Dr Maria Evangelou[back]

Maria studied at the Faculty of Primary Education at the Aristotle University of Thessalonica Greece.  She then taught Key Stage 1 equivalent children in Greece for almost 8 years.  She has lived and worked in England since 1995.  In 1996 she received a Masters degree in Language and Literature in Education (English as a Mother Tongue) (ESRC studentship) from the Institute of Education, University of London.  She won an ESRC studentship and obtained a DPhil from the University of Oxford in 2001.  She is a member of the Families Early Learning and Literacy (FELL) research group http://www.education.ox.ac.uk/research/fell.html.

Maria's research has focused predominantly on the evaluation of early childhood interventions.  Through a series of four studies, she has used complementary and rigorous methodologies to explore different aspects of the effectiveness of the Peers Early Education Partnership (PEEP).  PEEP is a birth to five intervention that aims to improve the life chances of children from a disadvantaged area of Oxford by raising their educational achievement.  The research findings contribute to the evidence-base on which the provision of early childhood interventions maybe considered.  In addition, she has a strong interest in the areas of parenting education and support, in the language and literacy development of early years and the methodological issues involved in research.  The completed studies are listed below:

• Foundation PEEP (2000-01) Evangelou & Sylva (DfES)
• Enabling Parents Study (2002-04) Evangelou & Sylva (Learning & Skills Council)
• Birth to School Study (1998-05) Evangelou & Brooks (DfES & Learning & Skills Council)
• Children's Centres Feasibility Study (2005-06) Research Consortium (DfES)
• EPPE Transition from Primary to secondary school (2006-07) Evangelou, Taggart, Sylva, Melhuish, Sammons and Blatchford (DCSF)
• National Evaluation of the Early Learning Partnership Project (2007-08) Evangelou, Sylva, Edwards and Smith (DCSF)
• Sutton Trust Evaluation Project (STEP) (2005-08) Evangelou & Sylva (Sutton Trust)

Current projects

• "Hard to Reach" families: a systematic review (BERA)

Maria was awarded the Brian Simon Educational Research Fellowship from BERA for 2006/7 for the project: A systematic review on 'hard-to-reach' families. 

• Under 2 pilot evaluation of Children's Centres (2006-09) (DCSF)

This is a sub-contract with the National Centre for Social Research (NATCEN).  The primary aim of this research is to assess the effect of improving access to early years education to disadvantaged two year olds, by evaluating a pilot scheme which offers free part-time early years education to 12,000 children.  The project will run until the end March 2009.  Maria's role in the project is as a consultant along with Professor Sylva and Ms Mathers. 

•   Aprender em Parceria (A PAR): Evaluation of the effectiveness of the implementation of the Peers Early Education Partnership (PEEP) programme in Portugal (2007-10) Nabuco, Evangelou & Sylva (Portuguese Science Foundation)

Evangelou, M., Sylva, K., Edwards, A. and Smith T. (2008). Supporting Parents in Promoting Early Learning The Evaluation of the Early Learning Partnership Project.  London: DCSF

Evangelou, M., Taggart, B., Sylva, K., Melhuish, E., Sammons, P., and Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2008).  Transition from Primary to Secondary School.  London: DCSF

Evangelou, M. & Sylva, K. (2007) Evidence on effective early childhood interventions from the UK: an evaluation of Peers Early Education Partnership Early Childhood Research and Practice http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v9n1/index

Evangelou, M., brooks, G. & Smith, S (2007) 'The Birth to School Study: evidence on the effectiveness of PEEP, an early intervention for children at risk of educational under-achievement', Oxford Review of Education, 33:5, 581 - 609

Evangelou, M., Brooks, G., Smith. S. and JENNINGS, D. (2005).  The Birth to School Study: A longitudinal evaluation of the Peers Early Education Partnership (PEEP) London: DfES

Evangelou, M. and Sylva, K. (2003).  The Effects of the Peers Early Education Partnership (PEEP) on Children's Developmental Progress, London: DfES