Evaluation of EEFective Kent: Privacy Notice

Introduction

The EEFective Kent project is a three-year project running until August 2023 aiming to bring evidence-based programmes to Kent to improve educational outcomes. Kent County Council and the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) are working in partnership and have created a joint funding pot worth £600,000 to support the implementation of evidence-based approaches and interventions in Kent. Kent County Council is managing the project, with support from staff at EEF.

The project has three key strands of activity:

■       Promising Projects in Schools: match-funded, evidence-based programmes from the EEF’s ‘Promising Projects’

■       Evidence-based training for schools: delivering evidence-based training based on EEF guidance reports, delivered by the EEF’s Research School Network

■       Developing Research Champions: building Kent’s capacity for evidence-informed school improvement and professional development

The Institute for Employment Studies (IES) has been appointed by EEF and Kent County Council to conduct an evaluation of the project to understand if the project achieves its intended aims of:

■       Raising educational standards in Kent, particularly for disadvantaged pupils

■       Supporting schools in Kent to use evidence confidently to support their decision-making

■       Supporting schools and key partners in Kent to use evidence-based approaches

■       Encouraging collaborative working across the Kent school system

In line with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), this privacy notice sets out how the research team at IES will collect and use your personal data, and who you can contact with a query or a complaint.

We promise to respect any of your personal information which is under our control and to keep it safe. We aim to be clear when we collect your information about what we will do with it and let you know of any material changes to this notice.

What is the legal basis for processing my data?

IES is the data controller for this project. IES’ legal basis for processing personal data is ‘legitimate interests’. The evaluation of EEFective Kent fulfils one of IES’ core business purposes (undertaking research, evaluation and information activities) and is therefore in our legitimate interest, that processing personal information is necessary for the conduct of the evaluation.

What kind of information do we collect?

The research will involve:

■       Interviews with key partners and stakeholders in the EEFective Kent project.

■       An online survey of headteachers and other school staff, which will be sent to all schools in Kent.

■       Analysis of data collected by Kent County Council and other stakeholders such as Promising Project providers and EEF Research Schools, who will deliver training to schools. This could include information on schools participating in particular training courses and numbers and types of staff attending and completing training.

■       Case study research with schools, including interviews with up to five members of school staff from each case study school.

■       Analysis of publicly available data on attainment of schools in Kent and other parts of the country.

Personal data (i.e. name, job role, email address and telephone number) will only be collected where it is necessary: either to send invitations to participate in the research or where it is relevant to the interview/survey to contextualise your responses. For the purposes of sending invitations to take part in the research, this information will either be obtained from publicly available sources (e.g. your organisation’s website) or supplied by Kent County Council or the Education Endowment Foundation with your explicit consent.

How will my data be treated?

We take all reasonable steps to protect your personal information and follow procedures designed to prevent unauthorised access, alteration, loss or disclosure of your information. Where personal information is collected, these details will be stored on an encrypted server with access restricted solely to members of the IES research team.

We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

If you are invited and choose to take part in an interview, survey or case study for this project, the data you give will be used for research purposes only. IES will produce a report that summarises the main findings from all these research activities. Individuals will not be named, nor will any information be included that could reveal your identity, except with your explicit permission.

We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for. Your personal information, interview notes and survey responses will be securely deleted from the IES systems six months after the project is complete (currently estimated to be July 2024).

Who else has access to your information?

The IES research team may disclose your information to third parties in connection with the purposes of processing your personal data set out in this notice. These third parties may include suppliers, research assistants, trusted academic partners and subcontractors who may process information on behalf of the research team to carry out such work as undertaking interviews or transcribing interviews. In all cases, the Research Team will ensure that these third parties enter into appropriate data processing agreements with us and that they keep your personal data secure and confidential.

We may also disclose your personal information if required by law, or to protect or defend ourselves or others against illegal or harmful activities, or as part of a reorganisation or restructuring of our organisations.

Your legal rights

Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data, including the rights to:

■       Request access to your personal data: this enables you to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to check we are lawfully processing it.

■       Withdraw the information you have provided as part of the interviews or survey up to two weeks after you have submitted your response.

Please see the Information Commissioner’s Office website for a full description of your legal rights.

If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above in connection with this research project, please contact Ceri Williams, Senior Research Fellow at IES on Ceri.Williams@employment-studies.co.uk

Who can I contact with a query about how my data will be used?

If you have any questions about how your data will be used, please contact the Project Director or Project Manager for the evaluation:

■       Rakhee Patel, Principal Research Fellow at IES (Project Director): Rakhee.Patel@employment-studies.co.uk

■       Ceri Williams, Senior Research Fellow at IES (Project Manager): Ceri.Williams@employment-studies.co.uk

Who can I contact with a complaint?

Under GDPR, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office at www.ico.org.uk. We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO, so please contact IES in the first instance.

Company details for the research team and funders of the evaluation

The Institute for Employment Studies is a charitable company limited by guarantee registered in England.

■       Registration number: 931547

■       Charity registration number: 258930

■       Registered office: Institute for Employment Studies, City Gate, 185 Dyke Road, Brighton, BN3 1 TL6

■       Email: ceri.williams@employment-studies.co.uk

 

The Education Endowment Foundation is a charity registered in England

■       Charity registration number: 1142111

■       Company number: 07587909

■       Registered office: Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank, London SW1P 4QP

■       Email: info@eefoundation.org.uk

 

Kent County Council

■    Registered office: Sessions House, County Hall, Maidstone ME14 1XQ

Email: EEFectiveKentProject@kent.gov.uk