Transnational evaluation of social and professional re-integration programmes for young people

On European and national level much emphasis is put on the reduction of youth unemployment and the improvement of school to VET transition. Many of the established re-integration programmes refer to the shift of paradigms in learning theory, by strongly stressing forms of work based, action oriented, situated learning (cf. Socrates Re-Enter, interim report, Flensburg January 2000). Re-integration programmes have developed innovative approaches to vocational education, including new methodologies and didactical means. Still the implementation of forms of situated learning in practice does not go without problems on various levels. Assessment methods and assessment criteria have to be devised with regard to learners competencies and quality of programs. The proposed project will make an original contribution to the quality assessment of these programmes and provide knowledge about the long term effects on learners.

A multi-level approach of research , therefore will

• on the individual level : identify learners needs and examine effects on learners,
• on the institutional level : identify obstacles to the implementation of best practice / identify trainers needs / improve the accessibility of workplace practice for disadvantaged youngsters,
• on the socio-economic level : identify how programmes are situated in the national VET systems? How is the school to VET/work transition influenced by cultural specifics ? (primary evaluation through interviews).

Aims

The proposed project will investigate further into adequate educational approaches and training methods and develop a methodological approach for quality assessment.

The project aims at developing, improving or, in some cases for the first time, devising methods of evaluating re-integration initiatives for disadvantaged young persons, and supporting operators in the field (policy-makers, personnel in labour agencies, practitioners, etc.) in improving the initiatives.

The objectives will be:

1. To develop tools for primary evaluation.
2. To devise a set of qualitative indicators appropriate for the target group where each young person has to be dealt with according to his/her specific biography.
3. To work out for each cultural setting, specific advice as to how to improve the initiatives.
4. To disseminate systems of indicators for assessment and suggestions for improvement.

By way of "mutual learning" between the different countries with their fairly differing training systems the specificity of the Leonardo programme will be of great help in achieving the objectives.

Workplan and timescale

Year 1

• Developing a common concept of the three-level analysis
• Exploration of socio-economic and institutional factors, according to a list of criteria to be developed
• Devising and pre-testing the guide for interviews with participants and observation of their learning and working assignments
• First Interim Report.

Year 2

• Evaluating socio-economic and institutional factors (through interviewing a wide range of actors in the field)
• Carrying out the full amount of interviews and observation of activities of participants (both at the beginning and at the finishing time of the schemes)
• Evaluating cultural differences and similarities
• Carrying through dissemination activities
• Second Interim Report.

Year 3

• Finishing interviews and observing the participants at the time when they leave the schemes
• Interviewing former participants with respect to their biographical competencies
• Designing recommendations for improvements of the national programmes
• Intensifying dissemination
• Final conference including additional countries
• Final report.

This is an evaluation tool which might help practitioners in re-integration schemes to reflect, to discuss and to improve their practice together with colleagues. It can be used alone, but we suggest to use it in a small group with two to five colleagues. The following instrument is divided into six dimensions which were considered to be important features for Re-integration schemes by an European Project focussing on the evaluation of such schemes across Europe. Practitioners of Re-integration schemes as well as educational researchers were involved in this project. Each of the six dimensions includes criteria and accompanying explanations which are categorised into three different levels: The structural level, the institutional level and the individual level. These three levels are related to each other, they determine or influence each other in different ways.

Das vorliegende Instrument kann Praktikern in der Berufsvorbereitung helfen, gemeinsam mit Kollegen ihre Praxis zu reflektieren, zu diskutieren und zu verbessern. Sie können mit dem Instrument einzeln arbeiten, wir empfehlen jedoch, es eher in einer Gruppe mit zwei bis fünf Kollegen zu verwenden.

Das Evaluationsinstrument ist in sechs Dimensionen unterteilt, die sich im Zuge eines Europäischen Leonardoprojekts zur Evaluation von Berufsvorbereitungsmaßnahmen in Europa als zentral herauskristallisiert haben. In dieses Forschungsprojekt waren sowohl Praktiker aus Berufsvorbereitungsmaßnahmen als auch Erziehungswissenschaftler verschiedener europäischer Universitäten einbezogen. Jede der sechs Dimensionen beinhaltet Kriterien, die durch Erklärungen ergänzt werden. Die Kriterien sind nach drei Ebenen unterteilt: Die strukturelle Ebene, die institutionelle Ebene und die individuelle Ebene. Diese drei Ebenen stehen im Zusammenhang miteinander, sie bedingen und/oder beeinflussen sich gegenseitig in verschiedener Weise.