School Science Grants Scheme Evaluation
Introduction
The Science Small Grants Scheme (SSGS) was launched in 2003 to support the transition of Scottish students from primary to secondary science. The scheme was a partnership activity between the Scottish Executive Education Department (SEED) Scottish Executive Education Department (SEED) and the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) www.nesta.org.uk. The aims of SSGS were to:
- improve children’s attainment in science;
- stimulate their enthusiasm for science; and
- promote partnership working between primary and secondary teachers within school clusters.
People Science & Policy Ltd was commissioned to undertake an independent evaluation of the scheme in late April 2006.
The Projects
Over three rounds of the scheme a total of 69 projects were offered support through the SSGS from various locations across Scotland. The most common types of project involved primary/secondary exchanges, electronic or virtual interactions and activities and development and production of resources. Successful applications were effectively targeted at the scheme’s aims of promoting partnerships, enthusing students and supporting learning.
Beneficiaries
Actual beneficiaries
The project proposals set out three main classes of beneficiaries; these are schools, students and teachers. The programme reached at least:
- 222 schools;
- 488 teachers; and
- 6,532 students, of which at least 4,360 were primary school students.
Project types
Engaging schools seems to have been more difficult when the project was centred around live activities, whether involving exchanges between schools or in students’ own schools. However, these projects were then more successful at engaging students and teachers within the participating schools. Projects that were centred on virtual activities were more successful at engaging schools, but then less successful at engaging teachers and students within those schools.
Successes
Successful aspects
The SSGS has stimulated a variety of projects that have delivered wide-ranging benefits for teachers and pupils. Those projects that involved an interchange of students and/or teachers between primary and secondary schools had the widest range of successful aspects.
Continuation
The most important test of whether or not a project has been successful is whether or not it has sufficient support within the cluster to become an embedded activity after the conclusion of the grant. By this measure the SSGS programme has been a resounding success. Almost two thirds of the projects analysed, were intending to continue the project activity in some way.
Challenges
Five main challenges were identified, these were:
- Engaging teachers
- Time
- Equipment
- Logistics
- Engaging students
Conclusion
The aims of the scheme have been met by the projects it supported. The numbers of beneficiaries are lower than expected, but putting these in the context of the project costs and the grants awarded, suggests that simply in terms of numbers engaged these projects delivered good value for money.
In terms of quality of project, rather than simple numbers, the success of the individual projects and thus the SSGS is most clearly shown by the large number of project leaders indicating that the project was likely to continue. This is a strong endorsement of the quality of the projects.
Good practice
For best practice our advice would be that successful science-based transition projects are likely to feature an element where there is an exchange of pupils or teachers between primary and secondary schools. To deliver these projects, a significant amount of time needs to be allowed for development and delivery of the project with a particular focus on engaging teachers across a cluster.
The full report and appendices can be downloaded as PDF files