Parent support advisor pilot : first interim report from the evaluation

The Parent Support Adviser (PSA) pilot is a government funded initiative to support 20 Local Authorities (LAs) to introduce PSAs into their workforce. The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) commissioned the Centre for Educational Development, Appraisal and Research (CEDAR) to evaluate the PSA pilot programme from September 2006 – August 2008. A government grant (£40 million) has been made available to fund employment of PSAs over this period. To date, 717 PSAs are in place, supporting parents in 1167 schools. This first Interim Report is based on semi-structured interviews with 97 PSAs, 85 line managers and 23 other professionals in 12 case study LAs during Phase 1 of the evaluation, which was carried out between April and June 2007. Phase 2 of the study will take place during the period October to December 2007; phase 3 will take place during March to June 2008. In addition to these interview-based studies with the 12 case study LAs, an analysis will be made of the data collected by all 20 LAs over the period of the pilot using a standard database devised by CEDAR. Data are being collected on the PSAs’ work with parents and, where this occurs, with children. Finally, a cost effectiveness study will be undertaken. The findings from these phases of the project will be reported in the final report.