Abstract
Criteria of effectiveness were developed by asking advisers, advisory teachers, administrators, headteachers and teachers for examples of advisory work which they considered to be effective and their views of the reasons for this. These were then used to develop questionnaires for advisers, advisory teachers, headteachers and teachers in 4 local authorities, asking for their priorities and their views of 9 areas connected with advisory work - inspection, advice and support, teacher development, philosophy and approaches, knowledge, skill and experience, relationships, climate of the advisory team, organisation and management of the advisory team and the training of advisers. Three of these, inspection, advice and support and teacher development were regarded as key areas. Significant relationships were found between knowledge, skill and experience and the key areas and also between relationships and these areas. There was a also a significant relationship between climate and teacher development. Relationships with other areas were not significant. Individual interviews were held with chief advisers in all 4 authorities, also group interviews with advisers, advisory teachers, headteachers of primary and secondary schools and headteachers and staffs in 12 schools which had been inspected by the local authority advisory team. In addition, a national survey was undertaken which gave details of the changes in advisory teams between 1992 and 1993. Findings included the fact that there would be a decrease of 18% in the numbers of advisers by September 1993 and 38% in the number of advisory teachers. Headteachers gave their highest priority to inspection and teachers to in-service education. Headteachers valued advisers more than advisory teachers and teachers valued advisory teachers more than advisers. Separating advice and inspection, as was the practice in one of the authorities, did not appear to improve either and follow up was less effective than in authorities where these activities were not separated. The involvement of lay people in 3 of the 4 authorities did not give rise to concern on the part of teachers or headteachers. Primary headteachers and teachers were concerned about the credibility of advisers coming from a secondary background. There is likely to be a considerable decrease in the amount of advice and support available to schools as advisory teams become involved in the national privatized inspection scheme and also in the appraisal of headteachers. In some authorities advice and support will be available for sale, but some schools may not be able to afford to buy it. The findings of this study have considerable relevance for the advisory service of the future. The information about priorities should be valuable in planning advisory work. Team management and team climate will be even more important in the new situation if the demands of schools are to be met. The continued existence of advisory services will depend, in many places, upon schools buying them and this in turn will depend upon how effective they are.