The new approach fills a key gap in understanding how to evaluate diverse interventions, involving small numbers of participants with distinct characteristics.
University of Birmingham and University of Cambridge academics, in partnership with the National Network for the Education of Care Leavers (NNECL), have established a new research method to evaluate a programme helping young people in care transition to Higher Education.
Around half of young people now go to university, but only 15% of those who have been in care. This is not solely due to the grades they achieve in school, it’s about the absence of experiences and advice that most families take for granted.
Nearly two thirds of care experienced young people say they have no knowledge of the support available to them. With funding from the Inner Circle Educational Trust (ICET), an education navigator (EN) is changing this for Camden’s young people in care by ‘walking alongside’ their university journey, extending from the age of 14 to award of a degree. The EN is part of the ICET funded Head Start into Higher Education programme, in partnership with the London Borough of Camden Virtual School (CVS). Through the Head Start initiative, a number of care experienced young people (CEYP) are receiving targeted funding and support from an EN.
ICET has commissioned an independent evaluation of Head Start into Higher Education by the University of Birmingham in partnership with the NNECL to demonstrate whether this type of programme and financial investment will make a material difference to the life chances and educational outcomes of the CEYP involved. In addition to supporting those directly involved in the programme, the Trust and local authority want to understand how the EN model could work in areas across England. As every young person in care is different, the EN provides individualised support, bridging between the specific academic, personal and financial challenges they face. This means established research methods can't be used for the evaluation of the programme as they tend to rely on larger cohorts for statistical significance, a group with similar characteristics for comparison, and the same treatment for all participants.
The research team have recently completed their investigative phase which entailed establishing a suitable evaluation approach. Through individual insights, the research team is helping to identify which aspects of the EN’s engagement make the most difference to the individual young people involved. Alongside this, the team is using a novel ‘best odds’ approach to analyse educational data, so it can compare the individual grades and progression route for each participant with broader populations beyond Camden.
This analytical approach brings real challenges associated with data sharing and security. The team’s work to address them will fill a profound gap in understanding how to evaluate diverse interventions, which involve small numbers of participants with highly particular characteristics. This is important for young people in care, but also for many others who are under-represented in universities.
The EN’s journey with Camden’s care experienced young people will continue through to 2030. The research team at Birmingham, Cambridge and NNECL comprises Patricia Ambrose, Claire Crawford, Ian McGimpsey and Chris Millward, and will be joined by a doctoral student Jade Ecobichon-Gray in the autumn.
Professor of Practice in Education Policy
Professor Christopher Millward's work is focused on generating and deploying robust evidence for tertiary education policy and practice.
Professor of Education
Professor Ian McGimpsey's work focusses on the sociological analysis of youth and youth services.
