Negotiations are under way with the Open University and the Peninsula Medical School to develop our Ph.D training into a new doctoral programme to be available from 2010. The Unit has been provided its doctoral students with a taught curriculum for some years. The emphasis is on the application of research to policy and practice.
What if commissioners of social services could have their own version of "Which?" magazine that could tell them the impact of competing investment choices on child and adult well-being, as well as the costs and economic returns of various portfolios of prevention and early intervention programmes?
What if this tool - using the highest standards of scientific evidence - could be tailored to the needs and circumstances of children and adults in these policy makers' particular areas or jurisdictions?
The Social Research Unit is currently translating the economic model and software tool for use in the UK that was pioneered by the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) and used for more than a decade to make investment decisions in a wide range of policy areas in the American state of Washington. The UK version will be made freely available to inform central and local government investment decisions.
At this session, Steve Aos, Director of the Washington State Institute for Public Policy will will describe the strategy that WSIPP is taking to advise the state legislature to improve outcomes for less money, with lessons for UK policy makers. Michael Little, Co-director of the Social Research Unit, will describe the work to translate the model for use in the UK.
Aos, who previously gave the 2010 Social Research Unit Annual Lecture, has 35 years of experience conducting cost-benefit analyses and communicating the results to policy makers in a wide range of public policy areas, as well as in the private sector.
When: May 12, 2011, 11am-3pm
Where: London's Living Room, City Hall, London This seminar is free but you must reserve a place to attend.
To reserve a seat now, follow this link: Reservations
The Social Research Unit offers a curriculum for the training of research students to supplement orthodox university programmes leading to a PhD qualification. The research curriculum is part of the Common Language project and mirrors another training programme in development designed for practitioners working with children in need. Both courses share the conceptual framework that underpins the Common Language work.
This year's annual lecture will host Dr. Jack Shonkoff, Professor of Child Health and Development at the Harvard School of Public Health.
There have been several major breakthroughs in neuro-science in the last two decades. These are beginning to influence the formation of public policy, and the way in which children's services engage with children. Much of the data emphasises the importance of the early years. But science is revealing the importance of subsequent sensitive periods in brain development, in the primary school years, in adolescence and early adulthood that all promise new ways of promoting health and development of children. Professor Shonkoff is widely regarded as one of the world's leading experts in neuro-science and its application to policy and practice.
Jack P. Shonkoff, MD, is the Julius B. Richmond FAMRI Professor of Child Health and Development at the Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Graduate School of Education, and founding director of the university-wide Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. He also chairs the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, a multi-university collaboration comprising leading scholars in neuroscience, developmental psychology, pediatrics, and economics, whose mission is to bring sound and accurate science to bear on public decision making affecting the lives of young children.
The theme for this year's lecture is on "Leveraging Developmental Science to Strengthen the Foundations of Lifelong Learning, Behaviour and Health." This will be a rare opportunity to hear from a person widely regarded as one of the world's leading authorities in neuroscience and its application to policy and practice.
When: Thursday, July 7, 2011 at 5PM
Where: at the Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole Street, London, W1G 0AE.
The Annual Lecture and reception are free but you must reserve a place to attend. To reserve a place now, follow this link: http://sru2011annuallecture.eventbrite.com
The lecture will be preceded by a reception.
When: 7 July, 2011, 5pm
Where: Royal Society of Medicine, One Wimpole Street, London W1G 0AE
Other events
The Social Research Unit at Dartington have partnered with the Institute for Effective Education at York University, and the Coalition for Evidence-based Education (CEBE), to host a half-day seminar and round-table event.
When: Monday 26th March from 12.45pm for a 1.15 start, finishing at 5.30pm
Where: at London’s Living Room, City Hall, London SE1 2AA
Cost: free – but places are limited so book early.
The past year has seen a number of significant policy initiatives to support the development and dissemination of evidence-based programmes in education and children's services. The government's recent review of Early Intervention, led by Graham Allen MP and widely endorsed across all political parties, sets out to identify and expand the implementation of evidence-based interventions that address issues such as early literacy, parenting and drug/alcohol abuse. At the same time, the newly formed Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) is planning to invest up to £200m for cost-effective programmes that improve outcomes for pupils in the most challenging circumstances.
With such practical policy support now emerging, we need a much clearer understanding of the challenges, opportunities and objections to getting research-proven approaches working within frontline organisations.
What will I get out of the event?
You will leave with a better understanding of the barriers to successful implementation of evidence-based programmes and some potential solutions for tackling them.
Audience
• Commissioners of evidence-based interventions or those considering commissioning them
• Organisations implementing or considering implementing evidence-based programmes
• Practitioners responsible for delivering evidence-based programmes
• Developers and researchers of evidence-based programmes.
Presentations and round-table discussions will focus on:
• The latest policy and scientific developments related to evidence-based programme
• Examples of effective implementation of evidence-based programmes
• Exploration of organisational challenges to implementation (e.g. faithful implementation, scaling)
• Exploration of professional objections to their implementation (e.g. threats to professional autonomy, stifling innovation)
Speakers include:
• Lee Elliot-Major – The Sutton Trust and Trustee of the Education Endowment Foundation
• Chris Robinson – Mayor's Fund for London
• Bette Chambers – Institute for Effective Education
• Paul Prest – Success for All
• Michael Little - Social Research Unit, Dartington
To book a place at the event, please follow this link: http://evidencebased.eventbrite.com/
This year's first Center for Social Policy meeting will take place at Dartington Hall on the 15th-16 March 2012.
The meeting has an exciting group of people lined up to speak. Professor Manuel Eisner, from the department of criminology at Cambridge University will speak on why we're becoming less violent as a society. Along with Sir Michael Barber on reforms in the English Education system, and Professor Naomi Eisenstadt from the University of Oxford on systematising early years in England.
The meeting is open for the general public, however you will need to RSVP a place to attend. Please contact Ms. Kay Turner at the Social Research Unit: kturner@dartington.org.uk to reserve a place.
The Social Research Unit invites you to a seminar with Christina Salmivalli, Professor of Applied Psychology at the University of Turku, Finland.
Christina Salmivalli has been responsible for the development and evaluation of the KiVa anti-bullying programme, now widely implemented in Finnish schools. The breakthrough in Christina's research was to understand the role of bystanders, children who neither bully nor are bullied but are present when bullying takes place.
The KiVa programme helps all children in a classroom or school to play a role in reducing bullying activity. The experimental evaluation indicates that the approach has substantial successes. KiVa is also marked apart by the success of its roll out across Finland without an appreciable reduction in impact on child outcomes. Christina will talk about her work and its potential relevance to reducing anti-social behaviour in the UK.
When: Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Where: Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole Street, London, UK
Time: From 5:00 to 7:00 PM (GMT)
In a time of unprecedented austerity, government is asking the public and voluntary sectors to do more with less.
The government's Big Society initiative has also put a new emphasis on localism and partnership. But what can this mean in practice for those with the responsibility to deliver better outcomes for children and young people?
One answer is Communities that Care (CtC), one of the only well-articulated, manualised approaches to making community decisions about how to invest in children's well-being.
Engaging local people, including young people, local authorities and voluntary organisations is at the heart of the step-by-step CtC approach to introduce a tailor-made portfolio of evidence-based programmes proven to reduce the problem behaviours that are most damaging: youth crime and anti-social behaviour, substance abuse, school-age pregnancy and academic failure.
Professor Rico Catalano will be the keynote speaker at this half-day conference on Communities that Care jointly sponsored by the Social Research Unit and Catch22 (catch-22.org.uk). Dr. Catalano is Director of the Social Development Research Group in the School of Social Work at the University of Washington, Seattle. Catalano has been the co-developer of many evidence-based family- and school-based programmes and was co-principal investigator in a randomised controlled study of CtC in 24 communities across 7 American states.
This half-day conference will be of particular interest to local and national policy makers, the community and voluntary sector, and practitioners and academics interested in all aspects of evidence-based practice.
When: May 18, 2011, 9am-2pm
Where: London's Living Room, City Hall, London
This seminar is free but you must reserve a place to attend.
To reserve a seat now, follow this link: Reservations
how to book
How to book by Phone
To book for events by phone; contact Kay Turner, Office Manager at +44-1803-762400.
How to book an event online
Click on the event title and you will find a registration for for each event.
Latest news
This year's first Center for Social Policy meeting will take place at Dartington Hall on the 15th-16 March 2012.
The meeting has an exciting group of people lined up to speak. Professor Manuel Eisner, from the department of criminology at Cambridge University will speak on why we're becoming less violent as a society. Along with Sir Michael Barber on reforms in the English Education system, and Professor Naomi Eisenstadt from the University of Oxford on systematising early years in England. The meeting is open for the general public, however you will need to RSVP a place to attend. Please contact Ms. Kay Turner at the Social Research Unit: kturner@dartington.org.uk to reserve a place.
The Unit invites you all to the second event in the Coalition for Evidence-Based Education series on tackling the barriers to the implementation of evidence-based programmes.
Organised by the Social Research Unit at Dartington, the Institute for Effective Education at York University, and the Coalition for Evidence-based Education (CEBE), this half-day seminar and round-table event will take place on:
- When: Monday 26th March from 12.45pm for a 1.15 start, finishing at 5.30pm
- Where: at London’s Living Room, City Hall, London SE1 2AA
- Cost: free – but places are limited so book early.
The past year has seen a number of significant policy initiatives to support the development and dissemination of evidence-based programmes in education and children's services. The government's recent review of Early Intervention, led by Graham Allen MP and widely endorsed across all political parties, sets out to identify and expand the implementation of evidence-based interventions that address issues such as early literacy, parenting and drug/alcohol abuse. At the same time, the newly formed Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) is planning to invest up to £200m for cost-effective programmes that improve outcomes for pupils in the most challenging circumstances.
With such practical policy support now emerging, we need a much clearer understanding of the challenges, opportunities and objections to getting research-proven approaches working within frontline organisations.
What will I get out of the event?
You will leave with a better understanding of the barriers to successful implementation of evidence-based programmes and some potential solutions for tackling them.
Audience
• Commissioners of evidence-based interventions or those considering commissioning them
• Organisations implementing or considering implementing evidence-based programmes
• Practitioners responsible for delivering evidence-based programmes
• Developers and researchers of evidence-based programmes.
Presentations and round-table discussions will focus on:
• The latest policy and scientific developments related to evidence-based programme
• Examples of effective implementation of evidence-based programmes
• Exploration of organisational challenges to implementation (e.g. faithful implementation, scaling
• Exploration of professional objections to their implementation (e.g. threats to professional autonomy, stifling innovation)
Speakers include:
• Lee Elliot-Major – The Sutton Trust and Trustee of the Education Endowment Foundation
• Chris Robinson – Mayor's Fund for London
• Bette Chambers – Institute for Effective Education
• Paul Prest – Success for All
• Michael Little - Social Research Unit, Dartington
To book a place at the event, please follow this link: http://evidencebased.eventbrite.com/
Please note: Registration will begin promptly at 12.45pm. Light refreshments only will be served. Lunch will not be provided. London's Living Room is at the top of City Hall, London.
Directions: http://www.london.gov.uk/city-hall/visitor-information/location-map
The Social Research Unit hosted its final seminar of the year with Christina Salmivalli, Professor of Applied Psychology at the University of Turku, Finland.
On Tuesday, November 15th, 2011, Professor Christina Salmivalli presented at the Unit's final seminar of the year, hostedat the Royal Society of Medicine. Salmivalli has been responsible for the development and evaluation of the KiVa anti-bullying programme, now widely implemented in Finnish schools. The breakthrough in Christina's research was to understand the role of bystanders, children who neither bully nor are bullied but are present when bullying takes place.
The KiVa programme helps all children in a classroom or school to play a role in reducing bullying activity. The experimental evaluation indicates that the approach has substantial successes. KiVa is also marked apart by the success of its roll out across Finland without an appreciable reduction in impact on child outcomes. Christina will talk about her work and its potential relevance to reducing anti-social behaviour in the UK.
To learn more about what the Unit is doing in this area of work, please download the issue brief below. You can also download a copy of the presentation from the event.