1. Closing the gap in educational attainment
Pre Visit to Fife
4th February 2015
Closing the gap in educational attainment
Craig Munro
OECD Evaluation of Curriculum for Excellence

2. Closing the gap in educational attainment
Pre Visit to Fife
4th February 2015
Closing the gap in educational attainment
What matters?
What is working?
What more is needed?
OECD Evaluation of Curriculum for Excellence

3. What matters? Social context
Post-school life chances
Early Years
School attainment
Social context
Community and home
By age 5, gap of 18 months between children
whose parents have:
degrees / no qualifications
(Growing Up in Scotland)
Holistic approach to Children’s Services

4. What matters? The individual
Compared with a typical Fife child:
Culture & ethos
ASN child twice as likely to be in negative destinations
Social context
Individual needs
Culture: individual & community attitudes
Additional Support Needs
Social disadvantage
Attendance
Ambition
Child in SIMD deciles 1-3 twice as likely to be in negative destinations
Child in negative destination attends school one day less per week

5. What matters? A GIRFEC approach
Universal Provision
Varying need
Focussed working
The view of the child
The potential of the child
The needs of the child
Targeted support
Information & understanding
E.g. Fife pupilwise survey of LAC

6. Professional development
What matters? We know!
ADES Raising Attainment Paper, OECD
Joseph Rowntree, GUS
Hattie, Sutton Trust
Donaldson, Wood
Leadership
Learning & Teaching
Professional development

7. What matters? Making it happen
Evidence-based approach
Rounded and balanced view
Support improvement of professional judgment
Track and monitor progression of learning
Learning & Teaching

8. What is working? In Fife Family Nurture Approach
Early intervention
Family Nurture Approach
Developed through action research involving vulnerable families
Delivered through existing early years partnerships
Improving parenting and attachment
Improving early literacy / communication
Christie

9. What is working? In Fife Literacy Strategy Focus:
The lowest attaining
Reading to learn using “real books”
Highly significant impact:
Comprehension skills
Outcomes:
Improving literacy levels in primary
More than 50% of S4 pupils get a National 5 pass in English …
…and we are closing the gap!
Learning & Teaching
Donaldson

10. What is working? In Fife Learning & Teaching Fife Scotland
“Excellent” in all QIs
2.9%
1.0%
Some “Excellent” QIs
11.8%
6.9%
“Very Good” or better in all QIs
26.5%
22.1%
Some “Very Good” QIs
67.6%
51.5%
“Good” or better in all QIs
79.4%
69.6%
Official Statistics (March )
69%
Data for all school inspections (based on reference QIs: 1.1, 2.1, 5.3)
Summary of all inspections since March 2011 (based on most recent data)
Learning & Teaching

11. What is working? In Fife Developing the Young Workforce
Employability skills
Developing the Young Workforce
Work-based pathways
STEAM collaborative
Modern Apprenticeships for Looked After Children
Wood

13. What is working? Nationally
Pre Visit to Fife
4th February 2015
What is working? Nationally
Clear, common purpose
Scotland has organically developed the key elements
of a coherent and holistic system
Equity
Synergies for Better Learning (OECD)
Close collaborative working
Improvement Partners
Learning Partners
Raising Attainment for All (RAFA)
ADES Networks
etc
OECD Evaluation of Curriculum for Excellence

14. What more is needed? National Performance Framework Need a framework
to align these elements and achieve a
coherent & holistic system
(Allow greater sharing of data without creating perverse incentives?)
National Performance Framework
Student learning and assessment
Quality of teaching
Standards of school leadership
School self-evaluation
School external evaluation
Local and national ‘system’ evaluation

15. What more is needed?
Need to ensure that resources are targeted on the things that make a difference
How do we get our best teachers/ practitioners into the “hardest shifts”?
How do we …. ?

16. What more is needed?
Need to ensure that policies and programmes are targeted on the things that make a difference with a clearer articulation between programmes designed to support national and local community planning partnership priorities
A clear rationale for action
A call for bids
Arising from a clear and common purpose
Prompted by a general concern
Aiming to improve quality
of learning & teaching
Focussing on quantity
(e.g. resources, inputs)
Ensuring better integrated services for children
Directed at professional silos
And supporting a more holistic and child-centred approach
Addressing professional interests