Education Open Data Challenge Summary of user and stakeholder research to inform the development of products and services 24. 02. 2014
Introduction
To inspire effective solutions in response to the Nesta Open Data Education Challenge, Uscreates interviewed a number of key stakeholders in the primary and secondary education system. The interviewees included admissions staff at a local authority, a deputy head teacher at a primary school, and three families. We then synthesised what we found out into these summary slides, to help participants base their ideas on real life contexts and scenarios. The research has been split into the three key themes as set out in the challenge: 1. Expressing preference for a school 2. Choosing a subject or other learning priorities 3. Parents engaging with children's learning The aim of the research is to uncover detailed insights, and create empathy with the target audience. However the small number of people we spoke to means the research is not meant to be a comprehensive reflection of the rich variations and complexities of the educations system, but a lens to inspire and provoke new ideas and questions, which might have otherwise been overlooked.
Summary of the families we spoke to... To get a better understanding of parents and children's attitudes towards education, we spoke to these families...
Sharban and Abdul were very engaged with all aspects of their children’s education, but also allowed the children the final say on which school they went to and what they wanted to learn.
Azif Sharban Abdul
(10 yr boy) (Mother)
(Father)
Anna
(13 yr girl)
Clare and Tony regularly engage with their child’s education. They send their son to a private school and allow their son to make about half of the decisions about what he wants to do at school and what he does in education.
Nathan
(11 yr boy)
Claire
(Mother)
Colin
(Father)
Elizabeth and Alan have children approaching their GCSE’s at a London state school. Elizabeth and Dan encourage their children to be independent, but are also very supportive.
Jon
(14 yr boy)
Elizabeth (Mother)
Alan
Dan
(Father) (15 yr boy)
We also got expert views from...
Mrs Johnson works at a church school in London. She considers it very important that the ethos of the school is right for both parents and children.
Mrs Johnson
(Deputy Head of a School)
Jo Reed works at the local council. He has to ensure information is presented in a neutral way. The biggest challenge the council has is getting all the families their first choice school.
Jo Reed
(Deputy Head of Admissions at Local Council)
1 Expressing preference for a school 2
Families’ school decision journey Who: Parents Children
Who: Parents
Who: Parents Children
Who: Parents Children
Who: Parents Children
Who: Parents
Who: Council
How: Face-to-face
How: Face-to-face
How: Face-to-face
How: Face-to-face
How: Face-to-face
How: Online/Post
How: Online/Post
Ask the opinion of other mums in the neighbourhood
Look through conversations about local schools on Mumsnet
Shortlist a few schools, taking their children’s preferences onboard
Go to school open days and see what the facilities, students and teachers are like
Decide the top three schools based on a number of factors: proximity, facilities, students’ behaviours, Ofsted results, special education needs (SEN), general reputation in the local area, affordability, children’s preference
Submit application to three school choices
Council consider parents’ top choices and offers them a school based on: school’s admission guidelines, proximity, number of children attending school, whether the child follows faith of the school etc
Children ask their friends which schools they’re planning to go to and relay their preferences to their parents
Look at Ofsted reports and catchment areas
In the case of children choosing secondary schools
The problems with the data available... It’s hard to compare schools if they don’t use the same standards, and if they don’t measure soft skills.
“I struggle to understand how the league tables reflect the reality of quality education. I rely on intuition on what the good parenting and education environment is. That’s partly because many of the important skills are soft and not easy to measure.”
“There is no consistency of rating between schools. For example ‘School A’ will say they have x % of students with grades between A-B and ‘School B’ will say they have x % pupils with grades between A-C. Some schools will also manipulate the data by dropping students they don’t think will get good grades.”
Nathan Claire Colin (11 yr boy)
(Mother)
(Father)
The most effective communication channels Appropriate communication channels depend on the stage of education children are at.
“Mostly the parents who come to open days are provided with verbal information, where the tour can talk up the school and connect to the context.”
Mrs Johnson
“One of the main aims of publicity is to ensure parents submit applications for reception/secondary transfer before the national deadlines.” “The most effective communication channels will be different for a primary school and a secondary school. Parents of children who are already in a primary school and will transfer to secondary education can mostly be reached through the school. e.g. The Admissions Service holding a secondary school transfer talk within the school for parents of children in year 6. For primary school aged admissions we would rely on a wider variety of ways to reach parents including nurseries, posters in libraries, doctor’s surgeries, schools (for siblings) and other places where parents of preschool children are likely to visit.”
(Deputy Head of a School)
Jo Reed
(Deputy Head of Admissions at Local Council)
The most effective communication channels First hand information and recommendations play the most important part in assessing the best schools for children.
Primary: Word-of-mouth Other parents and their school experiences with their children.
Secondary: Open Days Get a sense of the facilities available. See the behaviour of students and teachers and get a general feel for the school.
“We were the first in our group of friends with a child and we just moved into a new area, so our social network was not well developed. We did speak to some parents at pre-school, but we mainly relied on our own online research. Once our son was ready to move up to secondary school, when our social network of other parents was more developed, it meant online research wasn’t needed as much to find out what the other options were.”
Tertiary: Internet Websites that schools can’t control are really important because it means they are non-biased. Online forums such as Netmums, Mumsnet, and forums provided by the schools. The Ofsted website has a number of services such as school performance and finding schools within x miles of a home address.
Nathan Claire Colin (11 yr boy)
(Mother)
(Father)
Things parents and children wish they knew... Parents can not always access information about day to day life at the school to inform their decision making.
“The main thing I wish I knew is the price of the bus, about £600 per year. Where as in the other school bus costs nothing. That would have made a big difference.”
Azif
(10 yr boy)
Sharban (Mother)
“One problem I had is the culture at my school. They have guidelines rather than rules, which they don’t enforce. For example my parents got me a skirt at the recommended length, but when I went to school I was bullied because it was too long. Rather than my parents spending money on a new skirt I now just roll the skirt up like some of the other girls.”
Abdul (Father)
Anna
(13 yr girl)
2 Choosing a subject or other learning priorities
Teachers' assessment journey for special education needs (SEN) extra classes, and extracurricular activities Who: Teachers
Who: Teachers
Who: Teachers
Who: Teachers, Councils and other local schools
How: Face-to-face/leaflets
How: Face-to-face
How: Face-to-face
How: Telephone/email
Share information with parents and children about all the classes, activities and support available.
Assess talents and weaknesses of students
Sign-post students to relevant activities or support available: for example an advanced class, a catch up class, a transitional class for students moving to secondary school, etc.
If support/options are not available and enough students require it, then extra groups are set up
Who: Parents and Children How: Face-to-face
Parents and/or students approach the school with a need or interest.
If support/options are not available and not enough students require it, then the school approaches the council for access to support or activities in other institutions (e.g. a local college)
Choosing an educational pathway Children’s educational paths and aspirations often change.
“A while ago I wanted to be a teacher, because I had a really mean teacher and I wanted to show that there is another way of teaching. But I have a different teacher now, so its not as important. I think I’d like to be an athlete now.”
Azif
(10 yr boy)
Sharban (Mother)
Abdul (Father)
Anna
(13 yr girl)
Teachers' advice to year 9 students choosing GCSE subjects Teachers assess the interests, strengths and plans of each student, and offer advice but at the end of the day, it’s a decision that the year 9 students needs to make.
“You will get lots of advice from teachers, parents and other people, but ultimately, choose for yourself, and choose subjects that you will enjoy.” “Make sure you understand what subjects are compulsory and any timetable restrictions when choosing your subjects.” “Think long term. What subjects do you want to take for your A Level? What do you want to study at college or university? Your GCSE subjects affect what you choose to study in the future.” “Choose subjects that will keep your options open, you might discover you’re good at something you never knew about.” “Choose the subject, not the teacher.”
Mrs Johnson
(Deputy Head of a School)
Understanding the aims of education The aims of skills learnt at school are needed for career choice and good social and soft skills.
“Maths is good because you do it everyday, its good for jobs but you also need it in everyday life, like if you need to split the money in a restaurant.”
Azif
(10 yr boy)
Sharban (Mother)
Abdul (Father)
Anna
(13 yr girl)
“The school Nathan goes to ask them to do 3-4 after school clubs. I’m French so I wanted Nathan to learn to speak French at school. He hates French club. We also make him go to piano lessons. But he gets to choose which sports he wants to do. So his after school clubs are about half his choice and half ours.”
Nathan Claire Colin (11 yr boy)
(Mother)
(Father)
3 Parents engaging with their children's learning
Drivers and barriers to parents engaging in their children's learning and for children to engage their parents in their learning
From parents' perspective engaging in their children’s learning
Drivers
Barriers
Know how children are coping at school
Dividing attention among siblings
Keep children active and off computer games
Long working hours
Pick up on any issues early on Spend more time with children
Low literacy and knowledge themselves
From children's perspective
engaging their parents in their learning
Drivers Making it easier to talk to parents about issues Pride in showing parents what they are learning
Barriers Feeling like they have less freedom to do things other than homework after school
Getting more attention from parents
Over-engagement from parents which leads them to completing the homework on behalf of the child
Enjoying homework more
More study time and less play time
Feeling motivated by the school's reward system
The benefits of getting parents to help with homework Spending time with children, and understanding their progress and problems better.
“I get to see what they are up to and how they are coping with school. When I went to parents’ evening I ended up having to ask the teacher to give Azif more homework because he was getting bored at home and I wanted to keep him off the computer games.” “It helps to have Mum and Dad involved. I get more personal attention from my parents and they know more about me and where I am with my education. Where as with teachers, I don’t see them all the time.”
“It helps to have Mum and Dad know what’s going on at school. You can’t tell teachers you’re being bullied, but its easier to tell your parents.”
Azif
(10 yr boy)
Sharban Abdul Anna (Mother)
(Father)
(13 yr girl)
Homework at GCSE level Children are encouraged to be independent but they learn from their siblings as well.
“It’s important to me and Alan that the kids are learning independently in their own time. We are always there to help if there is something they don’t know. But they learn from each other as well, Dan was teaching Jon maths just the other day. They have a homework log which we have to sign-off every week so they don’t get detention.”
Jon Elizabeth Alan Dan (14)
(Mother)
(Father)
(15)
Involving parents in education in creative ways Social activities are a good way of getting parents involved in education.
“Inviting parents into the classrooms to work alongside their children. Anything where food is offered! International Evening is always popular, parents and children are invited to come in national dress with a plate/bowl of national food. They meet other parents and listen to children perform songs, poems and dances from various countries being studied during that half term.”
“To motivate children to include their parents, we use a reward system and open afternoons. Children are usually keen, but we are limited by working parents or parents who don't engage.”
Mrs Johnson
(Deputy Head of a School)
Summary of the research
Children
1. Expressing preference for a school
2. Choosing a subject or other learning priorities
3. Parents engaging with children's learning
Information mainly came from an offline social network including their friends, parents and siblings. The parents’ online research then supplemented this information and was spread by word-of-mouth.
The learning priorities of children we spoke to generally change with their personal experience, along with their career aspirations. However some children also have a clear attitude to learning or preference for certain lessons.
There are a range of benefits in involving parents in their child’s education from the child's point of view. These include them knowing their parents care, and being able to tell them things about school they can’t tell teachers.
A range of sources were used to research, with particular mention to Ofsted, and online forums which schools couldn’t control. Open days are extremely important. Generally we found parents valued qualitative research more than statistics or grades.
Parents involvement influencing their children's subjects at secondary school ranged from little to no influence, to having about half of the influence on what the children did. At primary school there are fewer pathways and they are recommended more by teachers in the cases we found. Children's freedom of choice tended to increase with age, meaning that secondary school children had more of a say when it came to the subjects they wanted to learn.
Parents we spoke to varied in terms of their input into their children's education and homework, their level of discipline and methods for helping. But parents agreed that understanding how their children are progressing and helping their education are important motivations.
The primary school that we spoke to said that they do not advertise their school. Instead parents usually google them and then come to an open day. The way they give facts about the schools facilities and performance is verbally through the open day tours.
Firstly schools open the options on what children can do as wide as possible, and then assess the child's strengths and weaknesses. They might then set up an extra educational group in partnership with the local college, depending on whether there are enough children to fill places.
From the schools' perspective, it’s really helpful if the parent is fully engaged with the child's education. But that does not happen with all parents. There are also parents at the other extreme who do the children's homework for them.
Parents
Teachers
Local Authority
Local councils play a strictly neutral role in informing parents which schools their children should consider attending. They provide information on which Free Schools and Academies are in the Local area, but they do not provide information on private schools.
