Lavinia Jacobs, the Chair of our Board of Trustees, recently sat down with Handelszeitung to discuss the Foundation’s work, and the ambition behind our Strategy 2030.

Often, there is a lack of evidence in education policy and practice. Since our founding by entrepreneur Klaus J. Jacobs in 1989, we have worked to tackle this challenge from various angles. In the piece, Lavinia spoke about our commitment to interdisciplinary research excellence and our efforts to support evidence-based teaching and learning practices globally.

Read the interview here.

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The Jacobs Foundation, alongside On Think Tanks (OTT), has today released an evidence review on the efficacy of Education Evidence Labs (EdLabs).

In collaboration with EdLabs across our key geographies of Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Switzerland, and Colombia, the Jacobs Foundation is working to enhance evidence use in education policy and practice. Despite the prevalence of policy labs in various sectors, there remains a notable absence of systematic evidence regarding their effectiveness. Seeking to fill this critical gap, the Jacobs Foundation and OTT have produced this review and its accompanying learning brief, found here.

This review delves into three burgeoning areas of literature and practice: evidence-informed policy, evidence use in education, and the expanding landscape of policy labs. Offering an initial analysis of key issues, lessons, and gaps, the review concludes with practical recommendations for advancing the collective efforts to institutionalize evidence use in education.

The findings of the review were informed by the Global Convening on Ed Labs, hosted by Jacobs Foundation in partnership with the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO), alongside support from OTT. Held in October 2023, the event brought together stakeholders from Ministries of Education, EdLab implementing units, research institutions, multilateral agencies, and global funders.

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The World Bank has cited our Child Learning and Education Facility (CLEF) program in Côte d’Ivoire as a best-practice example of a public-private partnership.

This major recognition showcases the program as a potential blueprint for other countries.  The CLEF program is a central part of our efforts to work with governments to ensure that evidence is at the heart of education policy and practice.

Since its inception in 2021, CLEF has been a collaborative effort. Spearheaded by the Ivorian government, it has brought together stakeholders from the government, philanthropic sector, and the cocoa industry in a coalition to coordinate action around the common goal of improving quality education and preventing child labor in cocoa growing regions of Côte d’Ivoire.

The World Bank says that the coalition “has mobilized a substantial amount of industry finance” using an innovative funding mechanism to support education. The program focuses on building school infrastructure, training teachers in effective pedagogical practices, and engaging parents in their children’s learning. Investment from CLEF has contributed to an increase in the percentage of students completing primary school in Côte d’Ivoire to 78.4 percent, which is above the average for Sub-Saharan Africa. However, the case study acknowledges that significant challenges remain in improving learning outcomes. 

TPI Global has also commended CLEF for its collaborative approach.

CLEF was also cited in a recent report by The Partnership Initiative (TPI) exploring the role of Public-Private-Philanthropy Partnerships (PPPP) in improving education. The report commended the Jacobs Foundation for using its convening power to bring stakeholders together, and, with the government in the driving seat, says that the program “is an archetype for the most collaborative way of working.”

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At the United Nations Global Refugee Forum this week in Geneva, Switzerland, the Jacobs Foundation pledged to support Colombia’s efforts to increase quality education for refugee and host community children. This will be accomplished through our support for Colombia Evidencia Potencial en Educacion, a multistakeholder initiative that aims to strengthen evidence in education policy and practice.

“At the Jacobs Foundation we believe that education, especially quality education that is based in evidence, is one of the most powerful means we have to support the transition of refugees from the status of victims to fully integrated, contributing members of society.”

Our co-CEO Fabio Segura attended the side event ‘Securing Sustainable Futures,’ where he announced 50 million CHF in funding to focus on the effective development of foundational skills such as literacy, numeracy, and socioemotional learning in Colombia. Through this Global Compact Refugee Pledge, we seek to create multi-stakeholder partnerships with the government of Colombia to ensure inclusive education at national, territorial, and local levels, including some of the most at-risk and least advantaged populations that have large numbers of displaced adults and children.

Through our support of Colombia Evidencia Potencial en Educacion, we will focus on interventions that help both teachers and parental training, ensuring that there is adequate training to support the most at-risk children. This support has the potential to impact almost 2 million children aged 3 to 12, of which 11% are displaced and/or affected by conflict. It will also aim to empower 132,000 teachers.

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The Digital Museum of Learning, an initiative of the Jacobs Foundation, has won gold in the education category at the British Interactive Media Association (BIMA) Awards, the United Kingdom’s most prestigious digital and tech awards.

The Digital Museum of Learning is part of the Jacobs Foundation’s longstanding commitment to helping all children to thrive by supporting evidence driven EdTech innovations that provide personalized learning experiences. Building on collaborations with leading museums and experts, the museum seeks to bring the history and future of education to life in a unique digital space. The museum’s online exhibitions feature digitized artworks and artifacts from around the world in interactive stories that are designed to spark curiosity in learners of all ages. 

The award recognizes the museum’s innovative platform and is a strong endorsement following its successful launch earlier this year. BIMA praised the early impact of the platform, saying that it has “fostered a fast-growing community of teachers, schools, museums, and children.” 

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A new working group, comprised of leading organizations that fund EdTech ventures and research, is dedicated to advancing the industry’s focus on evidence-based impact. Led by the Jacobs Foundation, the EdFIRST (Education Foundations Investing in Research and Systems Transformation) working group functions as a learning community, collaborating to increase the use of evidence in investment decisions and drive changes in practices and standards within EdTech companies. The ultimate goal of this working group is to strengthen the EdTech ecosystem and promote a significant shift towards evidence-based impact in EdTech, with the aim of influencing global and local education policy by 2030 and beyond.

The members of this group are organizations that invest in education globally, seeking measurable positive impacts as a result and employing a variety of financial instruments, including grant-giving.

The EdFIRST working group members collaborate in the following ways:

1. Sharing information and knowledge among themselves and with external parties.
2. Collecting, sharing, and developing tools to assist each other in their work.
3. Fostering connections within their community to provide support.

The working group holds regular meetings, including at least one in-person event per year, during which they exchange information and insights to enhance their individual work and impact. These gatherings also facilitate trusted communication, strengthen relationships, and create opportunities for serendipity. The most recent meeting took place in October 2023, where members found mutual inspiration and support to continue their distinct yet complementary paths. During this meeting, member organizations collectively crafted a charter outlining their commitment to increasing the use of evidence in their investment strategies.

The Jacobs Foundation serves as the curator and manager of the network, supporting its culture, fostering conversations, and driving initiatives. Learn more about our work to unlock the Impact of EdTech with evidence here.

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Rooted in our dedication to promote children’s learning and development, we have consistently worked to enrich the learning experiences of Swiss children, teachers, and educational institutions. Through collaborative partnerships and initiatives, such as the Ready! Campaign, which brought together stakeholders from various sectors to champion a comprehensive early childhood policy, we have actively played a catalytic role in shaping the landscape of education in Switzerland.

Our commitment to this work deepens as we move forward in the digital age under the banner of Strategy 2030 with a strong focus on bridging the gap between evidence, policy, and practice, the foundation has established three interconnected partnerships to maximize the opportunities presented by the digitalization of education. These partnerships encompass a dedicated research consortium for digital education, an initiative spearheaded by proEdu that supports innovative digital education approaches at the school level, and a collaborative venture with staatslabor, a government innovation lab.

Additionally, we continue to prioritize fostering excellence in Swiss research institutions. We have joined forces with EPFL and ETH Zurich, Switzerland’s premier federal institutes of technology, to introduce a pioneering joint doctoral program in the learning sciences. This initiative marks a significant stride in advancing education and science in Switzerland, embodying our commitment to drive innovation through collaboration.

Beyond Switzerland, we actively promote the integration of evidence into teaching and learning practices, as well as EdTech products. This is achieved through collaborations with investors and global funders, including the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. We ensure that the knowledge gained from our global initiatives enhances our work and partnerships in Switzerland, where relevant.

As we maintain our decade-long engagement in our home country under Strategy 2030, we look forward to continuing to play a catalytic role in ensuring that Swiss children are given the education and learning opportunities they need to thrive.

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The forced adaptation of new pandemic-related regulations

When the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in early 2020, schools and education systems globally faced major challenges. While the core values of schools as places of learning and the transmission of knowledge were severely affected, so too was the ability of schools to function as places of socializing, personal development, and integration.

Defining strategies for the further development of the education system post- pandemic

Schools and educational systems had to cope with a sudden re-organization of the classroom, shifting from in-person to online teaching. The second phase of the S- CLEVER project ran from March 2022 – March 2023 and centred on 3 key objectives:

• To analyze the varying challenges faced by schools and the standardized policies which were provided for school authorities and institutions.
• To identify perceived changes in the teaching and learning of students in 2021/2022, comparing results with the period preceding the pandemic.
• To identify developments and possible effects on the school year 2022/2023.

The report considers the strategies that schools implemented to confront these challenges and the impact of these strategies. The results showed that many schools had a clear plan in the summer of 2022 on how they could maintain and use the changes profitably for their school even beyond the pandemic. It found that in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, almost 70% of school principals had a clear plan to empower students to take more responsibility for their own learning process. It also discovered that the school principals in all language regions noticed an improvement in their professional behavior at their school.

Rethinking the practices of schools

Undoubtedly, COVID-19 sent shock waves throughout the world, majorly disrupting livelihoods, economies, and global development. However, some of the experiences brought about by the pandemic can serve as a driving force for positive educational change. Notably, the results of this study can serve to help develop and define strategies for continued educational system development. For instance, development both at the individual level and wider systematic levels.

Now that we are moving into a post-pandemic world, the report helps us understand the lasting changes triggered in schools, both for students and teachers, and the solutions implemented that could be applied to the future of learning and education.

Read more about the report and its findings: German, French and Italian

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In 2003, almost exactly 20 years ago, a groundbreaking idea was born between the then President of the University of Zurich (UZH), Hans Weder, and the entrepreneur and benefactor Klaus J. Jacobs: the establishment of an interdisciplinary research center at UZH, to promote research in the field of child and youth development at the highest scientific level: The Jacobs Center for Productive Youth Development.

The fact that UZH consistently conducts top-tier research was already well-established. However, what set this moment apart was something else: the founding agreement stipulated that “the annual budgeted ordinary resources required for the Jacobs Center (…) shall be provided in equal parts by the Jacobs Foundation and the University. The contributions of the Jacobs Foundation consist of cash (…) the contributions of the University consist of making available the human, spatial, administrative, and financial resources.”

This collaboration made the new center one of the first public-private partnerships in the Swiss higher education sector, with the Jacobs Foundation contributing a total of CHF 10 million to establish the new center. Under the leadership of its founding director, sociologist Marlis Buchmann, the Jacobs Center was able to launch groundbreaking projects such as COCON, which continues to provide crucial information on the lives of young people in Switzerland to this day.

Ten years ago – the “new” Jacobs Center is Created

In the year 2013, exactly a decade later, and coinciding with the retirement of Marlis Buchmann, the University of Zurich and the Jacobs Foundation decided to take their collaboration to a new level: The Jacobs Center was re-established with the goal of a “comprehensive understanding of productive child and adolescent development.” It was clear to all parties involved that achieving this goal with the available resources was impossible. And so, on January 13, 2014, Otfried Jarren for the University of Zurich and Christian Jacobs for the Jacobs Foundation signed a new contract: the budget was tripled to 3.5 M CHF per year – CHF 70 M until 2035. Nine professorships were designated across the fields of psychology, sociology, and economics  to the “recording and investigation of the behavioral, biological, and social factors underlying the development of children and adolescents.” Sociologist Michael Shanahan of the University of North Carolina was appointed as the new director, serving in this leadership position until 2021.

Today, the Jacobs Center, led by psychologist Moritz Daum, is dedicated to interdisciplinary and collaborative research in the field of human development. The transition from childhood to adolescence and adulthood presents individuals with various challenges. The Jacobs Center addresses these challenges in its research agenda. As an innovative, collaborative, interdisciplinary, and international research institution, it conducts theory-based empirical research that considers individual, institutional, and societal influences.

The “new” Jacobs Center was designed to explore child and youth development through the lenses of psychology, sociology, and economics. However, gaining a comprehensive understanding of child and youth development, associated with health and disease, requires various levels of investigation across different methodologies and disciplines. The Jacobs Center research and collaborations involve researchers from multiple fields, including (but not limited to) Education Science, Pediatrics, Neuroscience, Psychiatry, Epidemiology, Molecular Biology, Immunology, Demography, Statistics, and Gerontology. As a result, the research adopts an extensive range of methodological orientations, including educational approaches, clinical research, and biological and neuroscientific investigations in the context of cross-sectional, longitudinal, randomized-controlled, retrospective, and prospective designs.

The research focus of the over 50 researchers working at the center include the study of the influence of families, schools, and society on the development of children and adolescents, mental and physical health problems during early life stages, the development of cognitive mechanisms related to language acquisition, or the promotion of organizational skills for learning. Projects of the Center, such as z-proso, now funded by the SNF as a nationally relevant research infrastructure project, have evolved into internationally recognized research projects. 

The vision of Hans Weder and Klaus J. Jacobs – research in child and youth development at the highest international level at the UZH – has become reality. Such a long-standing, trusting partnership between a sponsor and a university is a remarkable achievement and cannot be taken for granted.

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