Unlocking Data: Scaling up uses and users of data in education systems
This project addresses subtheme three of the call to increase uses and users of education data by scaling up the ‘Unlocking Data’ approach using a Design-Based Implementation Research (DBIR) methodology.
The Unlocking Data approach to increasing access to and use of education data was co-developed by a consortium of African and global organizations through a series of multi-stakeholder workshops. These workshops included policymakers, researchers, NGOs and national statistics agencies from East, West, Southern and Central Africa and were piloted in Kenya, Malawi, and Sierra Leone. It consists of four critical components:
- Mapping and situational analysis at the country level
- Use of data to address priority research questions and evidence gaps.
- Cultivating communities of learning at country and regional levels
- Sharing and synthesizing experiences, country expertise, lessons resources, toolkits, and platforms as global public goods
Evidence to support scaling up (breadth)and out (depth) will be generated in Kenya, Malawi, and Cameroon and at the regional level over three cycles of DBIR. Each country is starting from a different level and culture of data sharing and use; thus, we adapt the four critical components to its context. Specifically, the scaling out will include sub-national administration in each county. In addition, deepening the approach in the various cycles of DBIR by including more stakeholders, more data and policy-relevant research questions.
The Southern-led project team has a partner in each of the three countries with a history of close collaboration with their respective Ministries of Education as well as two global/continental organizations with a record of convening multiple stakeholders across Africa and developing global public goods. All organizations have a strong record in producing policy-relevant research that is then mobilized within education systems.
Project Objectives and Research Questions
The purpose of the project is to generate evidence on the most effective ways to strengthen education data systems and use by expanding uses and users of data, as well as using platforms and tools to enhance data use. The project will do this by scaling up and out the Unlocking Data approach to increase the use of data on foundational learning by, and between, policymakers and researchers. The scaling up and out will involve stakeholders at the sub-national level, more stakeholders, and more policy-relevant questions.
More specifically, the project has four objectives, to:
- Build knowledge on the most effective ways to scaling the Unlocking Data approach
- Strengthen the capacity of policymakers and researchers to access and use data on foundational learning for policy formulation and implementation
- Facilitate knowledge mobilization through national and pan-African communities of learning.
- Build knowledge on how approaches to data collection, analysis, use, and sharing on foundational learning can be made equitable and inclusive.
We will achieve this by providing tailor-made tools and support through communities of learning within and between countries so that they can access and use existing education data. The project is designed to ensure that the evidence generated from education data feeds directly into policy priorities and that analysis is undertaken by those who are able to sustainably mobilize the evidence for change.