This book asks how governments in Africa can use evidence to improve their policies and programmes, and ultimately, to achieve positive change for their citizens. Looking at different evidence sources across a range of contexts, the book brings policy makers and researchers together to uncover what does and doesn’t work and why. Case studies are drawn from five countries and the ECOWAS (west African) region, and a range of sectors from education, wildlife, sanitation, through to government procurement processes. The book is supported by a range of policy briefs and videos intended to be both practical and critically rigorous. It uses evidence sources such as evaluations, research synthesis and citizen engagement to show how these cases succeeded in informing policy and practice. The voices of policy makers are key to the book, ensuring that the examples deployed are useful to practitioners and researchers alike. This innovative book will be perfect for policy makers, practitioners in government and civil society, and researchers and academics with an interest in how evidence can be used to support policy making in Africa. The Open Access version of this book, available at https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003007043, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license

Health Reform Policy to Practice: Oregon as a Case Study for a Path to a Comprehensive and Sustainable Health Delivery Model offers a real world example of an innovative, successful and comprehensive program conducted by the U.S. State of Oregon. In 1991, Oregon embarked on a journey to improve health for all its citizens by radically re-thinking how to approach health care for long-term benefits. Over more than two decades, Oregonians have participated in a dialogue to create a new approach to solve the dilemma of providing high quality health care that is affordable and effective. Traditionally, health care reform looked at cutting people from care, cutting provider rates or cutting services. Oregon's approach is unique in that it built a new system of delivery from the ground (community) up. The Oregon model took a "Fourth Path” to health care by redesigning the clinical delivery system through reducing waste, improving individual health and prevention, and therefore reducing utilization of services, creating local accountability, aligning financial incentives and creating fiscal accountability. This is not only an Oregon story, but a national one as other states, payers and purchasers implement health care reform. Written by content experts who have been actively involved in health care reform efforts Provides clear translation of current information and experience to implementation Explores the potential impact of the Oregon experience on national and international health care reform efforts

This title was first published 1983. A common method, concern, and argument underlie all of these essays. The method is 'value critical'. The concern is with a more institutionally grounded understanding of why governments do what they do. The argument is substantive, dealing with concrete issues such as the claim for economic resources, social protection and the organization of social services....The canonical (that is, the conventional and normative) view is thrown into question, on the implicit assumption that things do not work as expected, that there is inherently a difference between the text and the message.

This volume delivers a selection of papers presented at an international teaching conference on issues of theory and practice. These key topics will be of interest to novice and veteran teachers, policy makers and all education professionals.

An exploration of how the knowledge gained from research is used to improve the effectiveness of public policy formation and public service delivery. It covers eight areas of public service - health, education, criminal justice, social policy, transport, urban policy, housing and social care.

Detailed accounts of two influential initiatives of the 1990s, whose educational and political lessons remain highly relevant: systemic and pedagogic reform in one of Britain’s largest cities, and the controversial ‘three wise men’ government enquiry into primary teaching to which it led. Alexander's controversial and widely-read report on primary education in Leeds has now been revised as a major study of policy initiatives in primary education and their impact on practice. The book examines an ambitious programme of local reform aimed at improving teaching and learning in the primary schools of one of Britain's largest cities. It addresses important questions about children's needs, the curriculum, classroom practice and school management. When first published, Robin Alexander's report was hailed as `seminal' and `the most important document since Plowden' but it was also quoted and misquoted in support of widely opposed political and media agendas. This new edition retains Part I from the first edition, detailing the impact of Leeds LEA's programme for educational reform. However, it also provides a totally new and greatly extended Part II, which gives an insider's account of the sequel to the Leeds report - the government's 1992 'three wise men' report. There is also a new introduction.

This edited book provides a hard-hitting and deliberately provocative overview of the relationship between evidence, policy and practice, how policy is implemented and how research can and should influence the policy process. It critiques the notion of 'evidence-based practice', suggesting instead a more inclusive idea of 'knowledge-base practice', based in part on the lived experience of service users. It will be of interest to everyone in health and social care policy, practice and research.