Evaluation of the regional education for enterprise (E4E) clusters (2007-2009)

Rachel Bolstad, and Sue McDowall

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Teachers [53KB PDF]

Students [45KB PDF]

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Community [104KB PDF]

Stakeholders [125KB PDF]

About the Project

The Regional Enterprise Clusters initiative (2007-2009) aimed to embed an enterprising culture within clusters of schools based on the characteristics unique to their individual communities.  In turn NZCER’s evaluation of the initiative aimed to:

• investigate the processes and assess the impacts associated with adopting an E4E approach.
• provide formative feedback to support the development of E4E in the four clusters.
• evaluate progress towards sustainable E4E while assessing the viability of the National E4E Strategy’s conceptual model.
• analyse how E4E may align with curriculum and pedagogical practices considered appropriate for the 21st century.

Our tri-focus on the cluster-specific, national strategy and 21st century acknowledged that there were a range of E4E-related goals and objectives amongst different stakeholders.  The evaluation involved multiple instances of qualitative and quantitative data collection from each of the four regional clusters (Northland, West Coast, Nelson, and Manukau) over a two-year period.  In order to support the ongoing development of E4E within individual schools, regional clusters, and nationally, we provided regular feedback about emerging findings to different audiences in a timely manner.

In 2007 a students teaching and learning survey and a principals’ priorities survey gauged the current environment in E4E schools and some of the intended directions for E4E developments.  We conducted a range of case studies to understand E4E in more depth in complex school and regional environments.  We carried out end-of-year surveys with E4E teachers and a small sample of “E4E-active” students to get a clearer idea of the rates at which different kinds of activities and immediate outcomes occur.  The evaluation continued in 2008 with a second iteration of school case studies and extensive surveys of students, teachers, school leaders, and business and community partners who had been involved in E4E activities in the four regional clusters. The final report from the evaluation was published by the Ministry of Education and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise in early 2010.

To learn more about E4E, see http://education-for-enterprise.tki.org.nz/

Funded by the Ministry of Education, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, and the Tindall Foundation