Giving Compass' Take:

• Data on educational programs is lacking, and this gap will make it more challenging to create equity in the education system because we do not have evidence that learning systems are harmful or helpful to particular populations. 

• Who is holding organizations accountable for reporting, evaluation, and monitoring? Are there other barriers organizations need to address that hinders data collection and assessment?

• Read about how data can make a difference for students. 

As we work to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to education, it is the responsibility of every funding, implementing and research organization internationally to be asking questions about our own contributions to building equity in education.

While a great amount of data gets produced in the course of education projects, only a fraction provides the detail that is needed to assess intervention impact on different equity dimensions.

At the technical and implementation level, organizations need to capture and use the necessary evidence to understand and respond to inequity in education provision and outcomes.

To do that, we need to be deliberate in building monitoring, evaluation and learning systems that generate the data and analysis that help answer the question: are we improving education equity through our programming and policy?

Disaggregated data are the first step to understanding who is left behind in obtaining a quality education for successful and productive adulthood. My recent paper, Mainstreaming Equity in Education, outlines key issues and challenges that need to be addressed around equity in education, and provides a way forward for mainstreaming equity-oriented programming and data analysis.

Read the source article on data for equity in education by Carina Omoeva at Degrees