Tackling the Data Disconnect: How Effective Data-Use Can Strengthen Education Systems Globally

Digital innovation and data-driven strategies are transforming global education, with data now playing a central role in improving learning and guiding policy. Data can catalyze meaningful impact at every level: classroom data can guide support for learners falling behind; school-level data can inform pedagogical improvements and resource allocation; and system-wide data can shape evidence-based policymaking.

While promising digital transformations are underway, such as new and improved education management information systems (EMIS), its full potential is still emerging. Turning data into meaningful action is no easy feat. It requires clear processes to collect the right data for the right stakeholders, strong coordination and systems to manage it, and the capacity to translate insights into meaningful impact. 

Supported by the Global Partnership for Education’s (GPE) Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX), a joint endeavor with the International Development Research Centre, Canada, our three initiatives aim to address critical challenges in data use — all towards the goal of improving life and learning outcomes for learners. This blog outlines disconnects between data and impact in education, and highlights approaches working to tackle them across Africa and beyond.

Fragmented Collection and Siloed Analysis: While large volumes of data are being collected — on enrollment, examinations, attendance, and school inspections — disconnected datasets don’t provide actionable insights, and potential for system-wide impact is limited when data is examined in siloes. Local data may never be aggregated at the national level, and national data may not be fed back to local actors. Data sets from outside education, such as climate data or demographic trends, may also be missing from analysis, despite their potential to influence stakeholder planning and support resilience. 

Limited Relevance and Capacity Building: Data systems and digital tools are often developed top-down without input from ministries, local officials, or teachers. Platforms may be overly complex, hard to use, and under-resourced. Selected datasets may also prioritize upward reporting for purposes of compliance, minimizing practical use by local stakeholders for decision making. At the same time, limited capacity, data fluency, and support, as well as unclear directives, mean stakeholders may feel unable or unempowered to action data, reinforcing a culture of data for compliance rather than active problem-solving.

Broken Feedback Loops: Without critical feedback loops, the ‘glue’ linking data directly to action or problem solving is weakened, preventing critical information from informing strategic decision-making. School-level aggregate data may capture district trends but hide the realities of the most marginalized learners, while hyper-localized data can uncover critical insights that too often fail to influence policy.

Innovative efforts to tackle these disconnects are underway, demonstrating what’s possible when education data systems are systematically designed, context-driven, and aligned with real-world decision-making. 

Data Must Speak: Harnessing existing education data to identify school-driven solutions that boost student outcomes across countries

UNICEF’s Data Must Speak (DMS) research taps into existing education data and local solutions to support education ministries across countries to answer urgent questions about improving learning, equity, and inclusion at scale. 

The research involves merging and analyzing years of education data — from EMIS, exams, and external sources — to identify school characteristics linked to better outcomes. Working closely with Ministry of Education technical experts, DMS provides capacity-building sessions on combining data across sources and timepoints, analyzing it to answer policy questions defined by Ministries, and mapping data system needs for partner support. This collaborative approach not only uncovers key insights but strengthens the skills of local and national education stakeholders to manage and use data effectively for policymaking.

Using the merged dataset, the research initiative identifies schools that outperform peers despite similar contexts and resources, and collects new quantitative and qualitative data from school leaders, teachers, students, parents, and local leaders to uncover what drives success. DMS identifies behaviors and practices across key areas: school leadership, pedagogy, school climate, community engagement, and local administration. The project also focuses on how successful school practices can be scaled through existing policies and local ownership, ensuring solutions are sustainably integrated into education policies.

The DMS research has used existing data to uncover locally rooted solutions across 13 education systems. By shifting data ownership to local actors and linking key datasets, this approach addresses fragmentation and feedback gaps, making data both timely and actionable.

DHIS2 for Education: Strengthening data management, analysis, and capacity in Uganda 

Transforming education data systems goes beyond technology, it requires building the capacity of people, institutions, and systems. The DHIS2 for Education (DHIS2-Ed) project, led by the HISP network and the University of Oslo, is a global action research initiative enabling real-time, learner-level data collection and dashboards that monitor enrollment, attendance, and performance, 

Prior systems centralized decision-making, limiting feedback and data utilization at the sub-national level. The DHIS2-DEMIS pilot empowered education districts to capture, validate, and analyze their own data, providing timely, reliable information for planning, budgeting, supervision, and resource allocation.The pilot project enabled data-driven decision-making and supported cross-sector integration. In turn, school-based health monitoring during COVID-19 and Ebola outbreaks was possible by linking education and health data for rapid, data-informed responses. Additionally, examination data were integrated into the system, enabling the first-time comparative analysis of both input and performance indicators within a single database.

The project promotes co-creation of EMIS tools, peer learning, and local capacity building. By creating hubs for testing, skill development, and best practices, the pilot is enhancing data quality, equity, and decision-making — offering a scalable model for data-driven education management.

Educate!: Scaling data-driven policymaking and continuous learning in Rwanda

Educate!, an East African youth employment organization, partnered with Rwanda’s Ministry of Education and key education partners to develop and scale a Comprehensive Assessment Management Information System (CA-MIS), the country’s first tech-enabled national assessment system. CA-MIS centralizes assessment data across education levels, enabling policymakers and educators to access, analyze, and apply student performance insight toward planning, resource allocation, and improved teaching practices at scale.

Through an iterative, co-design process alongside policymakers, teachers, and district officials, CA-MIS was built in alignment with national priorities and real-world needs — addressing a critical feedback loop.

Together, Educate! and GPE-KIX are co-designing digital dashboards alongside national and district actors to improve data accessibility and usability, empowering policymakers to spot trends, make decisions, and strengthen learning outcomes at scale. 

Transforming education through data is not just technical — but deeply behavioral, institutional, and systemic. The opportunities for more effective data-use to improve education and drive better learning are vast. Whether identifying solutions through existing data, building ownership and cross-sector integration, or co-designing systems to enhance decision making, each approach outlined demonstrates that relevant, usable, and locally supported data can drive impact globally.