Collaborative Approaches to 14-19 Provision - Communities and ...

14-19 PATHFINDERS: THE SECOND YEAR♦ Pathfinders are expected to: test out a range of ideas and discover new ones; develop bestpractice in 14-19 education and training to guide the steps to, and pace of, a national rollout;identify barriers to a coherent 14-19 phase and design ways to overcome them;demonstrate that the reforms can work in a variety of locations with different socialcircumstances and different mixes of schools and colleges.♦ Twenty-five Phase One Pathfinders began operating in January 2003 and were followedin September 2003 by fourteen Phase Two Pathfinders. The pathfinders were drawn fromeach of the nine Government Office regions. Some are based in large urban areas,including deprived inner city areas, others have been set up to address issues of ruralisolation while some are located in mixed urban/suburban/rural areas. Pathfinders vary inthe size of the geographical area covered, the number and types of institutions involvedand the extent to which they address the full range of potential 14-19 issues or focusedupon selected elements of the agenda.♦ The 14-19 Pathfinders have been jointly funded by the DfES and the Learning and SkillsCouncil.EVALUATION METHODOLOGY♦ The evaluation had five main aims:1. to assess the extent to which the Phase One 14-19 Pathfinders and unfunded 14-19partnerships continue to develop and take forward best practice in creating a morecoherent 14-19 phase at LEA, consortia, institutional and individual levels2. to assess the extent to which the new Phase Two 14-19 Pathfinders develop bestpractice in creating a more coherent 14-19 phase, including in the more radical waysoutlined in the 2003/04 prospectus3. to relate the findings from the Phase One and Phase Two 14-19 Pathfinders to theacademic and official literature and to models of provision and practice developed for14-19 provisionii