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Education Business Link Clusters Evaluation

Hillage J, Barry J, Pike G
Research Report RR379, Department for Education and Skills, November 2002

research commissioned by the DfES

This summary was published as the Department for Education and Skills Research Brief RR379.

Key Findings

In September 2000, nine groups of schools were invited to work in partnership, with the support of a specially appointed broker, to develop joint approaches to education business link (EBL) activity. The ten main messages to emerge from the evaluation of the pilots were that:

• Brokers can help improve both the quantity and quality of EBL activity. Brokers are key to better education business links.
• Brokering is more important than clustering. The single most effective input in the pilots was the broker, without whom few of the successes in terms of improved EBL activity would have been achieved.
• Clustering can work, but only in the right circumstances, eg where there is an additional strong rationale for schools working together. Even then collaborative working may need facilitating by a form of broker.
• EBL is generally viewed as a marginal activity. There are many demands placed on schools’ time, and many think that EBL is only naturally relevant to a minority of pupils and not mainstream.
• Convincing schools of the relevance of EBL takes sustained input and evidence. Senior management support is critically important. To achieve this, brokers need to provide a sustained effort and be able to demonstrate the effectiveness of EBL activities on student outcomes.
• EBL can achieve results – four schools reported that involvement in EBL activities improved pupils’ motivation and confidence and contributed to better results.
• EBL activity requires funding. Few schools have the financial resources to undertake high levels of EBL activity on their own.
• Effective brokering requires a range of skills and approaches to be able to work at a number of levels: strategically, operationally, and administratively.
• Brokers provide the time and expertise lacking in schools.
• Customised support is more effective than pre-conceived activities. EBL activities are best designed flexibly to meet particular needs.

Introduction

In September 2000, nine clusters (small groups) of schools were invited to work in partnership to develop joint approaches to education business link (EBL) activity, with the support of a specially appointed broker. A pilot cluster was established in each of the nine English regions. The pilots were funded for a total of two years to test the impact of a broker working with a specific cluster of schools – particularly in the areas of developing a progressive experience of the world at work from an early age up to pre-16 work experience and teacher placements.

The Institute for Employment Studies (IES) was commissioned in September 2000 to develop a national evaluation framework and to use it to assess the value of the pilots. IES conducted a range of visits to the pilots, interviewing brokers and other intermediaries and representatives from schools and employers and held a series of workshops involving representatives from the pilots.

Pilot achievements

The achievements of the clusters as a whole were assessed in a range of areas identified in the evaluation framework covering:

• the quality and quantity of EBL activity
• how EBL activity is managed in schools
• the impact on work experience and teacher placement programmes
• employer involvement.

Progress achieved in each of these areas is summarised below.

The quality of EBL activity

We found that the quality of EBL activity in most of the schools involved with the clusters had improved during the course of the pilot and in particular there was evidence of:

• Progress from Key Stages 2 to 3: a large amount of new activity generated in the clusters focussed on maximising the chances of children making a smooth transition to secondary school. As a result there was a considerable increase in the volume of activity at primary level, greater attention to transition issues and progression between Key Stages 2 and 3. In turn this led to better links between primary and secondary schools at that level, ie teachers having a better understanding of the pupils and what they have done/will do pre and post transition. Teachers also reported that pupils entering secondary school were better motivated and prepared.
• Progress from Key Stages 3 to 4: less attention appears to have been given to activities in senior school and most of the work appears to be in terms of auditing and planning. No school developed a co-ordinated approach to EBL across Years 7 to 11, although many appeared to have made progress towards this end. The constraints at this level in terms of availability of in-school resources, the limited ability of a few teachers to make a difference and the importance of the mainstream curriculum and GCSEs proved to be significant barriers.
• Better planning: where activities were undertaken, there was considerable evidence that they were planned with clear learning objectives and links to the curriculum.

Management of EBL in schools

Most of the schools became more interested in and aware of the benefits that EBL activities could provide. In a few cases, school policies on EBL activity were developed, and development plans gave greater prominence to EBL activity. However, in other cases it is not clear that greater commitment and interest will continue to be translated into activity without the support of the broker to maintain momentum as other calls on teacher time and attention take hold. In some cases, schools became more willing to share ideas, although generally collaborative working was limited.

General EBL activity

Generally, more attention appears to have been paid to EBL activity in the schools involved in the clusters than would otherwise have been the case – particularly in primary schools. It is likely that some activities will continue beyond the life of the pilots, but not at the same volume.

Work experience

Few of the pilots concentrated on work experience. Those that did focussed on improved preparation and, to an extent, better quality of placements. While both are important and some of the preparation events were reported to be extremely successful and motivational, neither amount to major innovations in the provision of placements.

Teacher placements

Again teacher placements were only a feature in a minority of pilots. However, involvement does seem to have brought about both an increase in placement activity (with some schools taking part in placements for the first time) and a greater focus on the placement in terms of building links with the general curriculum. The latter led to spin-offs in terms of other EBL activities (such as projects or work experience). However, most placements were short in length – one or even half a day (arguably too short to make a significant difference). Placements therefore tended to be fairly instrumental in their aims (eg to secure better work experience placements or to organise a particular curriculum project), ie a means to the end of securing more EBL activity rather than ‘continuous professional activity’ in the human resource development sense. It is clear that placements are highly dependent on external funding (for supply cover) and support (to broker the arrangement).

Relationships with employers

There is evidence of schools building a larger number of and, in some cases, more effective and longer-term relationships with local employers. Although the total number of such ‘partnerships’ is fewer than the number of clusters, their success has provided a model and inspiration for more to be developed in the future.

Brokering and clustering

The broker

A general conclusion of this evaluation is that the broker has been crucial to the success of the pilots, although across the nine pilots, the role of the broker was structured and resourced in different ways and the broker performed a number of roles.

The way in which the pilots deployed the broker varied between two general models:

• Stand alone – individual specially appointed broker working largely on their own.
• Split – two or more individuals in a job share and/or taking forward elements of the broker role between them (eg one working with primary schools, another on teacher placements etc.).

The broker played a variety of roles, including:

• a strategic role, eg persuading schools of the value of EBL activities, auditing existing activities and identifying opportunities to develop materials, processes and procedures for schools to use on their own
• a more operational role, eg making contacts and forging relationships, helping initiate projects and/or participating in activities
• in addition, many respondents highlighted the crucial importance of administrative support provided by the broker.

The key aspects of value that brokers brought to the clusters were:

• Expertise – eg to advise at a number of levels from the development of work-related learning policies to how best to design an individual activity.

• Time – to plan and organise activities.

• Contacts – with employers, other schools, or other sources of help or expertise.

Clusters

The clusters varied in the way they were structured and operated, which made comparisons difficult. The key points of value from grouping together of schools in clusters appear to be:

• the sharing of ideas and resources.
• sharing experiences and knowledge.
• maintaining a momentum.
• fostering support between schools.
• improving awareness of pupil needs and transition.

However, the benefits of being involved in a cluster varied. The most beneficial relationships appeared to be between secondary and primary schools and (to a lesser extent) between primary schools rather than between the secondaries. Where involved, special schools benefited considerably from working with other schools.

Funding

Many of the pilots devolved some of the funding direct to schools and all used an element of the funding to finance particular activities or support the cluster. The funding was particularly important in financing supply cover for teachers and was reported to have had a proportionally more significant effect at primary level.

Sustainability

The general view among our interviewees was that few of the clusters were self-sustaining beyond the life of the pilot, as the broker was crucial to maintaining the vibrancy of the cluster. However, in at least three areas there were plans to continue and/or extend the broker model, and funding had been sought or secured from bodies such as the local Education Business Link Organisation (EBLO) and others.

Copies of the full report (RR379) priced £4.95 are available by writing to DfES Publications, PO Box 5050, Sherwood Park, Annesley, Nottingham NG15 0DJ or phoning 0845 60 222 60. Cheques should be made payable to ‘DfES Priced Publications’

Copies of this Research Brief (RB379) are available free of charge from the above address. Research Briefs and Reports can also be accessed at www.dfes.gov.uk/policy/.

Education Business Link Clusters Evaluation, Hillage J, Barry J, Pike G. Research Report RR379, Department for Education and Skills, 2002.
ISBN: 978-1-84185-829-6. PDF Download only: £free

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