The Pathfinder Initiative

What are the Projects?

In 1998 the Learning City Network (LCN) and the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) commissioned work on a system to identify what contribution learning community initiatives made to regeneration, quality of life and the development of a culture of learning in their areas. The result was Practice, Progress and Value, a guide (aka The Toolkit) published by DfEE in 1998. The Guide's aim is to help learning communities evaluate their activities and achievements.

What is the evaluation framework?

Practice, Progress and Value measures the value added by learning communities and partnerships.

Evaluating the added value of a partnership

All functions can be performed simultaneously or revied as stand alone items

Practice, Progress and Value suggests that there are three key strands (or functions) in most learning community initiatives.

1. developing and sustaining an effective partnership;
2. building dialogue with the community; and
3. developing a system for measuring added value.

The framework outlines a further three types (or levels) of evaluation which can be assessed for each function:

1. getting organised;
2. developing shared understanding; and
3. reflection.

Overview of the Pathfinder Initiative

Having based the development of the framework on the experience of some learning communities, the Learning City Network wished to test the practicality of Practice, Progress and Value in a range of contexts - the Pathfinder Initiative, which ran between January and October 1999. While its main purpose was to assess the Guide, the 18 individual projects included within the Initiative allowed participating organisations to evaluate their own current activities. The projects were allocated a small amount of money (£1,500) with which to purchase specialist input to develop their own individual work priorities and to test the Guide.

Pathfinder Range of Materials

The full range of materials produced detailing the findings of the Pathfinder Initiative are available below.

• Pathfinder Project Report
  A full account of all 18 projects

• Good Practice Guides
  Lessons from the LCN Pathfinder Projects - January 1999 - October 1999
  • Developing and Sustaining Partnerships

  • Marketing Learning and Developing Guidance

  • Information and Communications Technologies

• "Hints and Tips" to Evaluation
  Practical messages from a wide range of Learning Communities who have attempted to evaluate their plans and activities