Brief No: RCB05
July 2001
EVALUATING THE BENEFITS OF LIFELONG
LEARNING : A FRAMEWORK
Ian Plewis and John Preston
Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning
Introduction
This report sets out options for the evaluation of current and proposed DfES Lifelong Learning (LLL) interventions, with
particular reference to the White Paper ‘Learning To Succeed’ (DfEE, 1999). A major challenge for evaluation of these
initiatives is not only the choice of appropriate techniques, but how separate project evaluations might form a
comprehensive assessment of lifelong policy as a whole.
Key findings

Evaluation of LLL must be seen as a planned activity, built into interventions from the outset, and timed in such a way
that appropriate designs can be used and appropriate data analysis carried out. In particular, the target population
should be clearly defined.

Appropriate design and controls should be employed. Impact can only be evaluated by making comparisons with those
not receiving the intervention and randomisation is a powerful way of eliminating some of the profound difficulties posed
by self-selection.

Interventions aim to affect a range of outcomes at different levels such as the individual, their family and the
community. When this is the case, these levels must be sampled. The range of outcomes measured will often lead to
the use of advanced statistical methods such as multilevel modelling. In assessing these outcomes individual level data
are nearly always essential.

Evaluation should be a public activity, and the results should be shared amongst all interested parties and the wider
public. It is also a collaborative activity – both between evaluators and stakeholders and also across evaluations of
different but related interventions.

Evaluations need to address the issues of costs and benefits, but also be aware of the limitations of cost-benefit
analysis (CBA). Qualitative methods of evaluation may usefully contextualise results from quantitative methods of
evaluation such as CBA.
Background
The evaluation is the second publication in the series from
the Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of
Learning, DfES funded research centre based jointly at the
Institute of Education and Birkbeck College, London. The
purpose of the Centre is to conduct research in the
relatively new field of the non-economic benefits of
learning such as health, crime, social cohesion and life
transitions. Therefore, in this evaluation framework, the
assessment of both economic and non-economic benefits of
LLL are considered.
However, the possibility of
qualification and attaching a monetary value to wider
benefits is stressed throughout the report.
Evaluation, modelling and monitoring
It is important to distinguish evaluation from monitoring
and modelling. Where provision is universal, such as the
National Curriculum, then monitoring of individual and
institutional performance is generally the most suitable
activity. For many LLL activities, where there may be selfselection, modelling is more appropriate. Evaluation is best
suited to those activities where exposure to the
intervention is restricted or differentiated. For example,
initiatives introduced in experimental or pilot forms such as
the Education Maintenance Allowances. The report makes
reference to some techniques for monitoring and modelling
in addition to evaluation.
Implementation, impact and learning outcomes
The need for evaluations to cover both implementation and
impact is stressed. Particularly, evaluations need to refer
to theories of change – whether an intervention leads to
changes, how large the changes are, whether they are
uniform across groups and how and why the changes took
place.
The outcomes of LLL may be classified as
intermediate (relating to institutional performance and
targets) and final (relating to outcomes for learners,
communities, families, communities, organisations and the
economy as a whole). The report discusses appropriate
indicators and monitoring procedures for these outcomes in
the current policy context.
A possible scheme for
considering how evaluations of proposed LLL initiatives may
relate to each other and to policy targets is provided.
Evaluation techniques
A number of options for evaluating lifelong learning
interventions are possible. In terms of implementation
evaluation, qualitative techniques, program and systems
theories and business process approaches are examined.
These techniques are useful in explaining differences
between implementation and impact. Statistical techniques
for evaluating impact are discussed with reference to
selecting controls, sampling and statistical modelling. The
multilevel approach to modelling is discussed, which is
particularly applicable when variability between families
and communities in the outcomes of LLL is of interest. The
use of CBA in estimating both the economic and noneconomic benefits is discussed.
There has been
considerable progress in recent years in using CBA to
ascertain the value of the non-economic contributions of
learning and illustrations are provided in the areas of
quantifying the benefits of family learning, crime reduction
and health. The report shows how evaluation would relate
to hypothetical policy initiatives analogous to those
proposed in the White Paper.
Evaluating The Benefits of Lifelong Learning: A
Framework
Ian Plewis and John Preston
July 2001
085473 656 5
£9.95
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