| Performance criteria |
Baseline (1996) |
Current (2002) |
Anticipated outcome (by 2004) |
Notes re key tasks still to be done |
|
adults and young people have adequate literacy/numeracy skills to be able to participate in community, social and economic activity
|
low baselines and KS2
lower than national level at Yr 4/KS1
low KS3/4
long tail of underachievement
wide gap between groups
lower than national average – adult basic skills levels
little shared view of adequacy
literacy/numeracy levels seen as outcomes from school processes not inputs into community/social/economic processes
|
Literacy/numeracy seen as key strategic theme
Sense of progress having been made, with much still to be done
‘3 year’ thinking in some partners – but as written ‘plans’ rather than implementation commitments
focus on outcomes; but also more view of literacy/numeracy as prerequisite for wider processes – no real plans to embed these
|
2004 targets met or exceeded at:
baseline
KS1 (L2+)
KS2 (L4+)
KS3 (L5+)
GCSE English/Maths
(adult target?) at Level 1 & 2
Strategic drives in place to meet any stretched targets at 2005 and beyond
|
T Needs adult targets
T Needs pre 16 strategy network and post 16 strategy network
|
| adults in employment have levels of communication/numeracy to do work tasks well and see opportunities for self-development |
employers and core skills – from household survey – employers identify need, but no substantial processes in place to meet these needs |
Getting into ‘capillaries’ of SMEs still a challenge
Data on progress through work with employees hard to quantify
Work with 3,900 employees
|
Basic skills support part of normal business support processes
Number of employees worked with exceeds 5,000 per year
|
Needs benchmarks of what levels might be needed and estimates of volume (linked to LSC ‘up a level’) |
| employers and employees recognise a shared responsibility for continuing development of communication/number skills of employees and the workplace |
few employers engaged in this work
spasmodic/fragmentary work
‘one company at a time’ approach
only work is mainly with 1 or 2 large companies (Rover; Cadbury)
and then only spasmodic and with small sections of workforce; opportunities not seen as part of employee/company development (i.e. seen as ‘remedial work’)
|
Work moved beyond company by company; small numbers – basis of whole system model of work with employers
Structural elements of model (work via Trade Unions; work to boost intermediaries etc)
Large numbers/ systems wide work seen as ‘on the horizon’ and do-able
|
Number of companies = ? (tbc) Number of SMEs = ? (tbc)(by sector)
Employers ‘buy in’ to support services in substantial numbers
Some mechanisms in place for setting indicative targets for basic skills levels of employed people
|
Needs benchmark of how many employers (and number of employees)
Local structural mechanisms secured and aligned with national drive
|
| those seeking employment have essential communication and number skills for employability |
large numbers of young unemployed lack basic skills
no plan to improve levels via 14-25 programmes
little/no coherence 14-25; ‘New Start’ about to begin
|
Collaborative proposals for alternative curriculum
Learning Gateways established; good targeting of specific groups
Few connections between different processes – leads to rescreening and little progress
14-25 partners known and work together
Plan to improve basic skills via New Deal etc
|
Targets set and met for each structural programme
Smooth transitions (in meeting basic skills learning needs) between ‘slices’ of structural programmes
System in place for setting indicative targets for basic skills levels of unemployed people
|
Needs benchmark of numbers of young people at levels and targets for improvement (by programme or by provider?) |
| pupils leave school having reached highest achievement levels in literacy/numeracy and confident with IT support for these |
low levels of GCSE English/Maths (~19%?)
no credible alternatives
‘one off projects’ approach on basis of personal contact with no impact beyond few pupils in 1 or 2 schools
|
Basic skills seen as central to all proposals |
Basic skills part of 14-19 policy group
LEA’s PSA target/floor targets met
|
Test mapping of ‘menu’ to ‘need’
how well do solutions align with problems?
|
| children, young people and adults see themselves as able to be readers, writers, communicators in range of ways |
12,000 of young people from target groups use library (25% meg)
no development activities beyond library summer activity
contact with writers; children as writers not in plans
‘reactive’ approaches (worries re numbers of particular community who do not use library)
|
- 23,850 young people from target groups (34% meg)
Reader development models (Year of Reading/ Reading groups/SfW etc) but not connected, not mainstream
Proactive outreach seen as key practice model
Around 10 contacts with writers
writing development proposals via library; CiFC; EBP etc but no implementation
|
Benchmarks (yet to be set for 2004/5) met or exceeded |
Write up and repackage ‘readership’ and ‘writership’
Benchmarks set
Counting mechanisms?
|
| there is a strong culture of reinvesting literacy/numeracy skills for the benefit of others |
small scale recruitment of parent volunteers in some areas: no clear links to literacy/numeracy |
Scheme to recruit volunteers via library service and place in schools
Two additional voluntary schemes in Birmingham
Support materials, via BiTC, unlocking more business volunteers
Parallel processes moving closer. Original ‘mechanics’ need overhaul, to fit new structures
1 or 2 areas operating in isolation from city wide developments
|
Target of 400 new adult volunteers per year is exceeded
u Coherent structure for schools to get volunteers |
Placing all volunteering and businesses via 1 ‘portal’ (EBC) all volunteering and community via BVSC?
Funding via active community unit?
|
| parents are confident in own abilities to develop literacy/numeracy skills in children |
legacy of one off projects – Bookstart/Books for Babies – with no feeling that must be built into ‘layer of service’
no focus on parents abilities to support classroom learning
Leading to Reading campaign and preschool activity – but resulting in disconnected activities
|
Bookstart nationally funded
Layers of service – Bookstart/Flying Start/etc give potential for unified 0-5 support – but not universally acted upon
Some other processes yet to be built into framework
Nurseries/day nurseries worked with
Inspire established as successful vehicle
|
Period 2003-2004:
Reaching up to or >50% of parents of children 0-10 i.e. >65,000 parents
Parent work firmly structured into main programmes
Coherent and consistent messages going via different routes
|
Focus on language
Writing
Adviser areas
Bilingual/ESOL families
|
| levels of literacy, numeracy and IT skills in Birmingham increase to exceed national target levels for pupils at Key Stages 1-4, and for adults |
Birmingham below national levels at all stages |
At Baseline, KS1, KS2, KS3, and GCSE Birmingham improving faster than national average i.e. coming up to near national - but still below that level
For adults: low numbers participating and achieving; no standardisation; little impact in overall numbers ‘in the pot’
|
Birmingham exceeds national levels at all stages
Comparable data available for Birmingham and other areas. Substantial inroads being made into total of adults with basic skills needs
Possible, aspirational ‘floor targets’ set for neighbourhoods
|
Detailed disaggregation of Birmingham cf: core cities cf: national
Needs mechanisms and agreements around this –and link to Neighbourhood renewal
|
