Attainment Scotland Fund Evaluation: Reporting on National Improvement Framework Attainment and Health and Wellbeing Measures, 2024

Section 1: Introduction

What is the purpose of this Report?

A key output of the Attainment Scotland Fund Evaluation (ASF) Evaluation, this report summarises evidence around improvement in attainment and health and wellbeing, and the gap between pupils from the most and least deprived areas. Evidence of impact draws on analysis of quantitative data on attainment and wellbeing, based on the core measures for monitoring progress on closing the poverty-related attainment gap as set out in the National Improvement Framework and Improvement Plan.

The companion publication, Summary of Wider Evidence on the Poverty Related Attainment Gap Report, complements the NIF Measures Report, by bringing together analysis of a wider set of surveys and data, which offer further insights into the nature of the poverty related attainment gap and the experiences of children and young people, and their families, who are most affected by it.

Who is this Report for?

This Report is designed to be a short, concise summary of progress utilising the core National Improvement Framework core attainment and health and wellbeing measures. The Report is for Attainment Advisors, local authority Scottish Attainment Challenge (SAC) Leads and policy officials, providing them with evidence on how performance has changed over time in an accessible format and a resource for them to use working with teachers and school leaders and those in the system that are interested in the national level picture.

The Attainment Scotland Fund (ASF)

The Scottish Attainment Challenge’s (SAC) Mission is to use education to improve outcomes for children and young people impacted by poverty, with a focus on tackling the poverty-related attainment gap. It is supported by the Attainment Scotland Fund (ASF), which aims to deliver improvements in Scotland’s schools in literacy, numeracy, and health and wellbeing for children affected by poverty. The ASF is made up of various funding streams totalling £1 billion, including Strategic Equity Funding (SEF), Pupil Equity Funding (PEF) and Care Experienced Children and Young People Funding (CECYP).

The Evaluation

The ASF Evaluation aims to provide learning about the overall implementation of the ASF and the extent to which progress has been made towards meeting intended outcomes articulated in the Scottish Attainment Challenge Logic Model in support of the SAC programme’s mission.

A new Evaluation Strategy was published in 2022, which set out plans for evaluation between 2022/23 and 2026/27.

The Strategy outlines analytical activity related to four key strands of evaluation focus across the multi-year evaluation:

• Process evaluation to consider implementation of the refreshed Attainment Scotland Fund, including Strategic Equity Fund, Pupil Equity Fund and Care Experienced Children and Young People Fund.
• A thematic strand of evaluation which will respond to emerging system priorities and consider what works, for whom and in what circumstances.
• Reporting on the National Improvement Framework (NIF) measures.
• Evaluation of the impact of ASF, through a combination of qualitative and quantitative measures.

A detailed analytical plan outlining activity in support of the high level strategy is published annually and this takes account of the new evaluation approach highlighted in the Strategy.

A core objective of Evaluation is to assess the impact of the overall fund in improving outcomes in educational attainment and achievement and health and wellbeing and closing the poverty-related attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children and young people. This relates to:

Evaluation Question 15: To what extent did the fund contribute to a closing of the attainment gap between the most and least socio-economically disadvantaged children and young people, in line with the refreshed Scottish Attainment Challenge Mission?

This report draws together data from measures previously published to present evidence in support of the key evaluation question on closing the poverty-related attainment gap.

Stretch Aims

A key element of the Scottish Attainment Challenge Framework for Recovery and Accelerating Progress was the introduction of a requirement for local authorities to set ambitious and achievable stretch aims for progress in overall attainment and towards closing the poverty related attainment gap. Local authorities have set stretch aims for 2025/26 in line with the guidance in the 2023 Framework for Recovery and Accelerating Progress. Stretch aims are embedded in local authority education service improvement plans and represent key elements of local authorities’ ambitions for recovery and accelerated progress for the three-year period of 2023/24 to 2025/26.

Collectively, local authorities’ core stretch aims for progress by 2025/26 indicate significant ambition to drive accelerated progress in closing the poverty related attainment gap across the country. Local authorities also set additional (plus) aims which recognise that progress is identified in a broader range of ways at local level than those set out nationally. These aims are of equal importance to the core aims. In this ground up approach to identifying stretch aims for progress, local authorities are responsible for implementing their local plans to make progress in raising attainment and for closing the poverty-related attainment gap. Local authorities own stretch aims and their trajectories for progress towards them are included in their statutory improvement plans and published on local platforms.

Measures

Evidence of impact draws on analysis of quantitative data on attainment and wellbeing based on the agreed key measures for monitoring progress towards closing the poverty-related attainment gap set out in the National Improvement Framework. This sets out a basket of key measures and sub-measures to assess progress. The key measures and reporting periods are shown in Table 1 below.

The most recently available data is presented from 2015/16 or 2015 to align with the Scottish Attainment Challenge Programme’s inception, with the exception of Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels (ACEL) data for which consistent data is first available for 2016/17.

Previous ASF Evaluation reporting focused on the core NIF attainment and health and wellbeing measures with the exception of the 27–30 month review. Following the Impact Feasability Study the 27-30 month review was included in the measures under consideration. ^[1]

Analysis

Each of the measures outlined in the above table in order to address the evaluation question are considered in terms of:

• Overall attainment
• Attainment for pupils from most and least deprived SIMD quintiles
• Percentage point gap between the most and least deprived.

This report provides a high-level summary of national progress, presented as a concise narrative with infographics.

Analysis has been extended this year to include additional granular analysis at the national level, which was a recommendation from the Impact Feability Study. Initial consideration of attainment linked to socio-economic status and other characteristics has been explored.