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The Movement ABC-2 Test is internationally recognised as `the gold standard' for identifying children with motor difficulties. Prof Anna Barnett's revision and development has provided health and education professionals with a reliable assessment tool, improving the support for children and their families. This test is recommended in the latest European guidelines on Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) — a condition recognised as having a major impact on the lives of children — and has also been translated into several languages for global use. The parallel development of specific tests for handwriting (DASH and DASH17+) for children and adults has provided clinicians and teachers with the tools to help support students with their class work and written examinations.
Research by Utley and colleagues at the University of Leeds, which examined ways of identifying, diagnosing and assessing Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) in children, led to an elaboration of the working definition of the condition - the Leeds Consensus Statement. Compared to other developmental disorders and impairments, DCD has been poorly understood with the previous diagnostic criteria causing confusion amongst clinicians and practitioners. The 2006 consensus statement provided a new universal standard in the diagnosis and assessment of DCD, together with clear principles to guide intervention. Its impact from 2008 onwards can be demonstrated through educational and health clinicians and practitioners across the world adopting the new standard and using it to diagnose DCD. Worldwide 4-6% of children born have DCD, since 2006 this is identified by the Leeds Consensus Statement.
Our work on children's agency in research has had three impacts:
This approach has been replicated in Australia, Turkey, New Zealand, Norway and Qatar. The CRC website hosts 150 successful projects by children and young people, and through the Diana Award more than 1500 children were supported in their research on cyberbullying.
pGALS (paediatric Gait, Arms, Legs, Spine) is a quick, accurate and child-friendly examination technique that identifies children who need to be referred to a paediatric rheumatology specialist. pGALS has been widely disseminated since 2008 and integrated into both undergraduate medical student teaching and the membership examination for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. pGALS was developed by Newcastle researchers in response to their findings of a self-reported lack of confidence among clinicians when conducting musculoskeletal examinations of children. Research also showed that delays and inappropriate investigations were being conducted before the child was referred to a specialist. pGALS is now taught in at least 15 of the 32 medical schools in the UK and has been described in a number of leading textbooks. It is becoming known and used worldwide, adapted for local cultural and social contexts.
Young Lives is identifying major influences on children's development, from infancy to adulthood, by carrying out a pioneering longitudinal study across four developing countries over 15 years. Young Lives gathers and analyses data on how childhood is changing in diverse communities, especially through the impact of economic, cultural and policy shifts, by studying two age cohorts in each country. UNICEF, the World Bank, Plan International, and Save the Children International, among others, are using Young Lives research to design childhood poverty-reduction policies in the Post-2015 Development Agenda. The research also underpins the re-visioning of global child protection work by UNICEF, Save the Children Canada, and World Vision UK.
The research conducted through the C.Ind.Le project, between 2002 and 2006, was the first to reveal and catalogue the metacognitive and self-regulatory abilities of children in the 3-5 age range. The project outcomes included an observation instrument, now widely used by teachers in early years educational settings, and a training course on pedagogies supporting development of these abilities in young children. This research has had direct regional impact on practice at the Foundation Stage in Cambridgeshire, national impact through its influence on the 2012 revision of the DfE framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, and international impact through consultancy to the LEGO Foundation and other collaborations.
Research at Kingston University led to the development of a preschool number learning scheme ("PLUS") which uses short matching and estimation games to improve the number abilities of preschool children. The programme was first delivered by trained postgraduate students to 60 children at five regional nursery schools. An evaluation study confirmed the efficacy of the programme in enhancing the children's numerical (and other) skills. Next, Dr Van Herwegen trained staff members in these five preschools and five others to deliver PLUS on a daily basis, to reach over 500 pre-schoolers across the region. This resulted in a change to institutional practices within these preschools.
EPPSE is a Government-funded, high profile, longitudinal study with a multi-disciplinary design and numerous outputs, almost unprecedented in the UK in terms of its scale and scope. It has become a seminal study of the influence of early education on children's later development. Findings have been used in the UK and internationally for:
The two Principal Investigators at the IOE have taken lead roles in all of the above.
The `Clinical Kinematic Assessment Tool' (CKAT) is an innovative system that detects the 5% of children with motor control problems who, as a result, experience academic and social disadvantage — which increases the likelihood of educational difficulties, anxiety and depression. CKAT's development is led by Mon-Williams at the University of Leeds (UoL), in partnership with the University of Aberdeen. Since 2012, CKAT has been used in 88 primary schools in Bradford. All Reception Year children (aged 4-5 years) are CKAT screened (~4,000 children annually) with teachers using this information to prompt further assessment and additional classroom support. CKAT is now being commercialised via a licensing deal (2012) with a Scottish SME.
UK and international comparative research on socioeconomic inequality in early childhood, conducted by University of Bristol in conjunction with international colleagues, has profoundly influenced a variety of UK policy initiatives since 2010. Reliable evidence on the extent of learning deficits among recent cohorts of socio-economically disadvantaged children in early childhood has led to widespread acceptance in government that policy to promote equality of opportunity must begin in the preschool period. Analysis of the factors underpinning the disparities has led to and informed the development of official UK indicators to monitor progress in this area and specific policies to support parents, with outstanding potential to impact positively on the life chances of disadvantaged children. These include, for example, free childcare places for disadvantaged two-year-olds, an increased number of health visitors and the launch of telephone and online services for parents.