Evaluation of Families and Schools Together
Project Director: Ben Styles
Project Leader: Pippa Lord
Sponsor: Education Endowment Foundation (EEF)
End date: December 2017
Families and Schools Together (FAST) is a parental engagement programme that has been run in a number of countries over the last 25 years. It aims to support parenting, improve children’s behaviour, and enhance links between families, school and the community. Families attend eight weekly 2.5-hour group sessions, delivered by local partners who are trained by accredited FAST trainers. Save the Children UK (SCUK) delivers FAST in UK primary schools, via a license agreement held by Middlesex University and the FAST programme team in the USA.
Previous evaluations show that FAST supports children’s behaviour and parents’ confidence. This will be the first trial in the UK that evaluates FAST for its impact on children’s attainment.
Methodology
In this randomised controlled trial (RCT), schools will be randomly allocated to take part in the FAST programme or to a control group. The trial will explore outcomes on children’s attainment, measured by KS1 tests; and children’s social and behavioural outcomes, measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ).