An evaluation of the NAB Schools First Awards released this month is providing evidence and examples of how school-community partnerships can nurture, improve and sustain the learning capacities and personal development of Australia’s children.

The First Interim Report of NAB Schools First, by ACER Principal Research Fellow Dr Robert Simons, followed the progress of the 2009 Impact and Seed Funding Award winners during 2010. In 2009, 88 winners were selected from 1552 applications. Of the 88 successful applicants, 53 agreed to take part in the evaluation.

The evaluation revealed that the primary objective of 52 of the partnerships reflected one of four themes: improved learning outcomes; development of workplace skills; promotion of healthy lifestyles, mental health and wellbeing; and social and emotional support for students and families. The remaining one of the participating winning partnerships nominated the primary objective of children’s readiness for school.

Simons found that, as a result of the Awards, successful applicants were able to strengthen their partnership capacity by improving partnership performance and enhancing partnership expertise and with heightened partnership motivation and commitment.

All of the winning partnerships that had been in existence for more than five years tended to report that the Awards had the greatest impact on their capacity to improve implementation, including the quality and development of the programs and services. Where partnerships had existed for less than five years the Awards mainly acted to heighten motivation and commitment. In a smaller number of newer partnerships, the Awards facilitated the introduction of additional skill sets and expertise.

The evaluation also examined how effective NAB Schools First has been in providing financial recognition of success in establishing effective school-community partnerships and in providing financial support to build stronger school-community partnerships.

In all cases, the Awards either provided for already successful partnerships to grow their capacity to increase the number of partners and to benefit significantly larger numbers of students, or to facilitate the growth of early stage partnerships. All of the winning partnerships reported improvements in student attendance, retention or graduation rates, academic performance, continuing engagement in learning and improvements in self-esteem.

The evaluation identified five success factors that were critical to enabling the Impact and Seed Funding Award winners to strengthen or expand their partnerships and thereby improve student outcomes. These five critical success factors are detailed below.

The flexibility that the models of funding gave to partnerships
The large amount of investment provided to the winners and the flexibility the winners had in applying the funding contributed significantly to the development and growth of school-community partnerships.

Strategic thinking and planning for partnership growth and expansion
The flexibility of the funding model enabled and encouraged partnerships to think strategically about enhancing existing programs and about extending them to a greater number of students.

The establishment of formalised structures and processes of communication
Successful partnership growth and expansion requires formalised structures and processes of communication that incorporate shared-decision making, clear roles and responsibilities, frequent and effective communication and regular monitoring and review.

The development and implementation of strategies for sustainability
Nearly all of the partnerships had ensured that effective partnerships were sustainable for the next three to five years and did not become vulnerable to one-off short term funding grants.

The demonstrated capacity for the partnership to be replicated in other settings
One of the strongest indicators of a partnership’s growth is its capacity for replication. Only one of the winning partnerships that participated in this evaluation had reached this point, however the report concluded that the achievements and accomplishments made possible by the winning partnerships suggest that they offer a viable model for other school-community partnerships in Australia.

The five strategic success factors that were identified among the winning partnerships suggest that, overall, the NAB Schools First initiative has contributed to a significant increase in strategic capacity for the enhancement and growth of partnerships beyond that envisioned before the existence of the Awards.

Simons concludes that the partnerships demonstrated that improved learning outcomes are not achieved by schools addressing the problem on their own; rather, schools can be much more effective when the complementary objectives of schools and stakeholders in the community are aligned.

The full report is available from http://research.acer.edu.au/policy_analysis_misc/6/

The NAB Schools First Awards have been developed by ACER, the Foundation for Young Australians and the National Australia Bank. Further information is available from www.schoolsfirst.edu.au

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