From Data Loss to Data Justice: Reimagining Education Research with USAID’s Restored Datasets

Group Submission Type: Workshop

Description of Session

In line with the CIES 2026 theme of “Reimagining Education Systems for Equity, Justice, and Peace,” this workshop introduces participants to a newly restored global education data resource—USAID’s education datasets, now publicly available through the DataLumos platform. By equipping researchers, practitioners, and policymakers with access to rich, country-level data on student learning and school environments, the workshop supports evidence-based inquiry and inclusive policy development. Participants will explore how open data can empower local stakeholders, foster transparency, and drive equitable education reform across diverse contexts.
When USAID terminated its education programs, it also removed public access to a rich collection of data on global learning outcomes–putting at risk two decades of work and hundreds of datasets. These datasets, critical to researchers, implementers and most importantly, partner country stakeholders, were nearly lost. In June 2025, a data sharing agreement between USAID and the University of Michigan’s Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), rescued these data and made them publicly available through the DataLumos platform.

The USAID Education Data Collection on DataLumos now hosts 938 datafiles from 43 countries collected between 2005 and 2024. These include student learning assessment data, surveys, classroom, school and teacher data, community, family and parent surveys, and more. This workshop will introduce participants to the Collection, demonstrate how to access and download them, and guide them through a hands-on analytical exercise using a selected subset of the data.

Learning Objectives
The learning objectives for this workshop are:
Become familiar with the USAID Education Data Collection available on the DataLumos platform.
Be introduced to the potential of these data to support a wide range of research questions through examples presented by the facilitators
Download and explore selected datasets from DataLumos and develop data analysis plan
Engage with a growing community of researchers and practitioners interested in using these data and identify opportunities to collaborate

Workshop Delivery Plan
The workshop will begin with an orientation to the DataLumos platform and the USAID Education Data Collection. The three facilitators will then each present an example of how these data have been effectively used to answer wide ranging research questions. Thereafter, the facilitators will support participants in downloading selected datasets, understanding the availability and constraints of the data, supporting documentation and appropriate use. Participants will then work in small teams to articulate research questions of interest for one or more datasets. Using Excel, participants will explore the selected data, identify key variables for analysis, and draft an analysis plan. By the end of the workshop, participants will have initiated an analysis to address at least one research question using real-word education data.

Sub Unit

• Book Launches and Workshops / Workshop

Chair

• Cally Ardington, University of Cape Town

Workshop Organizer

• Hetal Thukral, sustainED, LLC

Presenter

• Amber K Gove, Tangerine Central