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Approaches to assist policy-makers' use of research evidence in education in Europe

Kenny, Caroline; Gough, David; Tripney, Janice; (2014) Approaches to assist policy-makers' use of research evidence in education in Europe. In: Vega, Leoncio, (ed.) Empires, Post-Coloniality and Interculturality. New Challenges for Comparative Education. Sense Publishers Green open access

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Abstract

Although it is now widely recognised that education policy and practice should be informed by evidence, little is known about how evidence is used in different European countries. Most efforts to increase evidence use focus on ‘pushing’ evidence out to users through dissemination and communication. However, it is also important to create an appetite for such evidence amongst potential users. This involves considering users’ needs and the different organisational and political contexts that shape their uptake of evidence. Research has shown that focusing on policy-makers’ needs is often a successful way to increase the use of evidence in decision-making. Many approaches can be used to do this including ensuring that users have the knowledge, skills and willingness to be able to use evidence and, building relationships and maintaining interaction between researchers and potential knowledge users. Based on a survey conducted in 32 countries across Europe as part of the ‘Evidence Informed Policy in Education in Europe’ project, this paper will analyse the range of approaches used to support evidence use in educational policy-making. Although based on a non-exhaustive survey, the paper will draw out implications for international cooperation, showing any overlaps between the efforts of different agencies or countries and, setting out areas of potential learning across Europe. Although little evidence is available on the effectiveness of different strategies to increase evidence use in education in Europe, the paper will draw on research conducted in other sectors such as health to suggest lessons that can be learned for assisting users in using evidence.

Type: Book chapter
Title: Approaches to assist policy-makers' use of research evidence in education in Europe
Event: XXV Conference of the Comparative Education Society in Europe
Location: Salamanca
Dates: 2012-06-18 - 2012-06-21
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Language: English
UCL classification: UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10014420
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