Editorial


THE BEST ARGUMENT FOR EMPHASISING EVIDENCE in educational policy and practice is what happens when evidence plays no role: practice and policy swing like a pendulum from one enthusiasm to the opposite, and then back again, but no progress is made. The education pendulum is frustrating not only because it makes our fi eld evidence-free, but also because the pendulum makes irrelevant a lot of the research that does take place. A huge proportion of research funding in education goes to evaluating government policies, for example. Because research takes time, it is quite often the case that by the time the fi ndings appear, the policy is already gone. The solution to the pendulum problem is to have a wide array of research going on at all times to create and evaluate promising solutions to longstanding problems, including teaching methods as well as policy options. Then both practice and policy can begin to learn from the evidence and move forward together towards a better future for children. In this issue we have a wide array of articles looking at how to get the most from evidence in both policy and practice, and I hope that you fi nd them useful in your work.


Robert Slavin Editor-in-Chief Director of the Center for Research and Reform in Education Johns Hopkins University


Better: Evidence-based Education is published three times a year by the Institute for Effective Education, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD ©IEE 2012


Phone: 01904 328166 Email: iee@york.ac.uk


Editor: Jonathan Haslam Writer: Jeannette Bollen-McCarthy Design: CPL (Cambridge Publishers Limited) ISSN: 2041-921X


The views and opinions expressed in Better are those of the authors, and do not necessarily refl ect those of the University of York or our sponsors. Sign up for future copies of Better at www.betterevidence.org.uk


16–17 18–19


Estelle Morris Former Secretary of State for the Department for Education and Skills, and appointed to the House of Lords in 2005.


Lee Elliot Major Director for Research and Policy at the Sutton Trust and chair of the Education Endowment Foundation’s evaluation advisory group.


Allen Thurston Reader at the School of Education, Durham University.


Mary Sheard Research fellow in the Institute for Effective Education, University of York.


20–21 22–23


Louise Tracey Research fellow in the Institute for Effective Education, University of York.


24–25 26–27


Jessica Ripper


Senior communications associate at the Annie E Casey Foundation.


CONTENTS Volume 4, Issue 2 4–5 6–7 Managing change – The


relationship between education and politics Estelle Morris


Championing what works Lee Elliot Major


8–9 Improving attainment across an education authority


10–11


Allen Thurston and colleagues Are evidence-based


programmes worth the investment? Louise Morpeth and Michael Little


12–13 Reducing barriers to learning with Communities That Care


J David Hawkins, Margaret Kuklinski, and Abigail Fagan


14–15


Improving social-emotional learning


Mary Sheard and Steven Ross


Why evaluation is important Louise Tracey


Building on what works:


Improving children’s futures Jessica Ripper and Abel Ortiz


Before choosing, ask three questions


Steve Fleischman


In search of feasible fi delity David Andrews


Evidence in the news Latest research


Louise Morpeth Co-director of the Social Research Unit in Dartington.


Steve Fleischman Deputy executive offi cer of Education Northwest, a not-for-profi t organisation based in Portland, Oregon.


J David Hawkins Founding director of the Social Development Research Group and endowed professor of prevention in the School of Social Work at the University of Washington.


David Andrews


Dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Education, in Baltimore, and founding dean of Ohio State University’s College of Education and Human Ecology.


This issue of Better was generously supported by the Fischer Family Trust.


Established in 2001, the Fischer Family Trust has been working successfully with local authorities and schools to provide high quality performance data to support target setting and self evaluation.


Find out more at www.fi schertrust.org winter 2012 Better: Evidence-based Education 3


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