What Works Hub for Global Education

At a time when global education systems face unprecedented pressure, the Education World Forum (EWF) 2026 provided a critical platform to strengthen partnerships and advance evidence-informed reform.

For the third consecutive year, the What Works Hub for Global Education joined the Education World Forum in London, bringing together education ministers and leaders from around the world. The Hub and its strategic partners played a key role in convening and shaping strategic engagements across the Forum, including discussions with ministerial and technical delegations and an education evidence labs (EdLabs) session.

📍🌟 Read more about Hub’s engagements at EWF 2026 in our new blog by Rachel Hinton, Manzer Imam and Becky Hatch:

Blavatnik School of Government Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Ministry of Education - Malawi World Bank Group Gates Foundation Jacobs Foundation Innovations for Poverty Action

What Works Hub for Global Education at the Education World Forum 2026: advancing evidence-informed education reform - What Works Hub for Global Education This blog summarises What Works Hub for Global Education's engagements at the Education World Forum (EWF) 2026, including discussions with government delegations, an education evidence labs (Ed Labs) session and other activities throughout the Forum.

Teachers with disabilities remains a 'missing link' in achieving inclusive education for all.

Emma Cameron, Katie Godwin and Nidhi Singal discuss the implications of their invisibility for implementation science research in the latest gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI) blog.

Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge

🔗 Read the blog:

What implementation science misses without teachers with disabilities - What Works Hub for Global Education Teachers with disabilities remains a 'missing link' in achieving inclusive education for all. This blog discusses the implications of their invisibility for implementation science research.

📢 We are excited to announce the inaugural cohort of the What Works Hub for Global Education Implementation Research Fellows!

Implementation Research Fellows are emerging leaders in conducting implementation research while embedded in or in close partnership with implementing organisations. Designed for mid-senior level professionals who bridge applied research and real-world implementation, the fellowship aims to cultivate a robust ecosystem of implementer-researchers.

Our inaugural cohort includes:
🔷 Samuel Kembou, Global Program Director, Jacobs Foundation
🔷 Karthik Menon, Lead – Co-Head, Measurement, Monitoring and Evaluation, Pratham Education Foundation
🔷 Jose Enrique ‘Iking' Corpus, Director IV of the Monitoring and Evaluation Office, Philippines Department of Education
🔷 Akashi Kaul, Director, Research, Monitoring, Evaluation, Assessment and Learning [RMEAL], Central Square Foundation
🔷 Tom Dreesen, Chief, Education Research (OiC), UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti
🔷 Claire Cullen, Head of Research and Innovation, Youth Impact
🔷 Nompumelelo Nyathi-Mohohlwane, Director for Reading, Department of Basic Education South Africa

We look forward to learning from this outstanding group and supporting their work to strengthen the use of implementation research in global education. Stay tuned for more updates from our Implementation Research Fellows!

🔗 https://www.wwhge.org/who-we-are/our-people/?_people_type=implementation-research-fellows

Blavatnik School of Government

The 2026 What Works Hub for Global Education Conference programme is now live! 🎉

Explore the full schedule, speaker lineup and session details on our conference page! 🔗 https://www.wwhge.org/events/2026-what-works-hub-for-global-education-conference/

This year's two-day programme in Oxford brings together researchers, practitioners and government leaders to advance what we know about effectively implementing foundational learning at scale. Highlights include:

1️⃣ Day 1 – Tuesday, 15 September
📍 A keynote panel, 'Real talk with education leaders on implementing foundational learning at scale', featuring Grace Muzila, Flora Mutezigaju, and Rukmini Banerji, in conversation with Jonathan Stern
📍 Sessions on measuring and accounting for implementation, evaluating implementation through government systems, and implementing with and through the middle tier
📍 An evening reception with remarks from the Global Partnership for Education and the Department of Basic Education South Africa

2️⃣ Day 2 – Wednesday, 16 September
📍 A keynote panel, 'From policy to action: driving evidence-based policymaking and implementation', featuring Hon. Minister Conrad Omalikeh Sackey, Dr. Obiageli 'Oby' Ezekwesili, Benjamin Piper, Christian Bodewig, and Ranil Dissanayake
📍 Sessions on evaluation at scale, ensuring effectiveness for all, better measurement and use of student learning data, and government use of evidence and data
📍 Speakers represent governments, multilaterals, philanthropy, civil society, and leading research institutions from across the globe

While in-person attendance is now at capacity, online registration is still open. Join us virtually from wherever you are and be part of the conversation shaping what works in global education. 🔗 https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=m612A5Ozek6-cgK_A3KbvUaEQahyWLBInfPHZsFi2kFUOFhXNDhFWTRYTjcyS0tHQko1QjgzR0tBUi4u&route=shorturl

We look forward to welcoming you in Oxford and online, 15-16 September 2026!

| | | | | | Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford

What is the best way of implementing targeted instruction?

Our latest blog explores the key components of successful implementation of scaling targeted instruction, drawing on the latest evidence and experience from governments leading the way.

🔗 Check out our latest blog on how governments can use their existing assessment systems to best target instruction, written by our Academic Director Noam Angrist:

How to best target remedial instruction? Precise proficiencies - What Works Hub for Global Education What is the best way of implementing targeted instruction in practice? This piece draws on the latest evidence and experience to inform this question and operationalise several core components.

📣 We're excited to participate and to learn from our government partners at FLEX 2026 this week in Lilongwe, Malawi. If you'll be at FLEX, come connect with us in the exhibition space, or see us in the sessions below.

Malawi is ready for FLEX2026! Are you?

Here's why this year's FLEX event is crucial and at the centre of all FL ambitions to improve learning poverty at scale!

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-malawi-ready-lead-what-flex2026-could-mean-every-child-continent-4kljf/?trackingId=Eq%2BUhN44XOX6dtXMuI2olA%3D%3D

What Works Hub for Global Education | UNICEF Africa | Wuod Othim | Gates Foundation | Ministry of Education- Zambia | Ministère de l'Education Nationale et de l'Alphabétisation Guinée | UK in Malawi | The Kenya National Examinations Council | Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture - Namibia | Ministère de l'Éducation Nationale et de l'Enseignement Technique | Hellen Inyega | Inyang Umoren | Aloïse Prosper Faye | Ministry of Education, Rwanda | Ministère de l'Education nationale du Sénégal | VVOB - education for development | Yidan Prize |

📖 Reading programmes are working. The task now is to make them work for all children.

The strongest large-scale reading programmes have produced impressive effects for many children. But even in the most successful programmes, many learners remain unable to read by programme end. How can programmes ensure all children benefit from them?

A new blog post in our series on equitable learning at scale explores some answers. To learn more, read the full blog post by Marcia Davidson and Fredi Merhatsidk: https://buff.ly/5f8JufO

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📣 Introducing Equitable Learning at Scale — a new blog series from the What Works Hub for Global Education.

In partnership with the Gates Foundation and the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, we're launching this new series to ask what it really takes to make foundational learning work for every child.

Over the coming months, this series will explore key levers for equity in learning including:
· Language of instruction
· Pedagogical practices
· Scaling and systems, and
· Contextual barriers.

The series will feature research and evidence on who is falling behind and why, new evidence from programmes working to address learning equity, and recommendations for how we can work together to meet the learning needs of each and every learner. We’re thrilled to highlight expert voices from Nigeria, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, and India in this series.

Follow along as we ask: what will it take to ensure every child develops the foundational skills they need to thrive?

📖 Start with our foreword from Gates Foundation, FCDO, and What Works Hub for Global Education leadership on why equity must shape learning system design from the outset: https://www.wwhge.org/resources/foreword-achieving-learning-at-scale-with-equity/

📈 Then dive into our first blog by Amy Jo Dowd and Margaret Wawira, who lay out four reasons foundational learning efforts must invest in equity, from accelerating national learning gains to strengthening system efficiency: https://www.wwhge.org/resources/what-learning-reforms-miss-when-they-apply-a-one-size-fits-all-design/

We’d love for you to engage with this series via the comments below!

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