Researchers in the field of education have a last chance until 30 August 2015 to make their expressions of interest in undertaking a multimillion-pound research project for the RISE Programme. RISE – Research on Improving Systems of Education is a new large scale, multi-country research programme funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID). The RISE Programme is managed and implemented through a collaboration between the Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford Policy Management and the Center for Global Development.
The Expression of Interest (EoI) is the first formal stage in the process of research procurement. (See below for details and links to further information.)
Research into improving systems of education is needed to combat a crisis of learning. More children than ever go to school, many of them are not learning anything. Therefore the objective of the RISE programme is to answer the question: “What works to improve education systems to deliver better learning for all?” supported by an investment of £27 million over 8 years from DFID.
Existing research shows that just more time in school, or more spending on inputs, does not lead to an acceleration of learning sufficient to tackle the learning crisis. In addition, research that focuses on specific inputs is unlikely to address the questions that will lead to accelerated learning. To change the performance of an education requires research at the level of the system: an approach that is sometimes characterised as ‘inputs plus’.
Research under RISE has to be rigorous and high quality to succeed in addressing the question “what works…”. We expect that RISE research will help deliver a global paradigm shift in thinking about education, as well as having an impact on policy reform in DFID priority countries.
The research under RISE will be delivered by Country Research Teams, with a focus on:
- Learning from successful and unsuccessful education reforms globally
- Assessing and understanding the performance of education systems in developing countries
- Evaluating the impact of large scale reforms on learning and system performance in developing countries
The research will have a particular focus on achieving learning for all, focusing on those excluded from education, in particular girls. It will take place in five countries, to ensure an intensive research effort to understand change at scale.
About research procurement for RISE
The RISE Programme is now accepting Expressions of Interest (EoI) through submission of an online form.
EoIs will be assessed under a range of criteria to determine the quality of the proposal and extent to which it meets the RISE research agenda. Based on the EoIs, the RISE Directorate will select a pool of bidders to submit responses to the request for proposals (RfPs). Only those shortlisted after an EoI submission will be invited by 21st September 2015 to submit a response to the RfP.
