This research focuses on how members of the UK Parliament engaged with evidence in relation to the policy decision leading to the Selective Schools Expansion Fund, a policy designed to enable the existing 163 English grammar schools to apply for additional funds to expand their intake. Although a small case study, the narrow focus provides a…

Background: Debates about evidence-based policy (EBP) were revived in the UK in the 2010s in the context of civil service reform and changing practices of policy making, including institutionalisation of public participation in science policy making. Aims and objectives: This paper aims to explore this revival of interest in EBP in the context of…

This special issue examines how relationships between research and policy in environmental and sustainability education (ESE) can be strengthened. Our contribution draws on three cases from outside the ESE space to analyse policymakers' perspectives on using evidence to inform decision-making, and to show that government-based policymakers develop…

The use of trials in the policy process is often presented as a move towards evidence-based policy and away from authority-, ideology- or faith-based policy. However, this paper will draw on two UK examples of unpublished policy trials in order to argue that when policy is based on such research it should not usually be described as…

This study explored the experiences of professionals and parents from the United Kingdom and China of autism-relevant policies, school involvement, and applied behavior analysis-based interventions. Semistructured interviews involving 36 parents and professionals and direct behavioral observations were carried out of five parents and three…

The value of evidence-based policy is well established, yet major hurdles remain in connecting policymakers with the wider research community. Here we assess whether a UK Evidence Information Service (EIS) could facilitate interaction between parliamentarians and research professionals. Fifty-six UK parliamentarians were interviewed to gauge the…

Much of the evidence translation literature focuses narrowly on the use of evidence in the initial policy formulation stages, and downplays the crucial role of institutions and the inherently political nature of policy making. More recent approaches acknowledge the importance of institutional and political factors, but make no attempt to…

Despite a robust body of evidence of effectiveness of social programs, few evidence-based programs have been scaled for population-level improvement in social problems. Since 2010 the federal government has invested in evidence-based social policy by supporting a number of new evidence-based programs and grant initiatives. These initiatives…