Strengthening evidence-based policymaking in education: insights from Jacobs Foundation's EdLabs across four regions

• In Event: Strengthening evidence uptake and use by governments: lessons from Education Labs

Proposal

This paper presents evidence and insights on Education Labs from the Jacobs Foundation's Ed Labs across four regions. Over the past four years, the Jacobs Foundation has supported Ed Labs to foster a culture of evidence in education systems across its four target countries: Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Switzerland, and Colombia. Ed Labs, which serve as policy labs in the education sector, aim to inform public policy and enhance evidence-based decision-making, ultimately leading to better policy design and implementation. Each Ed Lab operates under a distinct model tailored to its region, guided by a coherent and contextually responsive Theory of Change (ToC).

This paper will share three broad sets of findings. The first set of findings are from a global review of major evidence-based policy programs, incorporating desk research, literature analysis, interviews with nearly two dozen experts, and a review of active policy labs worldwide. This review was led by learning partner, On Think Tanks (Hayter & Morales, 2023) and includes findings on emerging principles and strategies for strengthening evidence use at individual, organisational, and systemic levels.

The second set of findings relates to strategies and approaches for establishing these Labs, including a three-stage design approach employed by the Foundation and its partners; detailing the articulation of a vision of evidence, the establishment of a baseline for evidence use, and the formulation of a learning agenda. This builds on an Ed Lab framework developed by the foundation to compare approaches and functions across labs.

Finally, the third set of findings is informed from data gathered at the country level Ed Labs. This will include an overview of the Ed Labs' approach and functions in the Foundation's four target regions, highlighting early policy outcomes and challenges. The paper will conclude by underscoring the opportunity for convergence to enhance global and local efforts in advancing evidence-based policymaking in education.

Authors

• Samuel Kembou, Jacobs Foundation

• Donika Dimovska, Jacobs Foundation