1.1 Introduction
1.1.1 In 1998, the Government announced its intention to allocate 230m from the National Lottery, to be distributed by the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) to provide Information and Communications Technology (ICT) training for teachers and school librarians in all UK maintained schools. It allocated 23m of this fund to Scotland.
1.1.2 The purpose of the training programme for teachers and school librarians is to contribute to meeting one specific target set out in the Connecting the Learning Society1 consultation paper of 1997. This is to ensure that "serving teachers feel confident and competent to teach using ICT within the curriculum, and that librarians are similarly trained."
1.1.3 The main aim of the training ultimately is to raise the standard of pupils' achievements by increasing the expertise of teachers in the use of ICT in sector and subject teaching in all areas of the curriculum and by improving the confidence and competence of school librarians in their use of ICT.
1.2 Background to the initiative
The Expected Outcomes
1.2.1 The NOF training programme is based around a set of Expected Outcomes, developed by the Scottish Executive, which indicate the knowledge, understanding and skills necessary to use ICT effectively in teaching and in the work of school librarians. One of the principles of the training is to increase the expertise of serving teachers in the use of ICT in their teaching to the level now expected of all newly qualified teachers.
The NOF programme model
1.2.2 The New Opportunities Fund decided that the training should be delivered through approved training providers. This was to ensure that there was sufficient capacity to deliver the training and that schools had a sufficient choice of style of training and an appropriate flexibility in accessing it. A total of 14 providers were originally approved in Scotland. Ten are still in operation, of which eight operate only in Scotland and two throughout the UK.
1.2.3 References in the text of this report to training providers relate to the organisations approved to organise the delivery of the training to schools. References to tutors and mentors relate to those involved in the actual delivery or support of the training. The terms participant and trainee are used interchangeably.
Funding
1.2.4 The New Opportunities Fund has allocated funding for the programme on the basis of the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers in each school. The amount of funding was approximately 450 per head, to be spent only on ICT training with approved providers. Decisions about which schools and staff were to be trained and when were devolved to schools and EAs. The NOF issued the updated version of the training catalogue (the Red Folder2) to schools in January 2000. Schools had to commit their funds by signing up with a training provider by the end of March 2002.
1.3 Quality assurance
1.3.1 The quality assurance of the training programme in Scotland is managed by HMIE. At the beginning of the training, a team of associate assessors from a range of curricular backgrounds evaluated each provider's training materials. The teams which carry out evaluations of the training provision include HM Inspectors and associate assessors who have a local authority or senior school management background. Teams make judgements against the eight NOF ICT Training Quality Indicators (Scotland) issued in early 2000. These are available on the Scottish NOF support website.3
1.3.2 Between April 2000 and the end of February 2002, HMIE evaluated all providers of NOF training in Scotland on two occasions. Following each evaluation, the provider was required to set up action plans to address the issues identified. HMIE then carried out a follow-up visit to ensure that the provider was implementing its action plan appropriately. A further insight into progress was provided by the requirement for each provider to provide a mid-year report to HMIE.
1.3.3 The main aims of the evaluation work of HMIE have been:
1.3.4 The evaluation work and ongoing discussion with providers have sought to establish a common understanding of the principles of the NOF programme. It has also helped to develop agreement across Scotland as to best practice in this area. Providers' responses to the evaluations have been systematic and rigorous and the whole process has promoted a number of major improvements across a broad range of aspects of the training.
1.3.5 HMIE has also organised seminars for approved training providers and education authorities, where key issues emerging from evaluations have been disseminated and discussed.
1.4 Generic issues
Take-up of training
1.4.1 The training programme officially began in the school session 1999/2000. However, uptake was initially slow, for several reasons. Some of the providers were not yet fully established to begin training. A number of education authorities and schools did not yet have appropriate equipment and connections in place, a requirement before training could begin. There was also an uncertainty in schools in the wider area of continuing professional development. (CPD)
1.4.2 Take-up increased significantly in certain education authorities (EAs) in session 2000/01, but less so in others. The 2001/02 session saw a greater growth in uptake. By the deadline of March 2002, 87% (FTE) of Scottish teachers had signed up for the programme. The deadline for completion of the training, originally March 2003, has now been extended to December 2003. However, most trainees are expected to have completed their training by June 2003.
The implementation of the programme
1.4.3 The quality of achievement of the Expected Outcomes by participants has depended significantly on two main factors which have been relevant in most areas of Scotland.
1.5 Purpose of this report
1.5.1 In line with their agreement with the NOF, HMIE provided copies of evaluation reports to the NOF and each provider. The reports on individual providers were not published. However, the major issues arising across the evaluations have been shared and discussed at a number of public forums.
1.5.2 There is clear evidence that the training is having a positive effect in a number of schools. Nonetheless, the evaluations have confirmed that the quality of implementation varies considerably across the country. Leading into the final stages of the programme, this interim report is being issued for the interest of all who are involved in the initiative, in order to promote further discussion of the main issues and encourage creative solutions at local level. It presents a wide-ranging view of the models which have evolved and the issues which have emerged from the initiative. Importantly, it also identifies those generic approaches and support mechanisms which have led to the most effective implementation of the programme. This report is intended to provide a broad point of reference for training providers, education authorities, school managers, tutors and training participants, as the initiative is carried through to completion and its success and impact are evaluated over the coming months.
1.6 Evidence base for the report
1.6.1 As stated earlier, by the end of February 2002, HMIE had carried out two full evaluations of each provider. In the course of sampling provision, evaluation teams visited over 400 schools and interviewed well in excess of 3000 training participants. They used questionnaires to capture the views and perceptions of a wider range of participants. They also observed training sessions and took views from trainees at seminars. Throughout this evaluation work, HMIE has maintained a close working relationship with the Scottish Libraries and Information Council (SLIC) and has valued its substantial input.