Professor Kathy Sylva OBE has been professor of educational psychology at University of Oxford since 1997. She is one of the leaders of the DCSF research on effective provision of pre-school and primary education and on the evaluations of the Transformation Fund and the Early Learning Partnership Project. She has also investigated programmes to support parents as educators of their own children. A dominant theme throughout her research is the impact of education not only on ‘subject knowledge’ but on children’s problem-solving, social skills and disposition to learn. A related theme in her research is the impact of early intervention on combating social disadvantage and exclusion.

She has been specialist adviser to the UK Parliament’s Select Committee on Education 2000–09 and the DCSF enquiry into phonics teaching. In 2010–11 she was a member of the expert panel for the Tickell review of the Early Years Foundation Stage. She was awarded an OBE in 2008 for services to children and families.