This edition of the OTT newsletter is brought to you by Marcela Morales, who leads our evidence use in education practice. Dear OTT Community, This month has been full of exciting developments in our work on evidence use, particularly in education. Through our collaboration with the Jacobs Foundation, we’ve had the opportunity to bring insights from the evidence-use field into education, connect with partners, and think about how evidence can be most effectively used to inform education policy and practice. Our team has been busy sharing insights in key spaces. At the What Works Hub Meeting in Oxford, Clara Richards reflected on the incredible passion and knowledge dedicated to solving global challenges. However, she reminded us that we need to tackle the "thorny issues"—complexity, politics, and power dynamics—that slow down progress. If we want to scale impact, these can’t be ignored. For more on thorny issues in evidence use, check out the latest reflections from my colleagues Enrique Mendizabal and Vanesa Weyrauch on why confronting these difficult issues is essential to unlocking transformative impact. I had the pleasure of speaking at the Annual ICSEI Conference, where I explored the critical role of policy labs in advancing evidence use. A key takeaway: navigating the politics of evidence is essential to ensuring it leads to meaningful change. Check out OTT's recently published interview with Dr. Vijay Pingale, CEO CEGIS and article on Institute for Government's UK Ministers Database to see this in action. A special shoutout to the ICSEI organisers for bringing together such an engaging group of experts and practitioners, including my fellow panellists, Mukdharut Bangpan (UCL), Jonathan Kay (Education Endowment Foundation), and Nóra Révai (OECD) — all doing fantastic work to push the field forward. Earlier this month, I teamed up with Samuel Kembou from the Jacobs Foundation on the Let's Talk Education Africa podcast to discuss policy labs and evidence use. I highly recommend their podcast for great content and insights from practitioners doing impactful work in Africa. |




