Sustainable Development Education Panel
Sustainable Development Education Surveys
Introduction
BMRB Social Research was commissioned by The Sustainable Development Education Panel to carry out two surveys to investigate the provision of, and attitudes towards, education for sustainable development. One consisted of interviewing staff responsible for this provision in state, independent, primary and secondary schools. The other survey involved interviewing children who are approaching the end of compulsory education, those presently in Year 11.
OBJECTIVES
Survey of School Leavers
To establish the impact that provision of education about sustainable development in primary, secondary, state and independent schools has had on those children approaching the end of Year 11.
Survey of Schools
To establish the existing arrangements for the provision of education about sustainable development in primary, secondary, state and independent schools.
METHOD
Survey of School Leavers
This survey was carried out with 1000 students who are currently in Year 11 at school (using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing). The sample was drawn from BMRB International's in-house database, of a representative sample of over a million individuals whom we have interviewed in the past. Respondents were targeted for their age and an eligibility check was made at the beginning of the interview to ensure all respondents were in Year 11 at school. Permission was sought from a parent or guardian if the student was under the age of 16 at the time of the interview.
Survey of Schools
The survey was carried out with the teacher with most responsibility for sustainable development issues in 751 schools (using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing). The sample of schools was supplied by the Department for Education and Employment from their database of all schools. A random selection of independent, state, secondary and primary schools was made by DfEE including enough sample from smaller sectors (ie. secondary schools and independent schools) to allow a boost sample of these groups to be interviewed. Interviews were achieved in 250 state primary schools, 251 state secondary schools and 250 independent schools (split equally into primary and secondary). Where independent schools offered education across primary and secondary levels, a decision was made to interview in either the primary or the secondary part of the school.
Timing
For the survey of schools, interviewing took place between the 10thof May and the 11thof June 1999. For the survey of school leavers, interviewing took place between the 10thof May and the 4thof June 1999.
Page published 12 May
2000;
Page last modified
20 August, 2002