Freeing-up education analysis: Using government data

Opening up government data to help improve educational outcomes for young people—making the case for the development of an Education Impact Data Lab (EIDL) to measure impact, based on the precedent of the Justice Data Lab.

Tackling low social mobility and educational disadvantage are important government priorities and a goal of most charities working in the education system. However many of the programmes delivered in and around schools lack persuasive evidence about whether they are effective.

This report makes the case for the development of an Education Impact Data Lab (EIDL) to help organisations access data already collected by schools and the Department for Education so they can measure the impact of interventions and understand what works.

The report is informed by qualitative interviews with charities in the education sector, a survey of individuals (mostly from charities and social enterprises working in schools), discussions with stakeholders such as the Fischer Family Trust and the Education Endowment Foundation and our work developing the Justice Data Lab.

It outlines why evaluating educational outcomes is so challenging, how the proposed Education Impact Data Lab (EIDL) would work, the potential benefits, potential demand for the service and how it could be funded.

Through publishing this report we want providers of services for young people to appreciate the potential of the EIDL approach, and we want them to join us in lobbying the government to set it up.

 

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