Schools and local authorities in Scotland are getting better at tracking the impact of anti-poverty programmes such as the Pupil Equity Fund (PEF), a new report suggests.
Education Scotland has today published the second of three “national summary reports” this year about the Scottish Attainment Challenge (SAC); the first report can be viewed here and the third is due later this year.
The new report provides an overview of all 32 local authorities’ progress between December 2022 and March 2023, with a central theme of “data for improvement”.
It finds “strong evidence that local authorities have increased their expectations of how schools plan for, and report on, the impact of PEF”.
The report adds that better “tracking and monitoring of spend” has been “providing robust support to headteachers and ensuring that interventions and approaches are being more appropriately managed”.
It also notes “growing acknowledgement of a requirement for robust quality-assurance processes”, which are “helping local authorities and schools monitor the impact and evaluation of the PEF” - a trend described as having “paramount” importance.
Meanwhile, more than half of Scotland’s 32 local authorities have used the Strategic Equity Fund to recruit to “new posts with a varying range of roles and remits”.
The report states: “Evidence is now emerging that there has been more clarity, consideration and detail given to how specific posts can enhance outcomes for children and young people and, in particular, those living in poverty.”
However, “the ability to monitor and evaluate the impact of initiatives on learners can be variable”. Despite “signs of progress”, this is an area that both schools and local authorities still need to work on, the report says.
It also notes that in some local authorities there is a data analyst or team to provide expert advice.
In a minority of councils “there is a need to improve moderation and teacher professional judgement”, which would “lead to more accurate data”.
Positive signs towards closing the attainment gap
The report says that almost all local authorities are making progress in achieving some of their “stretch aims” - targets set in the post-Covid recovery process - but that “in a few”, the “year-one stretch aims may have been overly ambitious”.
The report also identifies “little evidence of consistent approaches to tracking and monitoring of ‘senior phase’ stretch aims at local-authority level”, with a heavy reliance of the Scottish Qualifications Authority exams and attainment data published each August. “More bespoke solutions” might include analysis of prelim data or an overview the whole S4-6 cohort in a school.
Gillian Hamilton, Education Scotland’s interim chief executive, said: “For this reporting period, attainment advisers worked closely with local authorities to identify ways they could track and analyse data to improve outcomes for children and young people impacted by poverty.”
Patricia Watson, strategic director for regional improvement at Education Scotland, added that “clear links between data systems and quality-improvement processes” were “evident”.
“Many senior leaders and headteachers have also established structured attainment meetings to discuss how data can be used to inform strategic planning,” she said.
Ms Watson continued: “There is strong evidence that shows the majority of local authorities have made progress towards their next steps, with significant improvements to the implementation and use of the Pupil Equity Fund (PEF) and Strategic Equity Fund (SEF).
“Local authorities also continue to utilise a range of processes to track and monitor progress towards stretch aims, including monitoring of attendance and exclusion data.”
Education Scotland says that “key next steps” include “further improving the use of data, building the capacity of staff through professional learning and improving planning and spending of PEF”, as well as “refining systems [for] the collection and analysis of data”.
