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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
As part of the wide range of ongoing activities to promote parental involvement, the Scottish Executive has produced a series of leaflets for parents and related web materials with the aim of helping them to become involved to greater effect in their child's education. Under the banner Making the Difference, the purpose of the series is to highlight the difference parents can, and do, make to their children's learning. The leaflets are designed for parents to use together with the local advice they will have on the arrangements in their child's school.
Aims and objectives
The Scottish Executive commissioned George Street Research in January 2007 to undertake an evaluation of the Making the Difference leaflets for parents and related web materials. The research aimed to explore parents' awareness of the leaflets, views on how helpful the leaflets are, and the impact of the leaflets on parents' involvement in the school and with their child's learning. In addition, the research explored perspectives from headteachers, schools and local authorities on the efficacy and distribution of leaflets.
Methodology
A quantitative survey of 248 headteachers (or their nominated representative) from a representative spread of schools across Scotland was undertaken. A structured telephone interview among local authority staff was also administered to explore education authority perspectives on the leaflets. Interviews were achieved in 31 of the Scottish local authorities.
8 focus groups and 10 face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted to understand the perspectives of parents who may have had access to some or all of the Making the Difference series of leaflets. This element of the evaluation was conducted among a broad range of parents in Scotland whose children were currently attending school.
Levels of Parental Involvement
A majority of schools (53%) have noted an increase in parental involvement over the past twelve months and only 1% a decrease. Schools indicated that the increased involvement was primarily as a result of parents' involvement in parent forums and parent councils or generally helping with school activities and events.
The qualitative data suggested that parental involvement is more likely to be on an informal basis, and is more common at primary school level, where parents felt it easier to become involved in schools as a result of the smaller size and more 'community feel' of primary schools. Most parents relied heavily on school newsletters to keep them up-to-date.
Awareness and use of the Making the Difference Leaflets
The key theme put across by the Making the Difference series of leaflets (identified by both local authority and school staff) was of parents' involvement in their child's education and learning. Levels of recall of receipt of any of the series of leaflets were highest among local authority staff. At a spontaneous level, the leaflets recalled by highest proportions of school staff were Homework and Parents' Evenings; although levels of recall increased significantly once prompted (at least one in two recalled each leaflet). Highest recall from local authority staff was for A New Law to Support Parents, Homework and Getting Involved in Your Child's School. Once prompted, all leaflets were recalled by at least 80% of local authority respondents.
A large majority of local authority staff had requested additional copies of leaflets and the bulk of these were used to distribute to parents via meetings, forums or events. Awareness of the leaflets by parents at focus groups was mixed. Although many (but not all) recalled a small number of the leaflets, there was no consistency as to which leaflets were recalled.
The Impact of Making the Difference Leaflets
Views on the impact of the series of leaflets were very positive from both school and local authority staff and where feedback had been received either from parents or schools, this too was largely positive.
While views from schools and local authority staff on the series of leaflets were generally positive, and they were viewed to have had a positive impact on parental involvement, the quantitative data and qualitative data from parents also suggested that any increase in parental involvement as a direct result of these leaflets was limited.
Views on Making the Difference Leaflets
Key themes emerging from the telephone interviews were that these leaflets provided relevant and topical information, they were written clearly, helped to raise awareness of key issues and showed how parents can become involved in their child's school.
Parents did note the importance of continued provision of these leaflets and that these could be used to raise awareness of key issues.
Discussions with parents identified that the layout and presentation of the leaflets was, in general, good and made the information contained easy to access and understand. In relation to this series of leaflets specifically, there were preferences for localised material to back up the generic nature of information provided in some of the leaflets. Contradictions between local school activities and those suggested by the leaflets were highlighted by respondents as potentially undermining the credibility of the leaflets at their school.
Conclusions and Future Provision
This evaluation has shown that the series of Making the Difference leaflets has been well received by schools and local authorities and, to a lesser extent, by parents. While parents chose to focus on those leaflets perceived to be of greatest relevance to them, most parents identified at least two or three leaflets that would be of use.
A range of potential future topics for inclusion in the series was identified. These included: bullying; how to identify signs of autism, Asperger's, dyslexia etc; emotional and mental welfare of children; etiquette & discipline. Academic themes included: information on national assessments and grading systems; subject choice at secondary school; different learning and teaching approaches.
Consideration needs to be given to future distribution channels in order to maximise awareness and usage of this series of leaflets. There may well be opportunities for the Scottish Executive to provide guidance to local authorities and schools on how best to work with the information provided. Consideration also needs to be given as to the most appropriate time to distribute each leaflet and the audience(s) to which each is most appropriate.
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