Delivery Transformation
Empowering leaders to deliver results
Governments worldwide are striving to provide inclusive, equitable, quality education for all students, but many lack an understanding of how they can truly deliver better education outcomes. Through DeliverEd, the Commission and its partners are gathering evidence and creating a community of engagement to build understanding of how to most effectively implement policies that address the learning crisis.
A tough challenge for many governments
Following the launch of The Learning Generation report, Commissioners met with more than 20 heads of government across Africa and Asia. Leaders in these meetings expressed strong interest in better understanding how to achieve education system reforms and identified successful implementation as a critical challenge to achieving learning goals. They also expressed interest in the existence of evidence for possible solutions, including strategies often called delivery approaches.
Delivery approaches – which include delivery units and delivery labs – have been used in over 40 national and subnational governments with the goal of improving government coordination and implementation of services. But outside of high-income countries, very few peer-reviewed studies exist examining the impact of different delivery approaches, and there is no shared framework across the global education community.
What DeliverEd will achieve
In partnership with the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government, the University of Toronto, and with support from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office , the Commission will explore delivery approaches through the DeliverEd Initiative. This initiative will define what delivery approaches entail and what evidence exists on their efficacy in improving education outcomes.
The research agenda
Although delivery units and delivery labs are widely recognized, there are a wider set of delivery approaches that governments can adopt to achieve better outcomes. DeliverEd aims to broaden the scope of delivery approaches for consideration and create a better understanding of what practices leaders can use to improve their policy delivery and reform efforts.
Research studies are currently being undertaken across four countries. In Ghana, Pakistan, Tanzania, and Jordan, DeliverEd will examine how delivery approaches were used to translate national education priorities into desire outcomes and what mechanisms improved implementation.
Beyond country-level research, DeliverEd will also use its framework to analyze the wider landscape of delivery approaches and capture the experiences of policymakers and practitioners utilizing them.
By building the evidence base on these approaches, DeliverEd will strengthen governments’ abilities to implement reforms that improve learning outcomes for all students.
Engaging the education community
To support dissemination and application of the research, DeliverEd is convening a high-level advisory group of policymakers, delivery approach implementers, civil society groups, and multilateral agencies. This group is guiding the research process and will produce a summary publication on implementing learning reforms based on the research generated by DeliverEd, research by other experts, and stakeholder consultations.
Beyond this group, the Commission will also engage a wider range of stakeholders in case study countries and around the world to build an understanding of implementation challenges and create a platform for learning and knowledge sharing.
Mapping delivery approaches around the world
Delivery approaches are diverse in their structure, goals, where they are situated, and the sectors they address.
Check out our interactive map and database that provides details on more than 150 delivery approaches used in 80 countries across the globe:
- Walking the Talk for the Right to Education – A field note on Gilgit Baltistan and its Delivery Lab!
- DeliverEd policy brief: Delivery Approaches in Crisis or Conflict Situations
- DeliverEd policy brief: Design Choices for Delivery Approaches in Education
- DeliverEd’s 3rd African Policymaker Forum on Delivery Approaches and COVID-19 Response
Deliberate Disrupters Can Delivery Approaches Deliver Better Education Outcomes? ›
The Role of Delivery Approaches in Education Systems Reform: Evidence from a Multi-Country Study ›
The Accountability Paradox: Delivery Units in Jordan’s Education Sector ›
The Accountability Paradox: Delivery Units in Jordan’s Education Sector (Arabic) ›
Command and Can’t Control: An Evaluation of Centralized Accountability in the Public Sector ›
A Case Study of the Sierra Leone Delivery Unit ›
Management and Performance in Mid-Level Bureaucracies: Evidence from Ghanaian Education Districts ›
DeliverEd findings in Pakistan › Read the summary of key findings from the DeliverEd research on delivery approaches in Pakistan produced in partnership with Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government
DeliverEd policy brief #3 ›
Learn about delivery approaches in crisis or conflict situations. Spanish version
DeliverEd policy brief #2 ›
Learn about critical design choices for delivery approaches in education. Spanish version
Download the global mapping paper › DeliverEd undertook a systematic global mapping of delivery approaches worldwide. Read our analysis to understand the diversity in delivery approach design.
Download the conceptual framework ›
Learn how DeliverEd defines delivery approaches and the design choices available to policymakers who wish to use them.
Download the policy brief ›
Read about the challenge of delivering for learning.
Download the overview ›
Two-pager on the DeliverEd Initiative.
Background & Research
The Quality of Education Systems and Education Outcomes
Background paper that contributed to this initiative.
Information for Accountability: Transparency and Citizen Engagement for Improved Service Delivery in Education Systems
Background paper that contributed to this initiative.
