ACLQSP Publications

The transforming or sustaining power of learning is widely recognised. Its impact on individuals, groups and communities is less easy to define or measure. Learning providers need to develop strategies for capturing and maximising impact. How can providers find out more about the impact of learning and use that knowledge to improve provision? How can they build progression routes that really work? Illustrated by case studies and using clearly defined terms to identify different kinds of impact, this guide can help providers approach this complex topic with confidence.

Pauline Nashashibi

This guide is for managers and curriculum leaders who need to take a strategic approach to the curriculum and build internal organisation and partnerships. It looks at the part curriculum leadership can play in developing and delivering high quality learning programmes which match the needs and interests of local adults, engage the excluded, and provide pathways for progression. The guide includes a section on techniques for effective curriculum leadership.

Pauline Nashashibi and Kate Watters

Rising expectations and the drive towards modernisation and responsiveness demand rapid change in public services - ACL provision is no exception. How can ACL staff use leadership to win the hearts and minds of their colleagues and encourage them to respond positively and proactively to the changing policies and priorities that impact on their work? This guide explores leadership and management of change in local authority ACL

Kate Watters, Anne Armstrong and Annie Merton

This practical guide for adult and community learning managers explains how to address equality and diversity issues in the context of the Learning and Skills Council remit and the Common Inspection Framework. It outlines new legislative and reporting requirements for local authority adult education. Case studies highlight good practice - from equal opportunities information packs to staff training days with a dramatic twist. To help managers and coordinators evaluate and improve their provision, the booklet concludes with a self-audit tool.

Anna Reisenberger and Stella Dadzie

This guide recognises the diversity and complexity of ACL and the challenge faced by smaller ACL providers or those local education authorities who contract out all their provision to a range of providers in undertaking self-assessment.

Mark Ravenhall, Juliet Merrifield and Sue Gardener

This booklet shows how managers in ACL can enable tutors and support staff to contribute to quality improvement within their organisations. It outlines the new policy context facing ACL providers as they pursue high quality learning experiences for their customers. It considers how tutors and support staff can be supported within the framework of total quality management (TQM) and gives practical examples of how to achieve this.

Mark Ravenhall, Margaret Ogilvie and David Ewens

Adult and community learning providers need to respond to the needs and values of their learners, who may have deliberately chosen non-accredited learning, and also to national priorities and standards, which require evidence of learner achievement. This booklet discusses practicalities of how these often conflicting needs can be met. The value and uses of assessment in adult learning are explained, and the discussions are illustrated with exercises for tutors to follow, case studies and examples of forms used to record and recognise achievement.

Pauline Nashashibi

The 'satisfied' customer is central to success in both the public and private sectors. Customers of adult and community learning (ACL) providers include staff and learners, potential learners, funding agencies, local communities, employers and the public. To improve the quality of the service they offer, ACL providers must listen to all these groups and act upon what they hear. This booklet is a practical guide for ACL providers on how to get the most out of the listening process. It defines who learners are, explains how to listen to them effectively, describes different approaches and frameworks, and sets out how to involve staff, learners and the community.

Mark Ravenhall

Demands on leaders and managers in adult and community learning (ACL) have never been greater. This guide looks at what is required of them in these roles and what issues they are facing in the context of quality improvement. It suggests practical approaches for improving the quality of provision for adults.

Mark Ravenhall and Mike Kenway

Staff development is vital for the success of every organisation. Managing successful staff development is a challenge, but it can be met through a structured and creative process from strategy through to practice. For local education authority ACL services, in which the roles of staff vary widely, staff development ensures continuous improvement for the benefit of everyone - learners, support staff, tutors and managers. This guide considers staff development in ACL in the context of the Common Inspection Framework and other relevant policies and strategies. It includes 16 case studies of current and emerging good practice and offers step-by-step advice on: identifying staff development needs in your organisation; designing, implementing and evaluating programmes; managing programmes successfully.

David Ewens

Good health and safety (H&S) practice is about preventing accidents, incidents and poor health in the workplace. An organisation that manages H&S well establishes a culture of safety, with identified lines of accountability and responsibility. Ensuring good H&S practice can be particularly challenging in ACL. This guide, aimed at strategic managers, centre and curriculum managers, curriculum leaders and tutors, gives an overview of H&S in a way that is relevant for local education authority ACL services. The guide covers the legal quality contexts of H&S in ACL; managing H&S, including policy, organisation, planning and implementation; common hazards, risk assessment and monitoring; working with partners; and sources of information and support

David Ewens

This guide establishes why and for whom information is important. It explores what information local education authority ACL services may already have and how the need for information fits in to the context of quality improvement, through inspection and performance review and national policy imperatives. It examines better ways of collecting and managing information and suggests useful principles for developing an information strategy. This guide is written in a straightforward, accessible style that helps to demystify what can be a challenging area for ACL managers and curriculum leaders.

Annie Merton

Adult and community services need to meet the challenges of the new post-16 learning sector, which puts 'the learner at the heart of everything'. A system for observing teaching and learning is a powerful means of achieving this and raising quality throughout the sector. This guide describes the process of observing teaching and learning and how it can be managed. It is designed to inform senior managers, managers responsible for quality, and curriculum leaders. It can also be used to support staff training and to help design internal documents and procedures.

David Ewens

This guide is designed to inform and support senior managers, curriculum leaders, administrators and others working within adult and community learning who are involved in assessing the quality of the service they deliver and follows the sequence of tasks and decisions necessary for successful completion of the self-assessment report and development plan.

Mike Kenway and Anna Reisenberger

An action research project or development project is a short-term, focused piece of development work linked to quality improvement. Projects can be used to design and refine new - often experimental - approaches within an organisation, test out new ways of working, address identified weaknesses, enhance performance and introduce more systematic practice. Such projects also provide the opportunity to develop understanding, among staff, learners and all involved, as to how quality processes can lead to real improvement. This publication draws on the experience of those involved in managing and working on development projects in the Adult and Community Learning Quality Support Programme (ACLQSP) and on the views of consultants who have supported them. Using case studies of projects undertaken during the three years of the programme, this guide illustrates the benefits which can derive from such small-scale interventions; in particular it shows how an action research approach adds value to quality improvement projects.

Lindsay Perrin and Bob Powell

Millions of adults benefit from adult and community learning and are generally very positive. However, there is also evidence of unmet needs. Improving the quality of guidance and support for learners will help meet these needs. This guide reviews the role of learner support, clarifying quality, legal and policy requirements. It identifies initiatives and strategies for improvement while recognising challenges that still need to be addressed. The need to evaluate the effectiveness of support arrangements is emphasised.

Kate Watters and Ruth Quilter

This publication examines ACL and quality schemes. It notes the difficulties faced by local education authority ACL services in delivering consistent quality, reviewing how quality improvement has been supported and the messages from pilot ACL inspections by the Adult Learning Inspectorate. It describes different quality schemes, considering their advantages and disadvantages, and reviews them in relation to notional weaknesses and the Common Inspection Framework. Case studies provide practical and accessible examples of how quality schemes can improve ACL services.

David Ewens and Kate Watters