IMPROVING SENIOR SECONDARY STUDENT TRANSITION OUTCOMES: A PROCESS EVALUATION OF SIX COMMUNITY NETWORKS ESTABLISHED TO INCREASE STUDENT PATHWAYS AND ACHIEVEMENT

The one-size fits all education system denies some students of a constructive and meaningful pathway when making the transition from senior secondary school to postsecondary education and/or into employment. The purpose of this research was to conduct a process evaluation of the first six Youth Guarantee Networks established in Auckland, New Zealand in 2013. The goal for each Youth Guarantee Network was to improve attendance rates, retention and engagement of learners through the sharing of community resources, quality leadership and to create relevant and meaningful learning pathways for students at risk of failing in school. In addition the Networks were established to achieve more equitable results for priority group learners including Maori (New Zealand’s indigenous peoples), Pasifika and learners with special needs. The evaluation used a mixed methods approach utilising both quantitative data and qualitative data with four key stakeholder semi-structured interviews, two key stakeholder focus groups, a survey sent to all Youth Guarantee Network members and documentation analysis. Data analysis was undertaken using a narrative strategy, Nvivo to create word clouds and program logic to build the process of establishing the Youth Guarantee Networks. The process evaluation found that most of the Youth Guarantee Network members understood and agreed with the key goals but that the funding model used for students studying between two or more institutions was still unclear. In addition, conflicting workloads for members between their own organisation and the Network and having the right representative attend meetings to enable action was difficult which in some instances led to accountability and leadership challenges. Research recommendations included creation of member role descriptions, improving the communication of the “how” to action and implement the new pathways and to continue to monitor and evaluate each Network to measure and assess the relevance of the Network in relation to student improvement when the student had been identified as having completed a pathway introduced through one of the Networks.