Invitation to tender for an evaluation of Girls in Physics: effective
interventions
Background
Girls are under-represented in physics after the age of 16. In 2005 physics
was the 12th most popular A-level in the UK, with 28,119 candidates. Of
these, 21,922 were male, making physics the sixth most-popular A-level
subject for boys; for girls, physics was the 19th most common A-level
choice. Of those who took physics A-level, 34% achieved an A grade. In 2005
only 14% of girls who were awarded an A* or A for GCSE Double Award Science
or Physics sat A-level physics. In other words there are a very substantial
number of girls who have the ability to do well at physics but who are
choosing not to study the subject post-16.
In 2005, the Institute of Physics commissioned a review of the research to
try and understand the causes of this problem. As a result of this research
a guide for teachers was produced. In 2006, a number of the Science Leaning
Centres used this guide as the basis for working with schools to tackle the
under-representation of girls in physics. Thanks to funding from the
Department of Children, Schools and Families, this work has now been
extended and expanded to enable 100 schools to be involved in the project.
Seven Science Learning Centres will work with up to 100 schools in total
helping them to review the current situation with regard to the
participation of girls in physics in their own institution and to develop
action research projects to address the issues that are identified. It is
anticipated that the research projects will be clustered into the following
areas:
School Culture: whole school ethos and support from Senior Management.
Teaching and learning strategies: shaping physics curriculum and pedagogies
to be more relevant and inclusive.
Classroom management: using mixed and/or single gender groups within
lessons.
Careers education and guidance: strategies for engaging teachers and IAG
specialists or providing careers-focused teaching and learning strategies.
Progression: exposing girls to more pathways for studying physics.
Workforce: exposing more pupils to specialist physics teaching.
The work
The Science Learning Centres and the Institute of Physics wish to contract
suitable experts to undertake a rigorous evaluation of the success of the
interventions that schools will be undertaking as part of this project.
We anticipate that the work will have three interconnecting strands:
i) Developing a framework that identifies key questions for the evaluation.
This will involve identifying and measuring key indicators for the areas
identified above.
ii) Collecting and collating the results from individual schools; this will
include baseline measures as well as progress on the agreed indicators. The
intention is to produce a synthesis of the impact of the individual
interventions to enable other schools to build on the work carried out
during the project.
iii) Working with schools and teachers to enable them to measure the impact
of the individual interventions in their schools.
Deliverables
Regular progress reports to the management group, likely to be on a monthly
basis.
The development of workshops/visits for individual schools to develop the
indicators and methods that schools can use for measuring them.
Interim report to include contextual information about the schools, the
current situation with regard to the participation of girls in physics and
baseline measures of selected indicators.
A final full report for publication by the funders. The full report will be
made available to schools and others in a form that enables them to build on
the lessons learnt during the project. Therefore it will need to be
accessible for the teaching community in schools and colleges.
At least one article based on the study published in a recognised academic
journal.
At least one presentation at a meeting or conference involving the science
education community to be agreed with the management group.
The information provided in the study and reports to the Science Learning
Centres and the IOP, and the rights to all other output, shall become the
property of the Science Learning Centres and Institute of Physics.
Resources available
The budget for this project up to £30,000. There is the possibility of some
extended funding to explore the sustainability of the individual projects in
schools.
Tender requirements and assessment
Proposals should clearly and fully demonstrate:
capability at undertaking this type of work.
methodology to be adopted.
a work plan with milestones and deliverables.
details of personnel who will work on the study, highlighting the project
manager who will become the point of contact for all correspondence.
overall costs and the basis on which the fee is calculated, including main
areas of work and daily rates of the project team.
two referees who would be able to provide recommendations as to ability to
undertake this project.
The selection of the successful proposal will be the decision of the
representatives of the partners. Tenders will be evaluated on the basis of
the following criteria:
Intellectual ability and understanding of the funders needs. We expect
proposals to show a full appreciation of the objectives of this study,
provide clear evidence that all the points raised in this document have been
addressed, and use their own knowledge, experience and creative thinking to
raise any other points of relevance.
Technical ability. Methodologies, particularly those involving original
research, should be current, and withstand peer review from external
advisors to this project. Previous work and the skills of the project team
will also be used to assess technical ability.
Value for money. This will be assessed in comparison with other tenders
using daily rates, quality of staff, and extent of outputs for total cost.
We expect realistic and cost-effective financial estimates for the project
that include all expenses.
Management ability. We will use the work plan, skills of personnel and
evidence of previous projects to find proven ability to perform within the
desired parameters, and deliver the desired results.
Timetable
Organisations or individuals wishing to tender for this project should
register their interest by email to [log in to unmask]
Proposals should be no more than 10 sides of A4. They should include CVs of
not more that two pages per person of relevant staff.
Proposals should be sent by post to Angus Skilling, National Science
Learning Centre, University of York, YO10 5DD or [log in to unmask] by 13
December 2007.
Faxed or late tenders will not be accepted.
Tenderers may be required to attend a meeting on 20 December 2007 prior to
the award of any contract. Tenderers will be contacted on 17 December 2007
if required to attend this meeting. Reasonable travel expenses for this will
be covered.
Tenderers will be informed of the outcome of the selection process by 21
December 2007. Feedback can be requested.
Interim report should be submitted by 30 April 2008.
Final full report should be submitted by 31 October 2008.
Journal article and presentation at meeting should be completed by 31
December 2008.
The national network of Science Learning Centres is a joint initiative
by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Wellcome Trust.
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