Recommendation 9: Strengthening evaluation and continuous improvement
The effectiveness and impact of the whole career system should be measured using a suite of outcome-based measures that are integrated in all settings, supporting the delivery of responsive and flexible services.
My growth/progress and level of satisfaction is measured to improve career services.
- The outcome of this change for a young person using career services
Why has this been recommended? What did the evidence say?
- A wide range of measures across the career ecosystem is required, augmented by the developing ‘Shared Measurement’ framework recently finalised by No-One Left Behind and the Young Person’s Guarantee
- The level of impact measurement across Scotland’s career services is variable
- There are problems achieving good and useful integration between local, national and international data on the education and employment system
- Many current measures are largely focused on reach and destinations following interventions
- There is limited data on the long-term quality and sustainability of destinations
- Inconsistent impact measurement and data sharing issues reduce the possibility of building system-wide evaluations
- There is limited insight into the wider impact of career support on key national performance indicators, including inequality, poverty and others relating to economic wellbeing.
Find more information on the evidence gathered through the Career Review
The change
- We understand the difference that enhanced career services are making to those who engage with them
- We measure outcomes and monitor uptake of the support that people are entitled to
- Clear key performance indicators that help organisations manage their performance allow services to be refined and improved over time and evidence return on investment
- Systematic quality assurance processes ensure services are of consistently high quality
- Ongoing evaluation leads quickly and directly to changes at a national and local level: services are always improving and kept up-to-date with changes in industry
- We understand the impact career services have on wider economic and social objectives.
How it addresses inequalities
The approach places importance on identifying outcomes that reflect individual goals, distance travelled and career happiness, and evaluate the quality and effectiveness of the career ecosystem for all individuals and its impact on wider economic and social objectives.
Download the Career Review Equality Impact Assessment
What happens next?
The Career Review Implementation Plan will detail:
- how an understanding of existing measures and reporting requirements across all organisations will be co-developed to ensure new career services measures provide added value and address existing gaps
- how a measurement framework that is common to all organisations delivering career services in Scotland will be co-developed and delivered
- how a method of ongoing measurement and evaluation will be co-developed and delivered
- how an approach to support each delivery organisation to continue, adapt or implement continuous improvement processes for enacting change in services based on assessment and feedback will be developed.
The Career Review Implementation Plan and Target Operating Model will detail how the development of external evaluation arrangements and approaches that will provide assurance over the quality of the experience for all people and support continuous improvement will be led.