Response 839546921

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Questions

1. Our proposals for the key measures of progress towards closing the poverty related attainment gap are based on a number of key principles. Are there any other principles that should be included?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Please add your response in the text box
Clear reference needed to fact that poverty issues in and of themselves must be addressed by government and society. Schools efforts to close the gap will be limited, and indeed significantly hampered by, the current decline in living standards and increased pressures on family finance.

2. Should the two sub-measures covering attendance and exclusion at secondary schools be promoted to key measures?

Please add your response in the text box
Exclusion of young people should be only on the grounds of health and safety and an absolute last resort. The profile of learners experiencing exclusion continues to be mainly pupils with ASN and / or other vulnerabilities including poverty-related issues. It is counter-intuitive that they should be excluded, however to achieve inclusion significant investment is needed in resource and professional capacity.
Attendance is a key measure - if learners are not present they cannot learn or achieve.

3. Should data on confidence, resilience, and engagement from the new Health and Wellbeing census be included in the basket of measures?

Please add your response in the text box
HWB is a key measure of the success of education and should be given this status in what we measure and what we value.

5. If you answered yes to Q4, in the "more information" box below, we have set out two options for consideration. However, we would also welcome any other suggestions for additional measures.

Please provide your views on the options presented, and any other suggestions or comments in the text box.
The measure of attainment and achievement should cover EVERYTHING contained within the SCQF from national qualifications to wider achievement awards.

6. In terms of measuring progress beyond school, should the percentage of school leavers going to a “positive destination” on leaving school be included alongside the participation measure?

Please select one item
Yes
No

7. What more do we need to do in order to ensure that a wider range of measures are in use across the education system, and that they are valued as equally as traditional attainment measures?

Please add your response in the text box
This question needs to be part of the national conversation on the future of Scottish education, recommended in the Muir report.

8. Are the existing wider data collections, and the new data developments enough to ensure that the National Improvement Framework reflects the ambitions of Curriculum for Excellence, national policy priorities such as health and wellbeing and confidence, and key priorities for COVID-19 recovery and improvement, as recommended by Audit Scotland?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Please add your response in the text box
We must pay attention to collecting quality robust data, not increasing the volume of data.

9. How can we make better use of data to focus and drive improvement activity at school, local, regional and national level?

Please add your response in the text box
The data should be used to spotlight the profile of learners who are currently not achieving as well as they could - and resource and intervention focussed on these learners. Inevitably this will highlight that families affected by poverty, and children with additional support needs require a greater proportion of available resource, focus and support.

10. How can we make better use of data to help reduce variation in outcomes achieved by young people in different parts of the country?

Please add your response in the text box
Variation in outcomes of learners with similar profiles is subject to wide interpretation.
Consideration needs to be given in the first instance to the variability of how children and young people are supported in terms of resource allocation to schools - fairness and equity in allocation of resource and support to schools across 32 LAs.