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Using assessment and research evidence to challenge the education status quo: lessons from Africa, Asia and Latin America

Mon, March 11, 4:45 to 6:15pm, Hyatt Regency Miami, Floor: Terrace Level, Orchid C

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

Education systems the world over face pressure due to the increasing number of children demanding education and due to the need to deliver education of high quality that is relevant for the fast-changing and complex world. Improving education systems requires a systematic approach that includes the effective use of evidence. Research and assessment-based evidence can positively impact quality, design, and effectiveness of policies (Goldman & Pabari, 2021) as well as influence resource allocation and practice (Nakabugo, 2021). Evidence-based practices can help identify what works and what doesn’t, enabling policy makers and practitioners to make informed decisions about education policies, curriculum development and instructional strategies. Moreover, better utilisation of research and evidence in development policy and practice can help save lives, reduce poverty, and improve the quality of life (Young, 2005). One example of evidence generation both informing and resulting from national level policy and practice that contributes to global transformative development is the monitoring and gathering of data for tracking the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS). The UIS has set up an infrastructure that facilitates sharing of data and evidence from each participating country. The UIS guidelines provide for different approaches to be used to generate evidence as long as the data is credible, reliable, and can provide insights into areas or sectors being analysed. However, some studies have shown that even though more learning data have become available, they have not been effectively used in influencing policy and practice (GESCI, 2022; IIEP- UNESCO, 2022).

Influencing policy and practice is often an iterative process that considers several factors, particularly the political and socio-economic environment where the action is taking place. Policy making usually involves both formal and informal processes across a range of actors and institutions until the intended policy influencing objective is reached (Court et al., 2006). According to an Oxfam study on experiences with evidence-informed policy, influencing is often a complex web of processes that requires a number of different ingredients including: a robust evidence base, building coalitions, learning the rules of the game in many different systems, and a process of continuous reflection and change in the light of experience and context (Cairney et al., 2018).

Globally, learning assessment data has been used by different education systems and development partners to shape education policy and practice especially in the context of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) to confront the learning crisis. Notably, UIS has identified several cross-national learning assessments that meet the criteria to measure the proportion of children and young people achieving minimum proficiency in reading and mathematics (UNESCO, 2018). International large-scale assessments identified include the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS) and Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (LaNA).

Regionally, most notable large-scale assessments that have been implemented through national systems, include, among others, the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Education Quality (SACMEQ), Programme for the Analysis of Education Systems (PASEC), Pacific Islands Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (PILNA), Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM), and Regional Comparative and Explanatory Study (ERCE). Other assessments that are implemented both regionally and nationally are Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA) and Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA). UNESCO, UNICEF, and the World Bank as development partners, also conducted the Measuring Early Learning Quality and Outcomes (MELQO) program. Learning assessments such as these have contributed to informing the formulation, implementation, and review of educational policies and practices globally. For instance, Lockheed, Prokic-Bruer and Shadrova (2015) established that donors use PISA results in dialogue with middle-income countries to set agenda relating to reform of curricula, standards, and teacher professional development. Other learning assessments of literacy and numeracy have been citizen-led and conducted by civil society organisations in Africa, Asia and Latin America with varying degrees of success in using the assessment evidence to shift policy and practice (Nakabugo, 2021).
It is clear that large scale assessments which have targeted literacy, numeracy are several and have given visibility to educational standards and stimulated national and political dialogue and action. However, education systems worldwide are increasingly shifting focus of assessment to include a wide range life skills / Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) competencies and values and exploring how large-scale assessment programs focused on these competencies could shift policy and practice. It is true that in the values and life skills space, there have been few large-scale assessments, and most of the tools used have been developed by high-income countries in the North (Save the Children, 2015; UNESCO, 2017; Squires et al., 2013 and Ashburn 2011). Many of these tools are self-rating scales, and none, if any, of them have been developed for low-income contexts. However, increasingly different actors in the Global South have started developing contextualised tools for assessing these complex skills. On example is the recent assessment of life skills and values in East Africa that was inspired by a study commissioned by Echidna Giving in 2018 (Wamahiu & Bapna, 2019) that revealed that although a number of organizations in East Africa were working on nurturing life skills and values in their respective ways, very few were using contextually relevant tools. There are other initiatives in other contexts, such as Bangladesh in Asia.

This panel is composed of five papers that seek to share experiences of designing and implementing agile assessment and research tools for measuring and nurturing FLN, SEL and life skills and values and using the evidence to shift improvements in education policy and practice. The first, second and third papers provide examples in the context of FLN assessment in various contexts, including Pakistan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Mexico. The final part of this panel draws on two papers with examples of using life skills/SEL assessment and research evidence in three East Africa countries, Ethiopia and Bangladesh to spur policy changes that support effective education practices for nurturing and assessing life skills.

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