Ms Sandra Mathers[back]

FELL
Senior Research Officer
sandra.mathers@education.ox.ac.uk
+44(0)1865274043
Biography
Sandra studied psychology at the University of Nottingham and holds a PCGE in Primary Education. She spent the early part of her career as a primary school teacher and has been part of the FELL research group at the Department of Educational Studies since 2002.
Research
Sandra's main research interest is the quality of Early Years settings, and in the relationships between quality and children's developmental outcomes. She specialises in the evaluation of government-funded early childhood initiatives. Sandra is currently a Principal Investigator on the DfES-funded Evaluation of the Transformation Fund, and the Evaluation of the Two Year Old Pilot.

Research Projects 

  • Mathers, S. and Sylva, K., Evaluation of the Transformation Fund: sub-grant to main grant held by the National Centre for Social Research. Department for Education and Skills, 2007 - 2009 (sub-grant £491,460; main grant £1,244,794 to all partners)
  • Sylva, K., Evangelou, M. and Mathers, S. Evaluation of the Two Year Old Pilot: sub-grant to main grant held by the National Centre for Social Research. Department for Educational Skills, 2007-2008 (sub-grant £71,600; main grant £1,278,126 to all partners)
  • Sylva, K., Evangelou, M. and Mathers, S. in collaboration with the Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of Oxford, IFS and NatCen. Children's Centres Feasibility Study. Department for Education and Skills, Oct 2005- June 2006 (£90,000 to all partners)
  • Sylva, K., Mathers, S., Joshi, H., Siraj-Blatchford, I., Melhuish, E., Sammons, P. & Taggart, B. Quality of Childcare Settings in the Millennium Cohort Study (QCSMCS). Department for Education & Skills, 2005-2006. (£232,645 to all partners)
Publications
  • Mathers, S., Sylva, K. and Joshi, H. (in press) Quality of Childcare Settings in the Millennium Cohort Study (QCSMCS) Final Report, London: DfES (publication expected March 2007)
  • Mathers, S. and Sylva, K. (in press) The Relationship Between Quality and Children's Behavioural Development: Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative National Evaluation, Quality and Child Behavioural Outcomes Final Report. London: DfES (publication expected February 2007)
  • Mathers, S. and Sylva, K. (in press) Infants and Toddlers in Centre-Based Childcare: Does Quality Matter? In: Smith et al (in press) The Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative National Evaluation, Final Integrated Report. London: DfES (publication expected February 2007)
  • Smith, T., Sylva, K., Mathers, S., Dearden, L., Goodman, A., Kaplan, G., Bryson, C., Joy, S. & La Valle, I. (2004) National evaluation of the wraparound care pilot , London: DfES
Last modified by Ms Sandra Mathers - 26 October 2007