1. Evidence-based policy research Committee for Educational Sciences Swedish Research Council, 10 October 2007 Tom Schuller CERI/OECD

2. Economics Directorate Statistics Directorate Development Co-operation Directorate Trade and Agriculture Directorate For Financial Fiscal and Enterprise Affairs Directorate for Science Technology and Industry Directorate for Education Directorate for Employment Labour and Social Affairs Governance Directorate Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) COMMITTEES SECRETARIAT COUNCI L Environment Directorate

3. IMHE/PEB Education and Training Policy Division Indicators and Analysis Division Centre for Educational Research and Innovation Directorate for Education

4. Evidence-related international policy research: types  Statistical rankings/tables  Surveys  Benchmarking  Analysing trends  Identifying innovations/ good practice  Evaluating policy impact Issues: - description or explanation? - function and usage?

5. Difference between trust in official statistics and trust in national governments BE – Belgium; BG – Bulgaria; CZ - Czech Republic; DK – Denmark; DE – Germany; EE – Estonia; EL – Greece; ES - Spain; FR – France; IE – Ireland; IT – Italy; CY - Cyprus; LT – Lithuania; LV – Latvia; LU – Luxembourg; HU – Hungary; MT – Malta; NL - The Netherlands; AT – Austria; PL – Poland; PT – Portugal; RO – Romania; SI – Slovenia; SK – Slovakia; FI – Finland; SE – Sweden; UK - The United Kingdom; HR – Croatia; TR – Turkey.

6. Trust in official statistics

7. Drivers Education as key factor in innovation/growth: contested contribution of education research Accountability pressures – but to whom? Quality and effectiveness: appropriate measures Public access to information, and (dis)satisfaction levels

8. CERI Educational R&D reviews General conclusions : Low levels of investment Low capacity Weak research/policy/practice links Recommendations: Balancing the research portfolio Accumulation: building a knowledge base Dissemination Capacity-building

10. Section 3.2: HRST The share of researchers in TEIs has fallen in many countries Higher education researchers as % of national total OECD Thematic Review of Tertiary Education 4th Workshop of Participating Countries, Paris, 27-28 September 2007

11. Policy-makersResearchers Practitioners School boards/MediaHead teachers parents Knowledge user-producer networks Questions: What are the strengths/weaknesses of each of these links? How best to encourage stronger cooperation?

12. Methodologies and capacities Methodological debate: Scientific ideal(s) vs. best available Warfare, mutual invisibility or complementarity Capacity building: – deepening vs. broadening – producers and consumers Questions: What forms of capacity are most in need of strengthening? How and by whom should this be done?

13. Can we agree? “there is no single best method for or type of evidence-based policy research; the key is for the research and policy communities a)to deploy appropriate combinations of approaches and methodologies which match the characteristics of the policy issue under consideration, and b) to have the capacity to select, implement and evaluate these combinations.” ”Militantly wishy-washy”?

14. An outline of the full cycle of education research

15. Developing expertise in experimental design: if death is not the answer…. Lessons from the historical legitimation of medical research? All healthy? Ranking: is ‘gold standard’ a helpful term? Sequence: are RCTs ‘the final step’?

16. Brokerage agencies Issues/functions: Dissemination: publications, internet, presentations Promoting interactivity Legitimating rigour/quality Developing cooperation/trust Questions: Rationales: what are the different functions and of brokerage agencies? Effectiveness: what are their achievements to date?

17. Future challenges Defining an ‘evaluation culture’ Selecting key capacities Building social capital into research strategies Complementarity/accumulation: promoting mixed methods to strengthen the knowledge base

18. Evidence In Education: Linking Research and Policy The Evidence Agenda Secretariat paper What counts and what should count as evidence Tom Cook and Stephen Gorard Mediating the Research/Policy Interface: the role of brokerage agencies - What Works Clearinghouse (US), Bob Boruch and Rebecca Herman - EPPI Centre (UK), David Gough - Iterative Best Evidence Synthesis Programme (NZ), A. Alton-Lee - Canadian Council on Learning (CAN), Charles Ungerleider - Denmark’s Knowledge Clearinghouse (DEN), René Bugge Bertramsen - Knowledge Chamber (Netherlands), Hans Stegeman and Rien Rouw - Social Care Institute of Excellence (UK), Bill Kilgallon EbPR in practice: examples from the field - Satya Brink (CAN) - Hannele Niemi (FIN) - Andrew Pollard (UK) - David Hogan (Singapore) Politicians’ perspectives

19. Thank you Tom.Schuller@oecd.org www.oecd.org/edu/ceri/update Sign up for CERI’s free electronic bulletin: