Phase 3 of the project. This included data concerning pupil attainment, attendance and exclusion rates.

Findings and Conclusions

Aim 1

To assess the overall impact of the guidance from the local authority on teachers, pupils and parents in the five named schools and identify what, if any, improvements it has made to attainment, attendance, patterns of pupils choice, school ethos and teaching environment

The guidance from the local authority has had an impact on the curriculum structure in all five schools. The schools were able to implement changes within the framework of the guidance at their own pace and according to the needs of their pupils. Consequently, the extent of the impact of the guidance differed in the five schools.
Improvements in the patterns of pupil choice are evident in all five schools. However,the results show that the two schools that have been involved in implementing curriculum flexibility over the longest period and have introduced the greatest number of alternative courses met with greater pupil, parent and teacher satisfaction than the other three schools.
Pupils' satisfaction with subject choice generally declined from S2 to S3 to S5, with pupils in S5 being least satisfied with the choices available.
The majority of pupils suggested that modern languages should be optional. However, they also indicated that they wanted greater choice in the languages on offer in school.
Almost a quarter of all S5 pupils involved in the evaluation were dissatisfied with maths. Further investigation indicated that many thought that maths was too hard.
This is a surprising result as maths is not compulsory at S5 in two of the five schools and it is on offer at different levels of study. Further investigation is needed to understand the pupils' concerns with maths.
The greatest change in the curriculum structure appears to have taken place at S3, with more alternative/vocational courses on offer and more freedom in subject choice. There has been an increase in the levels of study possible in S3. S6 in all five schools, although the extent of the increase varies.
The pupils in all five schools appear to take responsibility for making decisions regarding subject choice. The results show that parents are also influential. Consequently, it is important that pupils and their parents have appropriate information to ensure that informed choices are made.
To ensure that an increase in subject choice and greater freedom to follow curricular strengths does not reduce breadth and balance, adequate counselling is necessary. The results indicate that the pupils did not regard the Careers Service to be adequate.
There are a number of concurrent initiatives taking place at school and authority level that have similar aims to the Curriculum Flexibility Project. Therefore, it was not possible to make any direct or causal link between any improvements in attainment, attendance or school ethos and teaching environment and the Curriculum Flexibility Project.
Schools should continue to be encouraged to seek new ways to identify and record attainment (as defined in the Raising Achievement for All report, North Lanarkshire, 1998).

Aim 2

To identify the methods employed by the local authority in managing the diversity of approaches within its schools and assessing the effectiveness of these methods.

The guidance provided a framework that on the one hand gave schools parameters to work to and, on the other hand, gave them freedom to introduce change according to their own needs and at their own pace. This led to gradual change in a small number of schools that allowed the authority to manage the diversity of approaches.
The authority strategy of inviting volunteer schools to implement alternative/vocational courses allowed them to pilot and assess new ideas and approaches with a manageable number of schools in the initial stages. This approach appears to have been effective.
The small number of schools involved at the outset of the project meant that the authority was able to offer them adequate physical and financial support, which might not have been possible if more schools had been involved.

Aim 3

To identify the approaches taken by the local authority in providing support and encouraging innovation in schools and assessing the effectiveness of these approaches.

The approaches taken to support and encourage innovation were consistent with the way the authority would work with schools on any initiative. They had not been developed specifically for the Curriculum Flexibility Project.
A participative, consultative approach was taken by the authority, involving schools and headteachers in the development of the guidance. This meant that the schools generally felt a sense of ownership of the guidance and had a greater commitment to implementing change. The schools did not feel that change had been forced on them. The headteachers described the changes as evolutionary rather than revolutionary.
Support was offered for timetabling and for developing the infrastructure to run alternative/vocational courses on- and off-site. Financial support was provided in some cases to the schools to create the facilities necessary for vocational courses.
The evidence indicates that headteachers and teachers were satisfied with the level of support that they received from Quality and Support Services personnel in the implementation of curriculum flexibility.
The results showed that a number of different activities/initiatives were arranged by the authority to encourage and support innovation. These included headteacher/teacher meetings and conferences.
Conferences and meetings were also arranged with pupils and parents.
The positive comments from the schools indicated that the authority's approaches to provide support and encourage innovation were effective.

Aim 4

To assess the local authority system for monitoring achievement of the project aims, and similarly the ability to be aware of problems with schools' ability to take forward the main ideas outlined in the guidance.

Both the local authority personnel and the headteachers indicated that monitoring the aims of the Curriculum Flexibility Project was difficult.
There appeared to be no systematic processes at local authority or school level to specifically monitor all the aims of the Curriculum Flexibility Project.
The evidence suggests that progress in implementing curriculum flexibility is included in the authority's regular review process and general contact with schools. This review process will give the authority an overview of progress in the development of curriculum flexibility in each school, but it is unlikely to result in detailed information regarding the impact of all the project aims.
While there was no monitoring process to provide details of the achievement of the specific project aims, the evidence suggests that authority personnel were aware of the challenges that face schools in the development of curriculum flexibility. The authority was aware of the impact on staffing (eg surplus of modern language teachers), the need to develop facilities for vocational courses, the lack of expertise in schools to deliver vocational courses and the difficulties relating to using non GTC registered FE staff in school, the transport issues associated with sharing accommodation and the impact on class sizes when offering different levels of study. Local authority personnel indicated that steps were being taken to address some of these challenges.

The report can be downloaded in PDF format by clicking on the link below:

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