Evaluation of Education Programmes and Policies

Dear Colleagues,

The last decade has been an exciting era for education research. It has seen a burgeoning of rigorous evaluations of education programmes and policies, not only in the UK, US and Europe, but also in Latin America, Africa, Asia and elsewhere. New and more robust approaches have been developed, tried and applied to the evaluation of education programmes.

More organisations and countries are recognising the importance of evidence-based practices in education. The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) in the UK and the Institute of Education Sciences in the US are just two examples of organisations that are committed to evaluating education programmes and policies to ensure that programmes and policies used in schools are based on the best evidence.

International assessments, such as PISA, TIMSS, PIRLS and TALIS, provide valuable data on the performance of students and education systems across different countries and regions, which can be used to inform education policies and practices.  Access to administrative datasets has also made it possible to evaluate the effectiveness of education policies on a large scale. The use of robust research methods and the availability of data have greatly enhanced our ability to evaluate education policies and programmes and make evidence-based decisions. This Special Issue aims to curate a collection of such evaluations.

Why the need to evaluate education programmes and policies?

Whilst many education programmes have been evaluated, there is also an abundance of education classroom practices that have not been rigorously evaluated. For example, there is still no clear evidence whether class sizes, streaming or tracking, academic selection, academisation of schools (England) and grade retention are beneficial, and for which phase of education and in what context. Further, the proliferation of education technology and online teaching resources, especially during the lockdown in the recent COVID-19 pandemic, has seen many of these resources and this technology used by schools. Most of these have not been tested. Some may, indeed, be detrimental to learning.

Evaluating education policies and practices is crucial to ensure that our children receive the best possible education. It is important to recognise that different contexts and different groups of children may require different approaches to education. What works well in one school or community may not work as well in another, and what works for one group of students may not work for another. Evaluating education programmes and policies allows us to understand these nuances and tailor our approach to education to best meet the needs of all students.

In this Special Issue, we would like to invite papers that evaluate education policies, practices and programmes for all phases of education, from early years to higher education. We are particularly interested in rigorous research in the evaluation of education programmes and policies. These could be systematic reviews, meta-analyses and experimental studies, such as randomised control trials and quasi-experimental studies, e.g., regression discontinuity and difference-in-difference approaches. We also welcome articles that focus on methodological issues, conceptual pieces on policy evaluations and replication works.

If you would like to contribute to this Special Issue, please submit an abstract of between 250 and 300 words.

Prof. Dr. Beng Huat See
Guest Editor

Loraine Hitt
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the Special Issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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