Attainment Scotland Fund 2019: evaluation

2. Methodology

1.4. The third wave of the local authority survey was undertaken as part of the Year 4 evaluation (2018/19). This report presents the findings of the survey, which will be drawn on in the overall Year 4 evaluation.

1.5. The third wave of the survey was developed to build on the findings of previous waves of the survey. As well as considering previous themes such as governance, funding, sustainability, PEF planning and implementation, and unintended consequences, the survey sought to elicit local authority perspectives of:

• developing approaches to closing the poverty-related attainment gap and the extent to which the approach had changed over the period of funding within local authorities;
• the extent to which data and evidence relevant to the local context featured in decision-making at the local level;
• the extent to which the fund increased collaboration within local authorities;
• factors supporting and mitigating progress towards closing the poverty-related attainment gap within local authorities;
• views on planning and implementation of the Care Experienced Children and Young People (CECYP) Fund.

1.6. The survey was distributed via email to Local Authority Directors of Education. One response per local authority was requested, in order to obtain an authority-wide perspective as far as possible. The survey opened on 25 July and was scheduled to close on 5 September 2019. The original deadline was extended with a view to boosting the response rate. The survey closed on 26 September with survey responses submitted by 28 out of 32 local authorities, representing a response rate of 88%. This was an increase on the 22 responses (69%) received to the survey in 2018.

1.7. Additionally, one local authority submitted a collated response from headteachers rather than a local authority perspective. This response was not included in the overall survey analysis, as it did not provide responses at the level of the local authority perspective. However, it will be reviewed in order to ensure consideration of the views expressed within the evaluation overall.

1.8. The analysis aimed to present the wide range of views offered by participating local authorities. Closed responses were analysed quantitatively. Open responses were examined using a qualitative thematic approach and the key themes from the analysis are summarised in this report.