Methodology and methods
for Part 2 of the study conducted March 2008 - July 2008
Executive summary: methodology and methods
The first phase of Part 2 of this longitudinal study began with 50 case study school visits that were selected from the respondents to the 'environment map' survey based on geographical location and type of school. During April and May 2008 at least two members of staff in each school were interviewed including a member of the SLT and an NQT. In total, 125 interviews were carried out.
In addition to the case studies, 250 telephone interviews were conducted with SLT members in 250 schools over a two month period. As with the case studies the schools were selected from the survey conducted in the first stage of the project. The schools were selected on geographical location and type of school and 50 of the schools were non respondents to the 'environment map' survey. The second phase of this part of the study included a quantitative survey to SLT and NQTs on the induction and progression of NQTs.
Timescale
The timescales for the quantitative and qualitative studies was as follows:-
| Month | Qualitative Study | Survey |
|---|---|---|
| March 08 | Case study schools selected and visits arranged. Interview schedule developed. | |
| April 08 | Case study visits. | |
| May 08 | Case study visits. Telephone interview schools selected and arranged. Interview schedule developed. | |
| June 08 | Telephone interviews conducted. | |
| July 08 | Telephone interviews conducted. | |
| August 08 | ||
| September 08 | Incentives sent to each participating school. | NQT & SLT surveys designed and agreed. |
| October 08 | Qualitative analysis. | NQT & SLT surveys designed and agreed. |
| November 08 | Qualitative analysis. | NQT & SLT surveys dispatched. |
| December 08 | Qualitative analysis. | Reminders via email, post & telephone. |
| January 09 | Report writing. | Reminders via email, post & telephone. Additional survey sent to booster SLT sample. |
| February 09 | Further reminders via email, post & telephone. Both surveys closed for analysis. | |
| March 09 | Analysis and report writing. |
Case studies
In part 1 of this project, respondents to the survey were asked if they would like to take part in the project further either via being a case study school or a telephone interview school for the duration of the project. During March 2008 a case study interview schedule was developed and covered the following areas:-
- ITT routes and strengths and weaknesses of NQTs;
- recruitment selection and processes;
- induction and the use of the Career Entry and Development Profile (CEDP);
- retention issues.
In total, 200 out of 706 schools were prepared to be a case study school. Fifty schools were selected from this list based on geographical location and type of school. Once selected all 50 schools were sent a letter informing them they had been selected. During April and May 2008, 50 school visits were undertaken and in each school at least two members of staff in each school were interviewed including a member of the SLT and an NQT. In total 125 interviews were carried out (50 with members of the SLT, 50 with NQTs and 25 with NQT mentors). The case study selection was based on getting a wide geographical spread covering all regions with a mix of rural and urban schools from the schools that wanted to participate.
Table 1 Geographical Spread - Case Studies
| Region | Total |
|---|---|
| Yorkshire & Humber | 13 |
| East | 5 |
| East Midlands | 5 |
| London | 6 |
| North East | 2 |
| North West | 8 |
| South East | 2 |
| South West | 5 |
| west Midlands | 4 |
| Total | 50 |
Table 2 Type of School - Case Studies
| Type | Total |
|---|---|
| Secondary | 24 |
| Primary | 19 |
| Special Schools | 4 |
| Independent | 3 |
| Total | 50 |
Each case study school received £150 cash to cover staff time once the interviews had been completed.
Telephone interviews
In addition to 50 case study schools, 250 telephone interviews were conducted over a two month period. As with the case studies schools, the telephone interview schools were selected from the survey conducted in the first stage of the project (see below). During May 2008 interim analysis was carried out on the case study school data to help inform and develop a telephone interview schedule. The telephone interview schedule comprised of open and closed questions allowing qualitative and quantitative data to be collected. The interview schedule covered the following areas:-
- numbers of NQTs in previous two years;
- quality of NQTs;
- ITT routes taken;
- recruitment;
- induction.
In total 364 out of 706 schools were prepared to be a telephone interview school. 200 schools selected from the previous survey were sampled on geographical location and type of school. The additional 50 schools were randomly sampled from the non respondents from the survey and were selected randomly by type of school. In total 250 interviews were conducted in 250 schools and for taking part each school received a £25 Marks and Spencer voucher.
Table 3 Type of School - Telephone interviews
| Type | Total |
|---|---|
| Secondary | 100 |
| Primary | 115 |
| Special Schools | 20 |
| Independent | 15 |
| Total | 250 |
Table 4 Staff interviewed - Telephone interviews
| Type | Total |
|---|---|
| Head | 122 |
| Deputy / Assistant Head/td> | 103 |
| NQT Mentor | 5 |
| NQT Coordinator | 13 |
| Head of Department | 7 |
| Total | 250 |
Survey
Between September 2008 and March 2009 a quantitative study was also carried out as part of this phase of the study. A survey was sent out to SLT and NQTs who responded to the previous 'environment map' survey. The aim of this survey was to explore the induction, progress and performance of NQTs. As with the previous survey, SLTs were offered the opportunity to be entered into a prize draw to win £500 worth of school equipment and NQTs the opportunity to win an IPod.
A hard copy questionnaire was posted to all respondents from the environment map survey with a link on the front of the questionnaire giving the option to complete the survey online. In addition a hard copy NQT survey was posted out to all schools and SLTs were asked to distribute this to their NQTs again with the option to complete the survey online. To boost the response rate a reminder hard copy was posted out to non-respondents followed by an email reminder and telephone chase ups. Following this a booster survey was posted out to increase survey respondents to over 800.
Once both surveys had been closed, the paper questionnaires were electronically scanned and the resulting data were combined with those from the online responses. Each dataset was cleaned using a standard procedure, namely checks to ensure that any routeing instructions had been followed, range checks on all appropriate variables and logic checks to highlight any inconsistencies in the data. The datasets were then analysed using SPSS version 16. Each questionnaire has some open-ended questions. The responses were transcribed and manually coded.
In total, 827 SLTs and 465 NQTs responded to the survey. Survey responses for SLTs and NQTs are broken down below.
Table 5 Responses from follow up survey and booster sample SLTs
| Type | Paper | Online | Total returns | Total sample | Response rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Follow up | 378 | 47 | 425 | 706 | 60% |
| Booster | 289 | 113 | 402 | 3844 | 10% |
Table 6 Type of School- SLT Survey Respondents
| Total n | Total % | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary | 566 | 68.7 |
| Secondary | 193 | 23.4 |
| Independent | 38 | 4.6 |
| Special | 27 | 3.3 |
| Total | 824 | 100 |
Table 7 Type of School- NQT Survey Respondents
| Type | Total n | Total % |
|---|---|---|
| Secondary | 253 | 54.4 |
| Primary | 212 | 45.6 |
| Total | 465 | 100 |
Table 8 ITT Route - NQT Survey Respondents
| Type | Total n | Total % |
|---|---|---|
| PGCE | 293 | 63 |
| Undergraduate | 99 | 21.3 |
| Employment based | 67 | 14.4 |
| Other | 6 | 1.3 |
| Total | 465 | 100 |
Table 9 Outcome of NQT year - NQT Survey Respondents
| Type | Total n | Total % |
|---|---|---|
| Successfully completed | 427 | 91.8 |
| Still undertaking | 37 | 8.0 |
| Withdrew from post during NQT year | 1 | 0.2 |
| Total | 465 | 100 |
Survey Analysis
The questionnaire was divided into three sections, the first section gathered information about the school, information about the NQTs in the school and the routes from which they came. The second section asked questions around the induction of NQTs and the third section contained questions on the progress and performance of NQTs.
Questionnaire responses were merged with data from the DCSF national database of schools. Variables merged in were percentage of pupils eligible for free schools meals (FSM) and percentage of pupils of White British ethnic origin. The percentage of pupils on free school meals was used as a proxy measure for deprivation of the school. The percentage of pupils of White British origin was used as an indication of the ethnic mix of the school.
The percentage of pupils eligible for FSM was broken down into quartiles. Those in the lowest quartile were described as, "least deprived" whilst those in the upper quartile were described as, "most deprived". The two middle quartiles were termed as, "lower middle" and "upper middle". The percentage of pupils of White British origin was broken down into four categories; 0-25%, 26-50%, 51-75%, 76-100%.
Initially overall frequencies were produced for all questions. Following this responses were broken down by the following factors;
- School type (i.e. primary, secondary, independent, special)
- Free school meals quartiles (as explained above)
- Percentage of pupils of White British origin (as explained above)
- Route from which NQTs came
This analysis highlighted some differences by school type and by route however little differences were found between free school meals quartiles (aside from between routes (table 18)) and between the ethnic mix of the school hence breakdowns for these variables have not been included in the report.
Methods: Summary