The What Works Centres: Lessons and Insights from an Evidence Movement

The last decade has seen a growing focus on producing evidence-based policy and practice in governments around the world – with a specific focus on causal evidence of the impacts of a particular policy on outcomes for citizens. The UK is a key example of this, with the establishment of 14 What Works Centres which collate, create and translate evidence in different policy and practice domains. In this book, leaders, researchers and practitioners from these institutions share insights to help understand what has worked so far in the Centres, and what could be done better in future. It offers guidance to policy makers and funders looking to establish new centres, and for academics looking to create similar institutions that can have a practical impact on the improvement of the world around us.

Table of Contents:
Foreword – David Halpern Part 1 1. The Scene Is Set – Michael Sanders and Jonathan Breckon 2. How Did We Get Here? What Works in the UK? A Personal Journey – Jonathan Breckon and Annette Boaz 3. The role of NICE in the evidence-based health system – Nick Timmins 4. What Works in Crime and Policing: Getting Closer to the Frontline – Rachel Tuffin 5. The Education Endowment Foundation: Building the Role of Evidence in the Education System – Harry Madgwick, Becky Francis and Jonathan Kay 6. Audiences First, Evidence Second – Lessons From the Early Intervention Foundation – Jo Casebourne 7. Overcoming the Youth Employment Evidence Challenge – Jane Colechin, Catherine Fitzgerald, Chris Goulden, Ryan Howsham and Anna Round 8. ‘Pulling Rather Than Pushing’: a Demand-Led Approach to Evidence Mobilisation – Steve Martin 9. The What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth: Some Lessons From the First Ten Years – Danielle Mason, Max Nathan and Henry G. Overman Part 2 10. Criticisms and Challenges of the What Works Centres – Michael Sanders and Jonathan Breckon 11. Higher Aspirations: Growing From a University Home to an Independent Body – Eliza Kozman and Omar Khan 12. Using Evidence To End Homelessness – Ligia Teixeira 13. Scaling Up: Taking ‘What Works’ to the Next Level – Jane Lewis, Eleanor Ott and Robyn Mildon 14. Measuring What Matters – Nancy Hey 15. Bringing It All Together: The Future of Evidence Synthesis – David Gough and Sandy Oliver 16. Frontiers in Equality – Ella Whelan and Michael Sanders 17. Evidence at the Grassroots – Ben Linton 18. Conclusion – Jonathan Breckon and Michael Sanders

About the Author :
Michael Sanders is a Professor of Public Policy and Jonathan Breckon is a visiting Senior Research Fellow at King's College London, both have worked with or for the majority of the UK's What Works Centres.

Review :
"Provides a front seat view into the institutions and people who are quietly revolutionising our health, education and criminal justice systems. Answering the difficult but devastatingly powerful question 'What Works?' is an antidote to our polarised politics, and can literally change our world." David Halpern, author and former UK What Works national adviser.