CARDET in collaboration with INNOVADE LI, launched in October 2012 the 3-year project Provision of evaluation services for the continuous assessment and final evaluation of the “Programme against early school leaving, school failure, and delinquency in Education Priority Zones”, which was awarded by the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture (MOEC).

The primary objective of the project is to evaluate whether the programme goals set out for these Zones are fulfilled:

• Reduction of early-school leaving
• Reduction of school failure
• Reduction of delinquency
• Strengthening of social cohesion by reducing social marginalisation and exclusion

Up to this stage of the project, the Consortium has completed various assessment actions involving all target groups by following a mixed methods approach. More specifically, the Consortium collected a total of 4098 questionnaires from students, teachers, and parents; school self-evaluation forms; and evaluation data from MOEC officers. In addition, the Consortium conducted 57 interviews with teachers, students, parents, MOEC officers, and officers of the Centres for Information and Psychosocial Support; 6 focus groups with student and teachers; and 25 visits at schools. Furthermore, up to this point, the Consortium has submitted 3 formative evaluation reports to MOEC.

By the end of the project, the Consortium is expected to deliver the following: (a) a set of indicators for analysing the effects of the various actions; (b) a list of factors that affect the success or failure of project-implemented actions; (c) a collection of practices in the field; (d) recommendations for the improvement of the Zones in Cyprus; and (e) a summative evaluation research report with research findings and conclusions.

^{This project is co-funded by the European Social Fund and the Republic of Cyprus}