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The purpose of this paper is to examine how government policy has encouraged universities and their community group partnerships to work together through the relationship between the University of Brighton and members of community groups in Hastings who are researching recent educational regeneration in the town. It identifies lessons learnt from engaging community members with such research.

The University of Brighton in Hastings was set up to be a catalyst for change in one of the most deprived coastal towns in the country. The Coastal Regeneration Research Centre (CRRC) was created in 2008 to undertake a research‐led programme within, and focused upon, the community and has established a track record of research and engagement in this community. Research projects have been supported by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), East Sussex County Council (ESCC) and Hastings Borough Council (HBC) and the Ore Valley Forum.

The relationship between the University and its partners is exemplified through an example of a pilot project examining use of a children's centre in Hastings. This research draws upon work by Turning Point, a charity engaged primarily with social care which engages users within the community to become involved in research into the needs of their peers. Turning Point's successful approach was subsequently adopted in the pilot project examining how parents of pre‐school children engage with a children's community centre in a deprived area of Hastings. The pilot project involved two experienced parent researchers supporting six parent volunteers in their interviews with local parents of young children who engage to varying degrees with the local children's centre.

This paper examines how government policy has encouraged universities and their community group partnerships to work together to research recent educational regeneration in Hastings. It identifies lessons learnt from engaging community members with such research.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a collaboration between independent researchers and an English local authority to develop a framework for understanding and measuring outcomes in children centres.

The project was based on developing a system for collecting quantitative and qualitative data that would reflect the multi-dimensional services delivered by children centres. This was called the Early Intervention Performance Outcomes Framework. It utilised the concept of interim outcomes and in so doing the aim was to create a system that would provide evidence for the difference these services could make to children and their families’ lives. It was also important for the system to enhance and not detract from service capacity in a period of austerity.

The paper reports on the project when it had generated its first year of data. The paper describes the overall success of the project, the on-going challenges it faces and provides some examples of how interim outcomes represented “steps along the way” for children and families.

The innovative collaboration described in this paper provides a positive example of how research methods can enhance both service design and delivery. It will be of interest to both those who work and manage children’s services and those engaged in research.

This article analyses UK Early Years policy in terms of service expansion and service transformation since the Labour Government's election in 1997. Childcare is now a matter of public policy, driven largely by concerns about child poverty and inequalities in children's life chances. The evidence is considered, first, on service expansion, increased take‐up and increased employment by parents with young children, and, second, on service transformation and child outcomes: to what extent have changes benefited disadvantaged children, families and neighbourhoods? The Effective Provision of Preschool Education (EPPE) research shows that pre‐school can boost disadvantaged children's intellectual development in particular, and the article concludes that programmes such as Sure Start and Neighbourhood Nurseries have been successfully targeted at the most disadvantaged areas, although better‐off families and neighbourhoods may have benefited even more, and that problems of cost and sustainability remain. It is too early to judge whether better integrated services now being developed will be successful in transforming the lives of the most disadvantaged children.

This article reflects on the significance of family centres in the UK as a mirror of new possibilities for child welfare in the years following the Children Act 1989. The Act empowered local authorities in England and Wales to provide family centres as part of ‘family support practice’. The article reveals a rich vein of family‐centred, centre‐based activity internationally and shows practice combining intervention from the sophisticated to the very informal. The authors focus on so‐called ‘integrated centres’ as complex systems of care with wide implications for practice and outcome evaluation in an ‘evidence‐based’ context.

The purpose of this article is to explore the understanding and interpretation of evidence‐based practice among Sure Start centre managers.

Semi‐structured interviews were carried out with Children's Centre managers from one London borough.

The interviews highlighted the varied and, for some limited, view of evidence‐based practice. For many managers their understanding was confined to evidence generated locally rather than perceiving a role for externally‐generated evidence to support effective practice. Managers also highlighted the constraints they face in taking what some perceive to be an evidence‐based approach.

Although Sure Start Children's Centres are one of the main sites for delivering evidence‐based interventions to improve outcomes for young children and families in the UK, and despite Government announcements promoting the use of evidence‐based practice in these settings, little is known about the knowledge and interpretation of managers on this issue or the difficulties of translating ideas into practice on the ground. Thus, there is a danger that some of the potential benefits of evidence‐based practice may be lost if this disconnect between policy and practice is not addressed.

Seeks to present a case study of librarians developing recommendations for a small collection of children's literature in English to support primary grades' English‐language curriculum for Col_°legi SEK Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain and to briefly describe development of intermediary library classroom models to put the collection development process in context.

Visits on‐site to target school and to selected regional schools and public libraries; development of a proposal to target school administrators; refinement of goals for project; selection aids for children's literature titles and resources for recommendation to English language primary teachers; provision of library organization and collection development skills workshop for English language teachers.

Roles and functions of school libraries in Spain differ in scope from the US model of the integrated school library media center. Most school libraries visited were staffed by teachers who volunteered time. There was little formal instruction in information literacy at the schools and public libraries visited. The US concept of a school library media center, with its integral role to the school's curriculum, literacy, information literacy, and leisure reading support, is not well known in Spain, although this is changing, due largely to an increased awareness of the need for information literacy education in schools.

Brief visits to target school and selected regional schools and libraries. European teaching models differ from current US education strategies. Concepts of integrated roles of school libraries in Spain are beginning to gain momentum; legislative and administrative support is slowly developing. There is great potential in such international collaborations, particularly between library higher education and P‐12 institutions. Adapting the US model of the integrated school library media center and its roles in literacy and information literacy holds great promise for P‐12 schools in Spain and other countries.

International collaborations increase awareness of diverse cultures’ similarities and differences, and lead to global exchanges of ideas and programs. Target school in this case study will have a well‐integrated English language library to support acquisition of English language, literacy, and information literacy. The acquisition of these important literacy skills through a carefully developed library program can only benefit student achievement and foster international collaborations.

Research into the function and possibilities for improvement in school libraries in Spain has been the subject of research among practitioners in Spain since the 1990s, but little of this research is known internationally. The original research and unique and timely implementation of this case study, though small in scope, has wide implications for school libraries internationally.

Behavioural problems in childhood often lead to poor long-term outcomes, including increased risk of adult mental illness, unemployment, criminality and shorter life expectancy. Most parents of affected children ask for help, usually from teachers or general practitioners, but only a small minority go on to access well implemented evidence-based programmes of early intervention. A strong body of research demonstrates the effectiveness of these programmes, but much less is known about the practicalities of identification and referral which are among the key ingredients of good implementation.

This paper adds to existing knowledge on these topics, drawing on a wider empirical study of the delivery of parenting programmes in this country, based on detailed case studies in four local areas and a national survey of parenting leads.

Identification and referral is a complex process, requiring parents to acknowledge challenges in the management of a child's behaviour, overcome feelings of failure or stigma risking disclosure to professionals. It relies on professionals understanding the significance of what they see or hear, knowing where to refer families and having effective motivational skills to promote the willingness of parents to engage with programmes. Different perceptions of poor childhood behaviour delay access to appropriate help, particularly for those with severe problems. Referral pathways are often complex and not well understood by professionals in routine contact with families or working with high-risk groups.

Although there is a strong body of research outlining what works to promote better outcomes for children with early behavioural difficulties, there is less detailed understanding of identification, help seeking and “real world” barriers preventing parents and children benefitting from effective parenting support.

State and national initiatives place an increased emphasis on both students’ exposure to diverse texts and teachers’ integration of English/language arts and history/social studies. The intent is for students to critically examine diverse accounts and perspectives of the same historical event or era. Critical examination can be accomplished through teachers’ purposeful juxtaposition of age-appropriate, engaging trade books and relevant informational texts, such as primary source materials. To guide interested elementary and middle level teachers, researchers can evaluate trade books for historical representation and suggest divergent or competing narratives that compel students to scrutinize diverse perspectives. Researchers can locate germane primary sources and modify them in ways that maintain their historicity. As students read, they scrutinize, contextualize, and corroborate sources, which enables them to actively construct historical understandings. We examined children’s literature centered on child labor. We juxtaposed trade books targeting elementary students with those intended for middle level students. While our findings revealed various forms of historical misrepresentation, child labor trade books appear far more historically representative than those centered on slavery.

In August 1977, the Division for Library Services awarded Library Services and Construction Act Title III funding to a proposal submitted by Denise B. Erwin, Director of the Instructional Materials Center, School of Education, University of Wisconsin‐Madison, for a planning grant to identify and document the need for “Cooperative Media Review Centers” in the State of Wisconsin. This grant provided money for an eight month period to conduct the study and, based on the findings, to submit a report which would include a plan for the development and implementation of such an evaluation program. This proposal was based on work done previously, nationwide in scope and widely reported in the library press.