Highlighted Session: Use of outcome mapping and outcome harvesting in the Global Partnership for Education Knowledge and Innovation Exchange: challenges and successes

Group Submission Type: Highlighted Paper Session

Proposal

This panel presents the experiences of a large-scale international development project—the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX)—with using Outcome Mapping (OM) and Outcome Harvesting (OH) to track its progress and results and support its goal of being demand-driven and responsive to the needs of the stakeholders involved in it. In particular, it focuses on the experiences of regional learning hubs, the purpose of which is to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and innovation among GPE partner countries in response to their education priorities. In contrast to traditional monitoring approaches which focus mainly on measuring and demonstrating impact, OM allows us to understand how and why impact occurs, learn from it, and adapt the strategies used (Earl, Carden & Smutylo, 2001). Similarly, OH—which focuses on capturing outcomes defined as a change in the behaviour, relationships, actions, policies or practice of an individual, community, organization or institution—allows us to understand the pathways through which activities have led to specific outcomes and can guide future strategic adjustments, allowing us to implement activities in ways that are responsive and relevant to stakeholders (Wilson-Grau, 2008). While OM and OH have been embraced by donors and implementers, we lack specific examples of how these approaches to monitoring, evaluation, and learning are actually used especially in large-scale international development projects. Drawing on the self-study approach (Bullough & Pinnegar, 2001), participants of this panel present their successes and challenges in using OM and OH for monitoring and learning purposes and for achieving programmatic objectives in GPE KIX, which caters to over 80 low- and middle-income countries and aims to contribute to the improvement of national education systems through evidence and innovation.

Sub Unit

• Monitoring and Evaluation SIG

Chair

• Jose Luis Canelhas, NORRAG

Individual Presentations

• A monitoring, evaluation and learning system with national actors: Experience of the GPE KIX EMAP hub - Marina Dreux Frotté, NORRAG

• Advancing education in Africa: insights and challenges of the GPE KIX Africa 19 Hub's monitoring and evaluation approach - Victoria Kanobe Kisaakye, UNESCO; Yvonne Risper Atieno Mboya, UNESCO IICBA

• Tracking change in changing societies: Experience of the GPE KIX Africa 21 hub - Ina-Aissatou Sano, IFEF OIF; Maïmouna SISSOKO TOURE, IFEF OIF

• Enhancing educational policy and practice through the MEL system: Experience of the GPE KIX LAC Hub - Mar Botero, GPE KIX LAC - SUMMA; Catalina Godoy, Fundación SUMMA; Raul Chacon, GPE KIX LAC - SUMMA