It was delivered by the EEF in partnership with the BHP Foundation’s global Education Equity programme.
The project was independently evaluated by the National Centre for Social Research.
Read the final evaluation report of the building a global evidence ecosystem for teaching project.
Project partners included:
The project aimed to strengthen the global education evidence ecosystem by working with EEN partners across three core areas:
- Evidence use: The ‘evidence use’ element of the project involved ensuring that existing data and research were adapted and contextualised for different settings. This included translating and tailoring the EEF’s flagship Teaching and Learning Toolkit to make it relevant across diverse contexts.
- Evidence mobilisation: Evidence is more useful when people know about it, and know how to use it. Mobilisation meant working with teachers, school leaders, and policymakers to translate evidence into real-world impact.
- Evidence generation: Education is a rapidly evolving field, meaning there’s a continued demand for new evidence. The generation element of the project was designed to fill locally identified evidence gaps.
Originally funded for five years from 2018, the project was extended by three years to account for the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
During this time, the EEF Teaching and Learning Toolkit was translated and adapted into five languages (Arabic, Catalan, French, Portuguese, and Spanish), each version enriched with local examples.
- The evaluation conducted by the National Centre for Social Research showed that, while the vision of a strong global evidence ecosystem is within reach, several challenges remain. For example:
- Political and bureaucratic complexity can limit evidence brokers’ ability to conduct trials or access key stakeholders.
- Levels of evaluation awareness can vary (teachers may resist “being evaluated,” and policymakers may question the relevance of global evidence for their local context).
To address these challenges, it is essential to continue:
- building connections
- demonstrating value
- strengthening advocacy for sustainable, locally led research funding.
These efforts will not only reinforce local ecosystems but also sustain the global momentum for evidence-informed education.
As global education funding tightens, local evidence brokers play a vital role in guiding policymakers and practitioners toward what works best in their context. They help ensure resources deliver maximum value and support the most disadvantaged students.