Education data systems and data use: a research synthesis

Executive Summary

Between 2020 and 2024, the Global Partnership for Education Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (GPE KIX), a joint endeavour with Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), supported five research projects to test, assess and develop strategies to scale data systems and data use in education to improve learning outcomes, equity and evidence-based decision-making. The projects involved 11 partners and 44 countries in total. They were:

• Data Must Speak About Positive Deviance Approaches to Learning (Data Must Speak)
• Using Data for Improving Education Equity and Inclusion (MICS-EAGLE)
• Common-Scale Assessment of Early and Foundational Math Learning Across the Global South (Common-Scale Assessment)
• Adapting Assessment into Policy and Learning: Adolescent 21st Century Skills (ADAPT)
• Data Use Innovations for Education Management Information Systems in The Gambia, Uganda and Togo (Data Use Innovations for EMIS)

These projects assessed innovations designed to improve data generation, strengthen the use of data and leverage data for better decision-making and evidence-based policymaking, while enhancing gender equality, equity and inclusion (GEI).

This report synthesizes the findings from the five projects and identifies both generalizable lessons and more particular points of interest, situating the specific contributions of grounded research in broader bodies of knowledge. It informs regional and global education debates by highlighting lessons learned and recommendations that can help future efforts to scale data-related innovations.

Key themes and findings on data systems and data use to improve equitable quality education

1. Dataset integration and use of multi-source data to inform policy and planning: One of the central themes of the report is the integration and use of multiple source data, including learning assessment data, to inform policy and decision-making. Internationally, the education sector has increasingly moved toward evidence-based decision-making — that is, using data to help shape policies and guide interventions. However, while much data is readily available through national assessments and other sources, many countries are not using this information effectively.

Understanding how to integrate datasets and create institutional cultures and tools to facilitate the use of data in the policy and planning processes was a central focus of the GPE KIX research. The projects produced and analyzed data for decision-making and/or supported the integration of data from multiple sources, including administrative data, learning assessments and other education system data, as well as data from other sectors and household surveys. The research explored challenges and opportunities for continuing to do this on an ongoing basis.

For example, the Common-Scale Assessment and ADAPT projects pioneered the use of citizen-led assessments (CLAs) to provide simple, actionable data on children’s foundational learning. These projects empowered communities and governments to make informed decisions based on real-time learning data that will help address gaps in foundational literacy and numeracy. However, translating assessment data into national policies that directly affect classroom practices has its challenges.

2. Capacity-strengthening to analyze, interpret and use data for decision-making: Another central theme of this report is the capacity within ministries of Education to analyze and use data effectively. Many ministries struggle because of a lack of trained personnel, underfunded data departments and competing priorities. As a result, even when valuable data is available, it is often either not used to its full potential or not used at all.

All five projects discussed in this report offered multiple types of capacity-strengthening in a variety of areas, including the design, implementation and application of the evidence. They addressed capacities to adapt approaches to national contexts and priorities, supported the development of technical capacities among national stakeholders, and involved decision-makers in co-creating aspects of the research and investigating opportunities to integrate the work into existing national systems. The project teams collaborated with a variety of experts, brought national stakeholders into peer support networks and facilitated intersectoral collaboration within countries.

The Data Must Speak project, for example, offers an innovative approach to capacity-strengthening by identifying high-performing schools in low-resource settings and analyzing the factors that contribute to their success. This approach helps ministries and education stakeholders understand the importance of data-driven policies and supports internal capacity-strengthening for data analysis.

3. Use of data to promote gender equality, equity and inclusion: Data systems play a critical role in promoting GEI in education, particularly for marginalized groups such as girls, children with disabilities and children in conflict zones. This report highlights how the lack of detailed, disaggregated data often renders the most vulnerable children invisible in policy discussions. It underscores the importance of working with external data sources — for example, ministries of Health and Social Welfare — to gain a fuller understanding of the socio-economic factors affecting educational outcomes.

Projects such as MICS-EAGLE provide new insights into the intersection of gender, disability and education by integrating data from household surveys. The MICS-EAGLE project allowed governments to track critical SDG 4 indicators and has provided tools to help education stakeholders better understand and address inequalities in education.

4. Sustainability and scaling of data systems and data use: Scaling up data systems effectively requires adaptable, modular solutions that can be maintained with local expertise. A major challenge in GPE partner countries has been the sustainability of education management information systems (EMIS) that entail costly, vendor-dependent solutions that only people with specialized technical skills can maintain. The five GPE KIX projects discussed in this report used a variety of strategies to scale data systems innovations. For example, the Data Use Innovations for EMIS project provided an open-source, customizable platform that allows countries to build scalable data systems. This model has been successfully deployed in The Gambia, Togo and Uganda and is an example of how decentralized, real-time data systems can be adapted to local contexts and integrated into national education strategies. The success of these systems underscores the importance of building and strengthening in-house technical capacity and ensuring that data systems are adaptable to changing educational needs.

The GPE KIX projects found the following strategies useful and impactful for scaling and sustaining data innovations:

• Foster stakeholder alignment and engagement.
• Tailor innovations to countries’ specific educational requirements and ensure adaptability of data systems and assessment tools for replication in different countries.
• Communicate the credibility of the research practice, its data and the proven practices.
• Facilitate local and national stakeholder capacity-strengthening to implement data systems and analyze, interpret and use data.
• Mobilize knowledge about the data innovations.
• Establish partnerships with universities and other reputable organizations to expand the collective knowledge and offer master’s and doctoral training programs.