School research plan 2023 to 2026

Objective 1: Delivering robust and timely evidence to support the policy making process

Research evidence has an important role throughout the entire policy making process. Evidence is needed to: identify new policy priorities; support the initial development of policy; monitor the implementation of policy; and evaluate the impact of and lessons learned from policy. Objective 1 is, thus, concerned with producing robust evidence that meets the needs of policymakers.

What are our evidence needs?

Below we set out areas in which evidence is needed to support policy development. We have set out the current key priorities for Scottish school education that will determine how we will prioritise our resources and where we feel the wider education research community is well positioned to add to our evidence base.

Our evidence base will be drawn from both primary qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods research and secondary data analysis. Though our focus is primarily on the Scottish education context, we will also look to evidence emerging from the rest of the United Kingdom, as well as internationally. We have a particular interest in how various aspects of education are experienced by young people and educators with protected characteristics and/or who are experiencing socio-economic disadvantage. Our research will be child-centred, supporting Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which states that ‘every child has the right to express their views, feelings and wishes in all matters affecting them, and to have their views considered and taken seriously’.

Our areas of research interest are:

• education reform - specifically, qualifications and assessment, curriculum, and inspection - and ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the outcomes and impact of reform
• the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on school age education in Scotland and education recovery
• the health and wellbeing of pupils and educators, including behaviour and attendance
• closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children and young people
• improving the attainment of all children and young people, particularly in literacy and numeracy
• embedding children’s human rights in teaching and learning

What type of evidence will we produce?

Each year we produce a range of evidence that is used to inform decisions that are made about school age education in Scotland. This evidence includes:

• statistics on school education in Scotland, including pupil performance, attainment and qualification results, and pupil and teacher characteristics
• reports on international comparison studies of education such as Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) – we will rejoin the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) studies
• research on the beliefs, experiences and attitudes of pupils, parents and educators, providing rich detail about policy contexts, and offering nuanced insights about the processes through which programmes are implemented
• consultations on proposed areas of policy development
• evaluation of the implentation, effectiveness and/or impact of education policy interventions and delivery
• sythesis of existing evidence

Evidence is produced both in-house, by Scottish Government social researchers, statisticians and economists, and externally commissioned to independent research providers. Our approach to commissioning research is governed by the Scottish Government’s procurement strategy. Contracts are awarded via fair competition on the basis of both quality and price. Projects for tender are published on ‘Public Contracts Scotland’ - the Scottish Government’s official national portal for public sector contract opportunities.