Evaluation of the Attainment Scotland Fund: FOI release
Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
FOI reference: FOI/18/00989
Date received: 27 March 2018
Date responded: 25 April 2018
Information requested
A copy of all the data collected for the evaluation of the Attainment Scotland Fund.
Response
I enclose a copy of all the information you requested.
The evaluation drew on a range of data sources, which are explained in detailed in the published report (see Chapter 2) and summarised below:
1. Quantitative data from attainment related measures. Scottish Government gathers or has access to data on attainment of pupils on a variety of measures. For the evaluation we drew upon the key measures identified as part of the National Improvement Framework to understand attainment and the poverty related attainment gap.
2. Administrative data. This information was mainly used to provide background and contextual information for the evaluation; and provided data on the funding received by local authorities and schools.
3. Challenge authority reports. Progress reports were received bi-annually. A mid-year report in September and an end-year report in March.
4. School reports. This included progress reports made by schools part of the schools programme.
5. Headteacher survey. An online survey collecting views of headteachers involved in the Challenge Authorities or Schools Programme. Two waves of this survey have been conducted thus far.
6. Local authority mini-survey. A short online survey sent to project leads of Challenge authorities.
7. Qualitative research study. Externally commissioned research to provide a comprehensive understanding of the implementation of the fund.
8. Education Scotland conducted the analysis of the school reports and plans. And data for this is included under item 4 of this list. The material collected by Education Scotland on the work of Attainment Advisors was not used in the evaluation of the Attainment Scotland Fund.
In response to your request, we have provided the following documents:
1. Quantitative data from attainment related measures. A range of different data sources were used. Details below.
New Group Reading Test. We have provided the raw data received by GL assessments that informed the evaluation report. The file is labelled: Data – NGRT Topline overall.
SCQF Level 5 & 6. The background data is already available and published online.
For the evaluation of the Attainment Scotland Fund, all enquiries to the data at a local authority and SIMD level are already published in the report. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you.
- Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels (ACEL). The background data is already available and published online.
http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/ACEL
For the evaluation of the Attainment Scotland Fund, all enquiries to the data at a local authority and SIMD level are already published in the report. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you.
- Attendance and exclusion rates. The background data is already available and published online: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/AttendanceAbsenceDatasets/atttab2015
For the evaluation, all enquiries to the data are already published in the report. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you.
- Participation measure. Full publication for both 2016 and 2017, as well as supplementary tables can be accessed here:
Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you.
2. Administrative data. The key source of information was around funding allocations and spend. The file is labelled: Data – Spend Figures.
3. Challenge authority reports. In 2015/16 a mid-year and end-year report was submitted. In 2016/17 progress reports were received in October, January and March. All documents received can be found in the attached documents. Note that there is one document for each Challenge Authority which includes all the reports submitted by that given authority. The files are labelled: Data – Challenge Authority Reports – [Name of Authority]
The reports provide financial information, but this may vary across challenge authority reports because of differences in reporting formats. Scottish Government has worked with local authorities to streamline and standardise reporting processes for subsequent years.
4. School reports. Progress reports from schools part of the school programme were also collected. Education Scotland extracted from these reports information around the interventions undertaken. A copy of this analysis undertaken can be found in the files: Data – School reports.
To note that due to the size of some schools, the amount of funding received and the level of detail provided in these reports, the information collected could be traced down to individual pupils and staff. Therefore, it is not possible to release individual progress reports submitted by schools. An exemption under section s.38(1) of FOISA applies to the information you have requested.
5. Headteacher survey. Two waves of the headteacher survey have been completed so far. The first wave took place in Autumn 2016 and the second in Autumn 2017.
The survey was completely confidential. Participants' answers could only be accessed by researchers, who summarised the overall learning from the survey in data tables. The questionnaire included for the most part closed questions, for which data can be quantified and summarised in a table format. Some questions were open and respondents could therefore provide answers in free text format. To ensure confidentiality and anonymity of respondents, responses were then analysed and coded in themes. Detailed of which was included in the topline table.
In response to your request, we have now added an annex to the published report which includes a full set of results: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2018/03/1892
Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you.
The document contains data at three levels for each year:
Total level, i.e. all headteachers
Challenge Authorities, i.e. all headteachers from schools in Challenge Authorities
Schools, i.e. all headteachers from schools participating in the Schools Programme
When looking at the results, care should be taken with small base sizes, particularly for the subgroup of headteachers from the Schools Programme.
Additionally, a copy of the final versions for the questionnaires used at each wave have also been attached to help the navigation of the data tables.
6. Local authority mini-survey. A short online survey was sent to project leads of Challenge Authorities by the end of the first year of the programme. To note that this was a small survey sent to the seven Challenge Authorities only and all were open questions. Participants were assured their responses would be confidential, and given the small sample size and personal data shared, we are unable to provide access to the raw data. Therefore, an exemption under section s.38(1) of FOISA applies to the information you have requested.
The questionnaire used alongside a report summarising key findings emerging can be found in the files: Data – LA mini survey – Key findings and Data – LA mini survey – Questionnaire.
7. Qualitative research study. This study was carried out by Research Scotland. The report has already been published and can be accessed here:
http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0053/00532726.pdf
Ownership of original qualitative research materials lies with the research contractor, Research Scotland and not the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government therefore does not have access to the raw data. The information presented in the full report provides all the information known to us about what participants reported in their interviews.
Due to the file size of the documents released, copies of the remaining documents can be provided on request by emailing ceu@gov.scot, quoting the FOI reference number FOI/18/00989.
Documents available upon request:
File: Data - Challenge Authority Reports - East Ayrshire.docx
File: Data - Challenge Authority Reports - Clackmannanshire.docx
File: Data - School reports - Analysis ES 2.docx
File: Copy of Data - NGRT - Topline overall.xlsx
File: Data - LA mini survey - key findings.docx
File: Data - Spend figures Clean.xlsx
File: Data - School reports - Analysis ES 1.docx
File: Data - LA Mini survey - questionnaire.docx
File: Data - Challenge Authority Reports - West Dunbartonshire.docx
File: Data - Challenge Authority Reports - North Lanarkshire.docx
File: Data - Challenge Authority Reports - Inverclyde.docx
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