Page 19 - Štremfel, Urška, and Maša Vidmar (eds.). 2018. Early School Leaving: Cooperation Perspectives. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut.
P. 19
team cooper ation to fight ear ly school leaving
This means decision-making in the area of education must be strategically
oriented towards improving education based on research and evidence. In
the process, policy decision-makers, experts and stakeholders should join
forces in the search for ways to develop new knowledge that will, based on
high-quality education, contribute to the EU’s economic competitiveness
and social cohesion (ibid.: 12, 13).
The TITA project consortium brings together educational experts and
researchers, policymakers and practitioners from European countries in
a collaborative research and implementation process that enables the evi-
dence-based approach to ESL to be fully realised. By identifying the main
factors that trigger ESL and reviewing the phenomenon’s characteris-
tics at the national, regional and local level of the consortium countries,
it provides an accurate understanding of the scope and reasons behind
ESL; namely, the preconditions for establishing targeted and effective evi-
dence-based policies and practices regarding ESL.1
TITA also considers the European Commission’s (2011) recommen-
dation that policy experiments be based on precise information in order to
better target measures, monitor their development, while constantly adapt-
ing them and drawing policy lessons from their results. By providing in-
depth information on the contextual factors of ESL in the member states
making up the consortium, the TITA scientific base also takes into con-
sideration Edwards and Downes’ (2013: 47) thinking that “one implication
of recognising the local sensitivity of interventions is the need for practi-
tioners to work with data in order to make evidence-informed decisions
about adjusting practices”. Although Dale (2010) states that establishing
the relative importance of factors, and the nature of the causal links and
mechanisms, is a crucial step in enabling policymakers to formulate evi-
dence-based, and possibly targeted, pre-emptive ESL measures, the TITA
scientific base focuses more on describing and conceptualising new ways of
1 For example: a) the collection of evidence allows for the analysis of the biggest rea-
sons underlying ESL for different groups of students, schools, and local, regional
and national systems; b) the combination of data on ESL and contextual data (e.g.
socio-economic information) can help in targeting measures and policies at differ-
ent groups of students, as well as specific local, regional and national communities;
c) gathering and analysing information on the motivation and non-cognitive skills
of ESLers and their employment and career perspectives can also assist in the tar-
geting of measures and policies; d) evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of
the existing policy measures aimed at curtailing ESL is an important basis for im-
proving strategies and programmes for increasing pupils’ chances of school success
(Council, 2011).
19
This means decision-making in the area of education must be strategically
oriented towards improving education based on research and evidence. In
the process, policy decision-makers, experts and stakeholders should join
forces in the search for ways to develop new knowledge that will, based on
high-quality education, contribute to the EU’s economic competitiveness
and social cohesion (ibid.: 12, 13).
The TITA project consortium brings together educational experts and
researchers, policymakers and practitioners from European countries in
a collaborative research and implementation process that enables the evi-
dence-based approach to ESL to be fully realised. By identifying the main
factors that trigger ESL and reviewing the phenomenon’s characteris-
tics at the national, regional and local level of the consortium countries,
it provides an accurate understanding of the scope and reasons behind
ESL; namely, the preconditions for establishing targeted and effective evi-
dence-based policies and practices regarding ESL.1
TITA also considers the European Commission’s (2011) recommen-
dation that policy experiments be based on precise information in order to
better target measures, monitor their development, while constantly adapt-
ing them and drawing policy lessons from their results. By providing in-
depth information on the contextual factors of ESL in the member states
making up the consortium, the TITA scientific base also takes into con-
sideration Edwards and Downes’ (2013: 47) thinking that “one implication
of recognising the local sensitivity of interventions is the need for practi-
tioners to work with data in order to make evidence-informed decisions
about adjusting practices”. Although Dale (2010) states that establishing
the relative importance of factors, and the nature of the causal links and
mechanisms, is a crucial step in enabling policymakers to formulate evi-
dence-based, and possibly targeted, pre-emptive ESL measures, the TITA
scientific base focuses more on describing and conceptualising new ways of
1 For example: a) the collection of evidence allows for the analysis of the biggest rea-
sons underlying ESL for different groups of students, schools, and local, regional
and national systems; b) the combination of data on ESL and contextual data (e.g.
socio-economic information) can help in targeting measures and policies at differ-
ent groups of students, as well as specific local, regional and national communities;
c) gathering and analysing information on the motivation and non-cognitive skills
of ESLers and their employment and career perspectives can also assist in the tar-
geting of measures and policies; d) evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of
the existing policy measures aimed at curtailing ESL is an important basis for im-
proving strategies and programmes for increasing pupils’ chances of school success
(Council, 2011).
19
