Practical frameworks for using evidence to scale education programs

• In Event: Evidence as a tool for adaptation, adjustment, and scale through systems

Proposal

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. Anchored by a network of more than 325 affiliated researchers and 550 invited researchers at universities around the world, J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty.

For more than a decade, the J-PAL network has built long-term relationships with NGOs and governments around the world to increase the use of evidence in decision-making, and adapt and scale programs and policies informed by evidence. Together we work with partners on their program and policy priorities, helping to determine whether and how evidence is relevant to their context, supporting them in piloting programs and policies leveraging this evidence, and building systems for data-enabled program delivery and monitoring.
In recent decades, there has been a huge increase in the number of impact evaluations of different approaches to reducing poverty. Despite this, policymakers or implementers are unlikely to find a rigorous impact evaluation that answers precisely the question they are facing in precisely the location in which they are facing it. How can decision-makers draw on the available evidence, both from a local context and from the global base of impact evaluations in other locations, to make the most informed decision?

In this presentation, we will discuss our experience working alongside policymakers around the world to apply a Generalizability Framework to solve practical policy problems. We also show how this approach enables policymakers to draw on a much wider range of evidence than they might otherwise use. We will share guidance from this framework and think through questions in relation to the other panel presentations such as: What is the disaggregated theory behind the program? Do the local conditions hold for that theory to apply? How strong is the evidence for the required general behavior change? What is the evidence that the implementation process can be carried out well?

J-PAL will also frame questions and considerations around designing for scale, including a test, learn, and adapt cycle, assessing feasibility for scale, and managing the scaling up process in partnership with governments.

Author

• Madeline Brancel, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab J-PAL at MIT