No abstract

Purpose -This paper seeks to describe a cost-benefit analysis of early childhood education programmes.Design/methodology/approach -The analysis utilises the best evidence available for early education programmes, combined with data from Washington State and economic literature to determine the monetary implications of these programmes.Findings -The results indicate that early childhood education can yield benefits that substantially outweigh the costs of the programmes. In addition, these benefits were found to apply in many different public sector areas.Originality/value -The paper offers an analytic model to determine the long-term benefits of early intervention programmes.

Environmental Protection Agencies (EPAs) have been involved in citizen science initiatives for decades, engaging with citizens with the goal of protecting and restoring our environment. Yet the data and knowledge generated and the possibilities for engaging citizens have grown significantly in the last decades thanks to the recent developments in mobile technologies and the access to internet, resulting in a transformation of how environmental protection can be done. This perspective provides some examples on how European EPAs and their partners are currently addressing key environmental challenges and exploring new institutional approaches by bringing in citizen science data and methods. It also points out challenges that need to be addressed to fully realize the potential of citizen science as a complement to the monitoring efforts by these agencies. Finally, it presents the Interest Group on Citizen Science of the Network of the Heads of Environmental Protection Agencies (EPA Network), an informal forum where EPAs across Europe share examples and bring together strategic insights on citizen science approaches into their daily activities.

Purpose: This article gives an overview of the successes and lessons learnt to date the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), one of the leading organizations of the What Works movement. Design/Approach/Methods: Starting with its history, this article covers salient components of the EEF’s unique journey including lessons learned and challenges in evidence generation. Findings: The EEF has demonstrated that it is feasible to rapidly expand the use of school-based randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in a country context, set high standards for research independence, transparency, and design, and generate new evidence on what works. Challenges include the need to consider alternative designs to RCTs to answer a range of practice-relevant questions, how to best test interventions at scale, and how study findings are reported and interpreted. Originality/Value: This article addresses some of the key components required for the success of What Works organizations globally.

Retorno de las Inversiones. Evaluación de los Costes y Beneficios de los Programas Basados en la Evidencia Michael Little y Triin E ovald. Dartington Social Research Unit, UK Ésta es un versión traducida al español del original en inglés Return on Investment. The Evaluation of Costs and Benefits of Evidence-Based Programs.