An Evaluation of the Devolution of Education Welfare Services to Secondary Schools: The first year

This report relays the findings from the first year of the NFER evaluation of the pilot devolution of Education Welfare Services (EWS) to secondary schools, involving 16 self-selected and three 'control' LEAs.

The research involved questionnaires and telephone interviews with EWS managers, case-study visits to primary and secondary schools and analysis of attendance at school and LEA level.

This report includes analysis and discussion of:

• initial findings on the process of devolution and its immediate impact
• issues of Education Welfare Officer (EWO) management
• the otucomes and effects of devolution
• key factors in success
• the implications of EWS devolution to secondary schools compared to school-based or school-managed services.

The report should be of interest to both EWS and LEA staff.