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The purpose of this paper is to explore the utility of an evidence-based suite of programmes, The Incredible Years (IY), to enhance outcomes for children using a parent-teacher partnership model.

A review of the broad evidence base for the IY parent, teacher and child programmes, uniquely focusing on the inter-relationships between home and school contexts.

Evidence suggests that it is beneficial to parents, teachers and children to deliver IY programmes applying a multi-modal approach.

This paper, read in conjunction with other contributions in this volume, demonstrates the growing viability of partnership strategies that support children, their families and teachers to enhance school readiness, and promote positive child outcomes.

This article reports on three pragmatic randomised controlled trials (RCTs) to help children at risk of conduct disorder (CD): two involved the Incredible Years (IY) BASIC parent programme and the other concerned the IY teacher programme. All three interventions took place in regular service settings in North‐ and Mid‐Wales. In all three studies, staff from the provider agency delivered the programme and participated in RCT evaluations in which participants were randomly allocated to intervention or waitinglist control conditions. After a brief introduction to research into the prevention or treatment of CD, and the issues to be considered by services in selecting and delivering interventions, this article summarises the structure, content and evidence base of the IY programmes. The three Welsh studies are briefly described before exploring what factors contributed to service participation in the trials and the benefits and lessons learned in undertaking them.

Both the government and local service providers in the UK are becoming increasingly aware of the possibility of improving child outcomes through the delivery of parenting programmes. Government initiatives, such as Sure Start, Pathfinders and Flying Start are a positive step forward, yet programmes sometimes fail to work in service settings. This article describes the components necessary to deliver effective interventions, exploring the need to choose an evidence‐based parent programme, implement it with fidelity and evaluate the outcome. It describes the steps taken in North and Mid Wales to do this and reports briefly on the successful outcomes achieved by delivering the Incredible Years Basic Parenting Programme to the parents of high‐risk children in Sure Start areas.

This paper aims to review selected effective interventions (available in the United Kingdom) for middle childhood (9‐13 years) to reduce the risk of, or current/subsequent involvement in, anti‐social behaviour and criminality.

Electronic databases and reviews of evidence‐based effective programmes were searched to identify family, school, child and community programmes that are available in the United Kingdom.

Despite current public policy emphasis on “early intervention”, there are increasing numbers of effective interventions for this older age range available within the UK. Age‐appropriate risk‐reduction interventions reflect family, school, community, and peer influences.

This paper, read in conjunction with other age‐specific contributions in this volume, demonstrates the growing viability of evidence‐based strategies that support children and their families to reduce known risk factors for behavioural problems, and respond to antisocial and criminal behaviour.

The evidence‐based Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management (TCM) Programme was developed to meet demands from teachers for strategies to manage disruptive behaviours in the classroom (Webster‐Stratton, 1999). This article describes the programme and reports on its first use in the UK. In the first study 23 teachers attended the five‐day classroom management programme, 20 completed the final satisfaction questionnaire and 21 participated in a semi‐structured follow‐up interview. Teachers who implemented the training in their classrooms reported satisfaction with the programme and believed that the strategies taught were effective and improved pupils' conduct. In the second study, blind observation of teacher classroom behaviour was undertaken in 21 classes: 10 teachers had received the TCM training and 11 had not. Teachers who received TCM training gave clearer instructions to children and allowed more time for compliance before repeating instructions. The children in their classes were more compliant than children in the classes of untrained teachers. The implications of these findings are discussed.

There is growing interest in the economic evaluation of public health prevention initiatives and increasing government awareness of the societal costs of conduct disorder in early childhood. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the cost-effectiveness of the Incredible Years (IY) BASIC parenting programme compared with a six-month waiting list control.

Cost-effectiveness analysis alongside a pragmatic randomised controlled trial of a group-parenting programme. The primary outcome measure was the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), a measure of child behaviour.

The IY programme was found to have a high probability of being cost-effective, shifting an additional 23 per cent of children from above the clinical concern to below the cut-off on the SDQ compared to the control group, at a cost ranging from £1612-£2418 per child, depending on the number of children in the group.

The positive findings of this study have led to ongoing implementation of the IY programme and is therefore an example of commitment to evidence-based service provision and investment in prevention initiatives.

The purpose of this paper is to consider evidence on the effectiveness of preschool social and emotional interventions in preschool contexts and focuses on the application of an implementation framework described in relation to the Preschool Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) curriculum. Active parent involvement and engagement were not included in the implementation but preschool establishments spontaneously involved parents or parents sought involvement, creating innovations in delivery and context. The need for structured parent involvement and its impact are considered in relation to evidence on integrated programmes and different models of parent involvement.

This paper reports on an interim evaluation of practitioners’ and parents’ experiences of the implementation processes, focusing on the involvement and engagement of parents.

Evidence for the rationale for parent engagement in this context is substantiated. The Preschool PATHS curriculum is known to impact on children’s social competence, problem behaviour and, in the early school context, attainment. However the programme does not target parent skill directly or address parent behaviours that may affect children’s social competence and behaviour. It is suggested that the programme needs to be extended to provide structured input for parents via training and information similar to that provided for practitioners. A pilot study using integrated parent training material and supported by an implementation framework is advised.

The paper describes a flexible, evidence-based framework supporting replicable processes useful to service providers across programmes and contexts. An “innovation” (a term used to describe deviations from programme fidelity or implementation standards) is explored which affected the creation of parallel parent involvement strategies but not the delivery of the programme itself which was carefully monitored. While adaptations and deviations are inevitable, some flag up areas where development or issues of contextual fit need to be addressed and might, as in this case, inform better integration of evidence and practice development.

To compare the characteristics of parents and children recruited for two randomised-controlled trials (RCTs) of parenting support in disadvantaged communities in Wales in order to explore the effects of community-based vs individual-based targeting in early prevention.

Parents from high-risk disadvantaged communities in Wales, where additional early intervention services were targeted as part of a Welsh Government early intervention strategy, were recruited to two RCTs of parenting interventions. In the first study parents of targeted three- and four-year-old children, who were screened, and deemed at risk of long-term problems, were recruited from Sure Start (SS) areas in Wales. In the second study parents of one- and two-year-old children living in disadvantaged Flying Start (FS) areas were recruited, with residence within the FS area being the only recruitment criterion.

FS areas are more strategically targeted as communities with a greater percentage of families with high levels of socio-economic disadvantage and associated risk than SS areas. Families in the toddler parenting trial based in FS areas, recruited without any additional screening, were experiencing higher levels of socio-economic deprivation, mental health problems and parenting stress as well as other known risks to child outcomes than the general population. However, when compared with the individually targeted population recruited for the SS study, they were shown to be experiencing significantly lower levels of these and other risks factors for poor child outcomes than the sample recruited for the SS trial where recruitment was based on known child risk factors. The paper discusses these findings and explores the implications of targeting by geographical area (community level targeting) alone vs targeting individual families by known risk factors. The findings suggest that screening measures would identify children at greatest risk of poor outcomes and whose families might benefit from additional targeted services. Suggestions for possible screening measures are also made.

This paper contributes to discussion about effective ways of allocating limited resources to best effect.

Most schools struggle to get busy and stressed parents to come repeatedly to the school building for events. At primary schools, especially those with pupils living in low-income communities or with many immigrants, involving parents to come at all is seen as a challenge. The purpose of this paper is to present a social ecological strategy of using the school building as a site for families to gather and for community networks to grow by building relationships between parents who have same-aged children attending that school. When families know other families, they feel more comfortable coming into the school building, and probably will return frequently.

A large randomised controlled trial of 52 urban schools with an average of 73 per cent Latino students situated in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in the USA has data to examine the impact of this strategy on parent involvement. Parents of all first-grade students (age 6 or 7) at schools assigned either to Families and Schools Together (FAST) or services-as-usual were invited to participate. At schools with the social ecological strategy universal invites were made to those in the study to attend any one of eight weekly multi-family group sessions offered after-school at the building. Trained teams were culturally representative of the families (language, ethnicity) and made up of local parents and professionals; each team hosted up to ten families in a hub for two and a half hours (83 families attended at one session). Parents were socially included, treated with respect, coached by the team to lead a family meal, singing, family crafts and games at a family table. Parent time (respite) was provided with chat-time in pairs, followed by parent-led discussion groups. Parents were coached in one to one time, “child-led” responsive play for 15 minutes.

Parent involvement data showed that on average, 43.6 per cent of all first-graders’ families (an average of 44 families per school) attended at least one session; of those, who attended at least one session, 69 per cent returned for another. On average, of those families who attended at least once, the average family went four times; an average of 22 families per school attended six or more sessions. Parent graduates led monthly booster sessions open to all families. In half of the families, both fathers and mothers attended; immigrant parents attended statistically significantly more than native-born ones. In surveys, more parents in schools with FAST vs control reported attending three or more events at school.

The FAST programme encourages the involvement of reluctant parents in school events. This benefits both children’s general well-being and academic attainment and so contributes to preventative public health strategies.

This paper brings new perspectives to the challenges faced by educators in involving parents at school by a sociologist-led research team introducing a social worker-developed social ecological, systemic strategy to schools in low-income communities using a randomised controlled design. This novel social ecological approach has consistently and effectively engaged whole families into increased involvement in schools in 20 countries, especially in low-income communities. Headteachers consistently report increased school engagement of FAST parent graduates for years, suggesting that the early intensity builds ongoing relationships of trust and reciprocity across home, school and community. Policy makers should note that building social capital in disadvantaged communities through partnerships with parents and schools can result in decreased disparities in health, social care and education.