Bridging the evidence gap: from global demands to local realities

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

Across education systems worldwide, the demand for credible and high-quality evidence has never been greater. Governments, philanthropic foundations, and implementing partners are increasingly seeking assurance not only that interventions deliver positive results but also that these results can be sustained, scaled, and embedded into policy and practice. This shift reflects a growing recognition (e.g., Halpern & Maru, 2024) that achieving long-term impact depends as much on the effective use of knowledge as on the quality of the interventions themselves.

In many contexts, particularly those experiencing rapid social change or operating with limited resources, the pathways between what global actors require and what is feasible, relevant, and trusted locally are still evolving. The degree of alignment is not a marginal issue, it shapes which innovations advance, which policies gain momentum, and how different perspectives are valued in decision-making. Where alignment between standards and capacities is strong, reforms are more likely to take root and yield a sustained impact (McAleavy, Riggall & Naylor, 2021). By contrast, when evidence does not reflect priorities on the ground or connect to the realities of implementation, opportunities for learning and improvement may be missed. Strengthening these connections offers a practical route towards more inclusive, responsive, and resilient education systems.

Strengthening evidence systems that reflect both recognised standards of quality and locally determined priorities can create the conditions for lasting improvement (OECD, 2022). Effective alignment supports policies that withstand political or economic shifts, enables innovation to be meaningfully adapted across contexts, and helps channel resources to where they are most likely to have impact. It also fosters an environment in which multiple forms of knowledge are recognised, encouraging productive collaboration between researchers, practitioners, and communities.

This formal panel brings together four organisations working at the interface of global expectations and local realities to examine two interconnected challenges in education policy and practice. The first concerns the enduring tension between rigour and relevance: how to maintain credibility and quality in evidence while ensuring it is attainable, timely, and grounded in diverse local realities. The second explores the shift from identifying “what works” in controlled or pilot settings to understanding “what lasts” when initiatives are scaled within the complexity of real-world systems.

The panel’s contributions are designed to offer complementary perspectives, bringing together funders, implementers, researchers, and government leaders. Drawing on experiences from Uganda, Kenya, India, and across GSF’s global network, the discussion will highlight both the opportunities and tensions in aligning global standards of evidence with the realities of local contexts. Building Tomorrow will share lessons on contextualising global evidence within rural Uganda and building community ownership into interventions. Dr. Parmod Kumar will reflect on the Haryana state government’s efforts to embed foundational literacy and numeracy reforms within large-scale systems. Dignitas will offer insights from Kenya on how evidence can drive system transformation towards breadth of skills when shared inclusively across stakeholders. Finally, Global Schools Forum will share cross-cutting insights from its Impact at Scale Labs on scaling with, and creating, evidence. Together, these contributions will examine how rigour, relevance, sustainability, and relationships interact in practice, and propose strategies to strengthen the alignment between global evidence expectations and the diverse realities of local education systems.

By convening perspectives from those who direct resources, set priorities, and bridge research and implementation, the session will provide space for candid, solutions-focused discussion. Participants will consider practical ways to deepen mutual understanding across stakeholder groups, align evaluation standards with adaptive, context-driven programme design, and strengthen the capacity of education systems to learn, adapt, and sustain improvements over time.

After a brief framing by the chair, each contributor will present a short paper introducing evidence and perspectives that anchor the discussion. The papers are designed to complement one another and set the stage for an interactive exchange among panellists, the discussant, and the audience. The discussant will conclude the panel with a synthesis of emerging insights, identifying practical strategies to strengthen alignment between global evidence expectations and local priorities. This closing segment will capture recommendations on how funders and intermediaries can better support the creation and use of evidence that is both credible and contextually grounded.

Audience members, including researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and donors, will engage through the discussion prompts and targeted questions, contributing their perspectives to the dialogue. By the end of the panel, the audience will gain a clearer understanding of how global evidence expectations and local realities can be brought into closer alignment to strengthen education systems. Through the exchange of perspectives from funders and knowledge intermediaries, the session will surface strategies for designing evidence requirements that are both credible and contextually grounded, and for embedding evaluation approaches that support immediate decision-making as well as longer-term system learning. Attendees will gain insights relevant to their own contexts, alongside connections with peers and organisations engaged in related work; a set of emerging principles will be recorded during the session to guide future collaboration among those who commission, generate, and use evidence in education.

Sub Unit

• Monitoring and Evaluation SIG

Chair

• Samuel Kembou, Jacobs Foundation

Individual Presentations

• Building Tomorrow: adapting global best practices in a community education programme in rural Uganda - George Srour, Building Tomorrow, Inc.

• Collaborative research to drive education systems transformation for a breadth of skills - Nancy Gikandi, Dignitas; Nganga Kibandi, DIGNITAS LIMITED

• Implementing large-scale FLN reforms within government systems: the Haryana experience - Parmod Kumar, Department of School Education Govt.of Haryana

• Rigour, relevance, and relationships: insights on scaling with evidence from GSF's Impact at Scale Labs - Ratul Chowdhury, Global Schools Forum

Discussant

• Miguel Subosa, Itad