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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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 Jacobs Foundation has launched a new research consortium that will focus on digital learning environments and cross-curricular competencies in Swiss primary schools. The ongoing transformation of educational systems, accelerated by the pandemic, has generated new opportunities for learning innovations that are supported by technology. Titled DEEP (Digital Education for Equity in Primary schools), the consortium aims to investigate ways to maximize the positive effects of the digital transformation on primary-school aged learners while accounting for potential risks.

The core outcomes of the consortium are to: 

• Produce rigorous evidence to address key evidence gaps evident in national research agendas and inform national education plans.
• Present rigorous evidence accessibly by synthesizing existing high-quality research relevant to national education needs and curating high-quality resources from global reviews.
• Promote evidence adoption and implementation in policy and school practice with a focus on children’s learning outcomes by supporting practitioners and policymakers to better understand evidence and promote its use in the design and evaluation of education practices.
• Integrate evidence in basic and continuous teacher training at teaching training universities. In Switzerland, these universities represent the most direct pathway to scalable impact at both the classroom and individual child levels.

The consortium has been designed as a partnership between seven institutions that reflect the institutional, geographical, political, and methodological diversity of Switzerland. The coordination office of the consortium will be led in tandem by École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and Pädagogische Hochschule Zürich (PHZH).

The research agenda of the consortium will be aligned with the Foundation’s focus on learning variability. It will also be determined in consultation with key stakeholders from across the education system, including local authorities, teachers, and school heads. Relevant governance and mechanisms will be set up to ensure participation of policy and practice throughout the design and execution of the research. Research activities are currently scheduled to start in January 2024. 

DEEP is one component of the Foundation’s programmatic work in Switzerland and serves as the EdLab mechanism in the country. EdLabs are evidence-driven partnerships that join education authorities, domestic research institutions, and practice-oriented professional bodies to promote evidence-based change in policy and practice. They aim to improve learning outcomes for all children by 1) producing and synthesizing rigorous evidence, 2) sharing evidence in a way that’s relevant and accessible, and 3) supporting evidence adoption and implementation in policy and school practice.

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Fabio Segura said, “Colombia has strong research institutions and evaluation capacity, and our goal is to work with multi-stakeholder partnerships to inject even greater rigor into the creation, connection, and use of evidence in decision-making at all levels of the system”.

Óscar Sánchez, Vice Minister of Preschool, Basic and Secondary Education signed the MoU on behalf of Minister Aurora Vergara, and Executive Director Andrea Escobar signed from Fundación Empresarios por la Educación.

In Colombia, we are also supporting the Ministry of National Education in implementing a strategy to strengthen certified departmental territorial entities, through building capacities at subnational level. This initiative aims to support local authorities to promote scalable and systemic change supported by evidence to tackle educational challenges. Twelve initial territories have been selected to pilot this strategy: Amazonas, Antioquia, Barranquilla, Cauca, Cali, Cucuta, Cundinamarca, Choco, Cartagena, Meta, Manizales, and Quibdo.

Segura was also a speaker in the opening panel of a joint event from GEF Global Education Forum, an initiative of SEK Education Group, and WISE, an initiative of Qatar Foundation, on 24 May in Medellín. The event was an opportunity to discuss how education institutions can leverage other resources, programs, and spaces in their surroundings and beyond to expand learning opportunities. Watch a recording of the panel here (in Spanish).

Read more about our work in Colombia here.

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Our approach focuses on bridging the gap between evidence, policy, and practice, fostering collaboration among diverse stakeholders within Switzerland’s decentralized education system. The approach consists of three interconnected partnerships: a research consortium, a forum for sharing school best practices, and an initiative involving education authorities. 

• Research Consortium: Digital Education for Equity in Primary schools (DEEP) is a research consortium focused on digital education in primary schools. It involves seven diverse Swiss research institutions, jointly coordinated by EPFL and PHZH. DEEP generates fresh evidence on digital learning and translates it into actionable policies and practices aligned with the foundation’s focus on learning variability.
• Innovation at the school level: We support proEdu, an association formed by the Swiss Teachers Association and the Swiss School Principals Association, to encourage schools to experiment with innovative digital education approaches, fostering evidence-based practices to inspire further research and drive policy change.
• Collaboration with staatslabor: We partner with staatslabor, a Swiss government innovation lab, to empower education policy bodies and school authorities in leveraging digital technologies while ensuring educational equity.

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The Education Lab (EdLab): In collaboration with the Ministry of Education, we are spearheading the development of the EdLab, which serves as a hub for generating and applying rigorous academic research to help improve education across the board. The EdLab plays a crucial role in advancing decision-making based on research and evidence, particularly in support of the Communities of Excellence.

Communities of Excellence: We believe that education transformation begins at grassroots level. Communities of Excellence serve as incubators of change, where districts actively assess their current learning environments, envision their desired outcomes, and implement projects that drive lasting improvements. In doing so, we are promoting evidence-based decision-making, enhancing accountability, and fostering better coordination across educational institutions.

Co-funding Mechanism: Achieving our vision requires a collective effort. To ensure the sustainability and impact of the EdLab and Communities of Excellence, we are establishing a Co-Funding Mechanism through a government-led coalition. This coalition brings together stakeholders from various sectors, including the cocoa industry, to provide the financial support necessary for our initiatives. The mechanism is being established with the guidance of the Ministry of Education and the approval of the Minister. In addition, we are actively pursuing support from the Global Partnership for Education’s Multiplier Fund, which would enable us to extend our initiatives’ reach across Ghana.

Collaborations with the Ministry of Education: We have contributed to a new primary years assessment that includes a focus on social and emotional skills, and we have co-funded the new National Education Leadership Institute, dedicated to enhancing the capacity of education leaders across Ghana.

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The Learning Societies portfolio aims to work at national and territorial levels to help strengthen learning ecosystems across the country. We aim to help both levels become more focused on – and effective in – the development of foundational skills and social-emotional learning.

We will support Communities of Change in territories across the country to systematically implement evidence-based policies and practices.

We will also set up a national Evidence Lab to bring together Colombia’s strong research institutions in a multi-stakeholder partnership. This will drive even greater rigor in creating, connecting, and using evidence in decision-making at all levels of the system.

And third, we will work with the National government of Colombia as well as philanthropic and industry funders to create a Co-Funding Mechanism. This mechanism will fund Communities of Change and the Evidence Lab and ultimately drive deep and enduring evidence-informed impact across the country.

The Education Evidence Lab (EdLab): Led by Universidad de los Andes, this new collaboration will bring Colombia’s premier research institutions into a partnership that will harness the power of research and data. The lab will seek to ensure that education strategies are backed by sound evidence, leading to stronger evidence-based decision-making throughout the educational system and greater, more sustainable learning outcomes for children.

Communities of Change: We are committed to supporting Communities of Change in various regions of Colombia. These communities will work to implement evidence-based policies and practices that raise the quality of children’s education. By addressing the unique needs of each territory, we can create a more inclusive and equitable education system.

Co-Funding Mechanism: Achieving lasting change requires substantial resources. We are therefore actively engaging with the national government of Colombia, philanthropic organizations, and industry funders to create a Co-Funding Mechanism. This mechanism will provide the necessary financial support to the Communities of Change and the National Evidence Lab.

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