This paper presents the methodology of the national evaluation of social and communication skills in vocational education and training, which has been organized by the Finnish Education Evaluation Council. The evaluation concentrates on such key competences as learning to learn skills, communication skills, social skills and entrepreneurship (European Comission: “Implementation of Education and Training 2010” work programme. Working group B “Key Competencies” 2004; Winterton,J., Delemare-Le Deist, F. & Stringfellow, E.. Typology and knowledge, skills and competences. Clarification of the concept and prototype. Cedefop Reference series; 64. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publication of the European Communities 2006). The evaluation is directed towards skills required in the labor market. These competences are included in all vocational study programs as a part of other key competences. The task of the evaluation is to produce useful data about key competencies in Finnish vocational education and training and to develop the pedagogical practices associated with the social and communicational skills needed in the labour market, and to pay them more attention in vocational training. In addition, the purpose of the evaluation is to create and to develop an evaluation culture, as well as the dialogue between separate actors. Our approach followed the principles of developmental and participative evaluation and it applied the CQAF model (Common Quality Assurance Framework), which has been accepted by European Commission for quality management and quality assurance framework of VET in Europe. Additional methods such as interview and statistical information were used to acquire comprehensive data and extensive participation of each partner involved key competences. The evaluation material has been collected from providers of VET by fields (n = 8) and by qualifications (n = 53). Every sector and examination participated to the evaluation. The evaluation was based on a sample (n = 130). The evaluation data was collected from multiple sources and with multiple methods. The material included written self evaluation reports by vocational education providers (130, 95 %), quantitative information, interviews and an evaluation seminar for providers as focus groups. Educational administrators, teachers, students, employers and workplace trainers participated to self evaluation in the institutions. The external evaluation has been organized as a multiprofessional network by The Finnish Education Evaluation Council. It was carried out by an evaluation group the members of which represent education providers, employers’ national agency, experts of FNBE and researchers from universities. The study raises implications for how the key competences affect learning methods and outcomes. It also shows a tension between espoused aims and plans to cover these competences and the reality of teaching and assessment practices. We conclude that there needs to be better integration of aims and practices, clearer strategy for enabling teachers to do this, and to be more actively responsible for addressing these competencies. Final report will be finished early in the summer 2008 and the results and further recommendations will be presented later in a conference. Anu Räisänen, DHSc, M.Sc. Head Coordinator, Finnish Evaluation Council. The leader of this national evaluation. Mari Räkköläinen, M.Sc. Councellor of Education, Finnish National Board of Education. The evaluator in this national evaluation.

We conclude that there needs to be better integration of aims and practices, clearer strategy for enabling teachers to do this, and to be more actively responsible for addressing these competencies.