Improving the use of evidence for education policy, planning and implementation:strategic review

The Importance of Evidence-Based Policy and Practice to Promote Sustainable Development Goal 4

Policy-makers use solid and reliable data and evidence to ensure that countries progress towards their education targets and understand policies and programmes that could improve their educational outcomes. However, the use of evidence is still limited in many countries due to two broken feedback loops: between researchers and policy-makers, and between global and local levels.

This strategic review analyses the current practice and challenges in evidence use. It also provides recommendations for the Sustainable Development Goal 4 High-Level Steering Committee to promote evidence-based policy formulation and implementation as a critical lever for countries’ advancement towards their education targets.

The review draws on a global survey, individual and group interviews, and a comparator case study with the public health sector. It reveals that there is a surplus of research and evidence sources in education—the survey respondents identified 654 organizations and initiatives.

54% of evidence-for-policy sources are national ones, which are unconnected or loosely connected to regional and global initiatives.

The review calls for reforming existing research and evidence utilization practices by promoting the use of locally relevant evidence, fostering partnerships, and building “regional bridges” between global and local levels. It also recommends using advocacy and resource mobilization to support these activities.