Tristram Hooley 19th April 2018 CEC Community Event, Manchester What works? A guide to the evidence on careers and enterprise activities Tristram Hooley 19th April 2018 CEC Community Event, Manchester

Overview The case for evidence Evidence based careers work Gatsby – An evidence based framework What works? What next?

Overview The case for evidence Evidence based careers work Gatsby – An evidence based framework What works? What next?

Why evidence matters

Make time for evidence

Ben Goldacre on evidence in education What needs to happen? Research on what works best should be a routine part of life in education Teachers should be empowered to participate in research Myths about randomised trials in education should be addressed, removing barriers to research The results of research should be disseminated more efficiently Resources on research should be available to teachers, enabling them to be critical and thoughtful consumers of evidence Barriers between teachers and researchers should be removed Teachers should be driving the research agenda, by identifying questions that need to be answered. Ben Goldacre on evidence in education

Levels of evidence

Types of evidence Case studies Satisfaction studies Practitioner perspectives Benchmarking Before and after Then and now Longitudinal tracking (Randomised) control trials Cost-benefit analysis

EEF toolkit https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evidence-summaries/teaching-learning-toolkit/

Overview The case for evidence Evidence based careers work Gatsby – An evidence based framework What works? What next?

Why careers matters? Economic Educational Social To ensure that there is a strong link between education and employment and that transitions into and within the labour market work as smoothly as possible. Educational So that young people understand all of the options that are available within the education system and are motivated to engage with education. Social To support all young people to access the full range of life chances regardless of their background..

Career is… part of an effectively functioning education and employment system; and a safeguard against ineffective and imperfect systems.

Careers and enterprise education Our theory of change A wide range of careers and enterprise activities and programmes Careers and enterprise education Personal effectiveness Career readiness Employability skills Social capital Personal attributes Educational outcomes Career outcomes Personal outcomes

Building up the evidence

Overview The case for evidence Evidence based careers work Gatsby – An evidence based framework What works? What next?

Reminder - Good career guidance Summarises existing evidence and frames them as eight benchmarks. Presents it in a way that can be understood by policy makers and acted on by school leaders. Has achieved wide support amongst policy actors and practitioners alike. The influential 2014 report

The Benchmarks 1. A stable careers programme 2. Learning from career and labour market information 3. Addressing the needs of each pupil 4. Linking curriculum learning and careers 5. Encounters with employers and employees 6. Experiences of workplaces 7. Encounters with further and higher education 8. Personal guidance

State of the Nation 2017 Based on responses from 578 secondary schools gathered through the Compass self- assessment tool in 2016/2017. http://compass-careers.org.uk/ The scope of the data is broadly comparable with data collected as part of the original Gatsby Good Career Guidance research in 2014 allowing us to see how provision has changed over time. https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/

COMPASS (www.compass-careers.org.uk)

Number of benchmarks met by schools

5 ways to get your school moving in the right direction Start early (e.g. year 7). Engage all stakeholders, including parents and employers. Update your website with information about your careers programme. Join the Enterprise Adviser Network. Complete Compass every year.

5 substantial initiatives to improve your programme Develop careers content in all subjects, not just PSHE. Take advantage of labour market resources and make them available to all students and their parents. Provide ALL students with information on ALL routes. Provide experiences of workplaces for all students. Adapt existing systems to track destinations and careers and enterprise activities.

Overview The case for evidence Evidence based careers work Gatsby – An evidence based framework What works? What next?

What works?

The what works series Business games and enterprise competitions Careers events Careers in the curriculum Careers websites Employer mentoring Teacher CPD delivered by employers Transition programmes for young people with SEND Transitions skills (Mock interviews and CV workshops) Volunteering Work experience, job shadowing and workplace visits

Planned Colleges Personal guidance Primary

Key sections What is … ? What impact does it have? What are the lessons for practice? How should the evidence base be developed?

What impacts we are looking for Personal effectiveness Career readiness Employability skills Social capital Personal attributes Educational outcomes Career outcomes Personal outcomes

Example: Volunteering Moderate evidence - most of these evaluations are high quality evaluations of single programmes or from surveys, with limited evidence from studies using control groups. Evidence of impacts on personal effectiveness, career readiness and employability skills Lessons for practice: (1) volunteering should be promoted to all young people; (2) support them to find the right placement; (3) young people should be encouraged to volunteer for as long a period as possible; (4) support should be given to the young person to volunteer; (5) the beginning and end of the role need to be clearly demarcated; and (6) support should be given to help the young person recognise what they have gained from the placement.

General lessons from the evidence Well designed Experiential Learning focused Led and coordinated by professionals Context aware Involving employers and working people High volume Varied Recognising the diversity of learners Providing feedback and assessment

Overview The case for evidence Evidence based careers work Gatsby – An evidence based framework What works? What next?

We need… Studies to explore the optimum timing, duration and mode of delivery of career guidance interventions. Development and adoption of more standardised measurements. Increased use of controls and randomisation. Longitudinal work. More use of administrative datasets and (online) big data. More literature reviews and statistical meta-analyses.

We also need practitioners who Read and learn from the evidence Engage in research projects Drive the evidence through innovating and spotting what might work.

References Early Intervention Foundation. (n.d.). EIF evidence standards. Available from http://www.eif.org.uk/eif-evidence-standards/ [Accessed 19th April 2018]. Education Endowment Fund. Teaching and learning toolkit https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evidence- summaries/teaching-learning-toolkit/. Gatsby Charitable Foundation. (2014). Good Career Guidance. London: Gatsby Charitable Foundation. Goldacre, B. Bad Science. http://www.badscience.net/ The Careers & Enterprise Company. (2017). State of the Nation 2017. London: The Careers & Enterprise Company. What works and other research publications are available from https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/research/publications

In summary Evidence matters! We know quite a lot about what works? We are still learning all the time. But none of it matters unless we all use it.

My contacts Email thooley@careersandenterprise.co.uk Twitter @pigironjoe Blog https://adventuresincareerdevelopment.wordpress.com/