1) While educational policymaking is more evidence-informed than in the past, the quantity and quality of educational research is still limited compared to fields like health. 2) Educational research does not satisfy all the knowledge needs of education systems and cannot, as policy and practice require value judgments informed but not determined by research. 3) Increasing educational research supply and policymaker demand for evidence-informed policies, but knowledge does not always easily reach policy; research is one among many influences on policy.

1. PANEL
“EDUCATIONAL SCIENCE
AND POLICY-MAKING”
Dirk Van Damme
OECD/EDU/IMEP

2. • Today, educational policy making is more evidence-
informed than, say, ten years ago
• Quantity and quality of educational research still too
limited to turn education into a knowledge-driven
sector, comparable with for example health
• Don’t expect an automatic translation of research
evidence in policy and practice
– Research does not satisfy the entire knowledge needs
of educational systems and cannot do so
– Policy and practice require normative choices, which
can be informed by research evidence but not more
Summary statements
2

3. • Supply of high-quality educational research is
growing
• Demand among policy-makers, education
systems and stakeholders for policies that are
evidence-informed is also increasing
• Many ministries improve their knowledge-
capacity with specific departments or institutions
• Role for knowledge brokerage institutions
Today, educational policy making is more
evidence-informed than, say, ten years ago
3

4. • Yet, knowledge doesn’t seem to find its way
easily into policy development
– Evidence-informed policy is developing at a
slower pace than expected or needed
– Many researchers feel frustrated about the
knowledge demands of policy-makers and the
use of research evidence
– Research evidence is one of the several,
internally competing rationalities impacting on
policy development, not the only one.
Today, educational policy making is more
evidence-informed than, say, ten years ago
4

5. Quantity and quality of educational research stills too
limited to turn education in a knowledge-driven sector,
comparable with for example health
1.2
7.6
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Education Health
Share of total public
research expenditures
5

6. • Awareness needed of concerns and quality issues
observed by policy-makers, including criticisms such as:
– Rarely willing to step out of their comfort zone and to take
responsibility
– Using different concepts of ‘useful’ or ‘useable’ knowledge
than policy makers
– Issues about research quality in education
– Ideology in educational research
– Research leads only to very partial answers, but
researchers unwilling to offer generalizations
– Often more interested in their own interests (“more
research needed”) than with the public interest
Quantity and quality of educational research still too
limited to turn education in a knowledge-driven sector,
comparable with for example health
6

7. • Education is a knowledge-driven sector,
Research does not and cannot satisfy the entire
knowledge needs of educational systems
7

8. • Education is a knowledge-driven sector, but has
many more knowledge resources and systems
than research evidence:
– Professional knowledge “teachers know best”
– Teachers’ experiential knowledge “we’ve always
done it this way”
– ‘common sense’ and anecdotal knowledge
“everyone is an expert in education”
– Traditions, norms, values
– Ideologies, opinions
– Etc.
Research does not and cannot satisfy the entire
knowledge needs of educational systems
8

9. • ‘Evidence-informed’ is more accurate than
‘evidence-based’
• A narrow concept of research knowledge falls
short in feeding reflexive governance
• Research community should understand and
value the many normative and value-intensive
choices that policy-makers are faced with
• Policy-makers should better understand the
logic, potential and limits of educational research
9
Policy and practice require normative choices, which
can be informed by research evidence but not more

10. • Improving research communication, capacity-
building in policy community
• Closing the gap with more intermediate, ‘Mode
2’, applied forms of research and knowledge
mobilisation
• Acknowledging the reality of conflicting
rationalities, understanding the different
rationalities
10
What to do?

11. Thank you !
dirk.vandamme@oecd.org
www.oecd.org/edu/ceri
twitter @VanDammeEDU
11