Andrew is a Research Officer at the Rees Centre. He is currently working on various projects, including the evaluations of DfE policy programmes concerning Virtual Schools (extension of duties to children with a social worker, and pupil premium plus for post-16 young people in care, and care leavers). Andrew is also working on a project about placing children with disabilities with adoptive families, funded by a group of regional adoption agencies.
Andrew has a background as a teacher and senior leader in a special school, and as a teacher trainer, particularly focused around inclusive education. At the Rees Centre, Andrew has previously worked on the Alex Timpson Attachment and Trauma Programme in Schools, primarily involving qualitative analysis of teacher interview data from schools that have had attachment and trauma training and a systematic review of recent literature.
Andrew’s primary research interests are around the influence of young people’s adoptive identity on educational experience and outcomes. His doctoral research focused on the intersection of adoption, education and identity which included analysis of data from a range of sources including the Wales Adoption Cohort Study and Understanding Society.
Publications
Brown, A. & Shelton, K. (2023). Coherent lives: Making sense of adoptees’ experiences in education through narrative identity. British Educational Research Journal, 00, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3918
Brown, A., Waters, C. S., & Shelton, K. H. (2017). A systematic review of the school performance and behavioural and emotional adjustments of children adopted from care. Adoption & Fostering, 41(4), 346-368.
Brown, A., Waters, C. S., & Shelton, K. H. (2019). The educational aspirations and psychological well-being of adopted young people in the UK. Adoption & Fostering, 43(1), 46-59.
