Translational research ‘creates a space for collaborative, co-constructed inquiry that values and utilizes the expertise of all stakeholders involved’ (Smith & Helfenbein 2009). This paper presents the development of a founding model, MESH (Mapping Education Specialist knowHow, (www.meshguides.org), for translational research and knowledge mobilisation in schools and colleges to support improved student attainment. It considers how issues of continuing professional development (CPD) for teachers might be addressed through MESH, which provides the ‘space’ for co-created, peer reviewed, evidence-based educational resources. MESH uses an accessible multimedia map as a diagrammatic database of subject-specific research-based knowledge about the pedagogy of topics across curricula. Building upon existing portals and evidence bases for education, MESH summarises and makes accessible existing evidence whilst also documenting gaps in knowledge and mapping points of contention. The approach is inspired by the professional and academic resources available in other disciplines, (e.g. ‘Map of Medicine’ health guides), but recognises the challenges education has as ‘a discipline across disciplines’. The MESH guides ‘remap’ the evidence base, as well as document the different models and metaphors utilised for CPD in schools and colleges. The quality of MESH guides is peer reviewed and open to comment from any educator, creating outstanding opportunities for academic impact and discourse. By examining the impact of MESH guides on teachers’ CPD and the learning of their students, a contribution is made to our understanding of how translational research can be used in schools through research informed teaching and knowledge mobilisation. In this paper we propose the use of translational research, more often associated with medicine, but here to refer to evidence-based resources for educational practitioners enabling knowledge mobilisation. We also report the use of a MESH guide in primary literacy curriculum planning. A qualitative methodology is employed focussing on the use of one MESH guide (spelling) in 40 Primary Schools in the South West of England, UK for developing curriculum delivery. Online questionnaires are used to investigate the teachers’ use of the MESH guide and their perceptions of its value to their curriculum planning through closed and open questions enabling generalised findings for the population, enhanced with more detailed perceptions to support MESH guide development. Findings will be presented within a framework of teachers, as the largest resource in schools (Sutton Trust 2011), requiring access to an evidence-based resource that is accessible through common technology e.g. smart phones and the internet, to support improvement in pedagogic content knowledge and thereby learners’ attainment.

Smith, J. S. and Helfenbein Jr. R. J. (2009). Translational Research in Education: Collaboration and Commitment in Urban Contexts in Gershon, W. S. (Ed.) The Collaborative Turn: Working Together in Qualitative Research. Rotterdam, Sense Publishers. Sutton Trust (2011). Improving the impact of teachers on pupil achievement in the UK: interim findings. London: Sutton Trust. Online: www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/2teachers-impact-report-final.pdf