From evidence to impact: advancing equity, learning and accountability in Ethiopia's education policy through research partnerships.

Abstract

Background Research-policy partnerships are widely used to support evidence-informed reform, yet how evidence actually shapes policy and practice in low-income education systems remains poorly understood. This article asks how, and under what relational and institutional conditions, evidence generated by Research on Improving Systems of Education (RISE) Ethiopia contributed to national policy on equity, learning and accountability. Methods/data The study uses qualitative data, drawing on 22 semi-structured interviews with senior federal policy makers, regional officials, development partners and local non-governmental organisations (NGOs), complemented by documentary analysis of RISE outputs, education sector plans and policy materials. Approach Interview transcripts and documents were analysed using a thematic analysis framework, combining deductive coding organised around bounded mutuality, sustained interactivity and policy adaptability with inductive coding of emergent evidence-to-policy contribution pathways. Results RISE evidence contributed to the bottom-up design of the four-year Education Transformation Programme and its implementation vehicle, Education Transformation Operation for Learning (2025-2029), supported a reframing of national discourse from schooling expansion towards foundational learning, helped develop an equity narrative grounded in observed learning gains among disadvantaged students within a school year, and informed COVID-19 school-reopening deliberations. Contributions were clearest where trusted relationships, timely decision windows and actionable evidence converged; where any of these elements was weak, policy impact was correspondingly less direct. Conclusion The article shows that policy contribution was enabled by relational conditions that allowed evidence to be heard, trusted and acted upon. It offers a transferable framework for embedding research in policy systems and underscores the need for sustained institutional investment in the capacity for evidence use.