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The 26-Country Initiative Led Collaboratively by Faculty, Alumni, and Doctoral Students

In many low- and lower-middle-income countries, educational studies are limited to teacher education and education administration. Other degree or certificate programs in education, such as education policy studies, are rare. Nevertheless, the call for data-based planning and policy decisions also reverberates in these countries, partly because international financial institutions (Global Partnership for Education, OECD, UNESCO, UNICEF, World Bank) demand it for accountability purposes, and partly because civil society organizations in these countries ask for less politicized, more transparent, participatory, data-based decision-making.

The Global Partnership for Education launched the in 2020 to strengthen the use of research evidence in education policy, planning, and practice. The in Ottawa serves as the grant agent for all KIX projects, and (Network for International Policies and Cooperation in Education and Training) at the Geneva Graduate Institute is one of the four regional hubs implementing the project. Professor Gita Steiner-Khamsi, William H. Kilpatrick Professor in the Department of International and Transcultural Studies at Teachers College and UNESCO Chair of Comparative Education Policy at the Geneva Graduate Institute, bridges the two institutions.

Professor Gita Steiner-Khamsi directs this project that has enlisted 38 institutions and 101 policy analysts from 26 countries to produce data-driven comparative policy briefs, engage in peer exchange, and advocate for greater use of data in policy decisions. Government advisors from the following countries were selected to participate in this project: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Egypt, Ghana, Guyana, Indonesia, Kenya, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao PDR, Liberia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Senegal, Sri Lanka, St. Lucia, Tajikistan, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Zambia. Three-quarters of these institutions are based in ministries of education (typically departments of planning and policy analysis), and the rest are policy advisors based in universities or in civil society organizations in their respective countries.

In concert with NORRAG’s commitment to advancing knowledge equity by surfacing, amplifying, and disseminating knowledge from the Global South, Teachers College is implementing a project to professionalize, institutionalize, and network policy studies across the GPE partner countries. The project’s particular focus on institutional rather than individual capacity-strengthening is new. It acknowledges that policy advisory systems exist in low- and lower-middle-income countries but need recognition, strengthening, and networking to become more influential nationally and globally.

Meet the Instructors

What makes this project special is the close collaboration among faculty members, alumni, and doctoral students. The three course instructors are all graduates of the International and Comparative Education program: Professors Fenot Aklog (Ed.D., 2005; now at Bank Street College of Education), Tomás Esper (Ph.D., 2025; now at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), and Mia Chin (Ph.D., 2026; former Senior Education Advisor at USAID). The two courses and networking opportunities cover two thematic priorities: “Advancing Gender Equity in School Leader Selection and Appointment,” taught in a hybrid format by Professor Aklog, and “The Use of Data to Improve Quality and Equity in Education,” taught by Professors Esper and Chin.

The Doctoral Students Team

This project could not be implemented without the close involvement of doctoral students in the International and Comparative Education program. In addition to the Project Coordinator, Kseniia Tishkus (PhD student, 2nd year), Youngkwang Jeon (PhD student, 2nd year), and Gabriela Chacon Ugarte (PhD student, 3rd year) actively supported the course instructors and participants in producing publishable policy briefs for wide dissemination.

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As a teaching assistant, I supported the faculty with session planning, attendance tracking, and general admin tasks. Beyond these, I actively contributed my own insights and professional experience to class discussions. In one session, I even presented my previous work with the Ministry of Education in Peru as a practical case study. Additionally, I directly supervised the policy draft process for five teams, leading one-on-one consultation sessions and providing continuous, tailored feedback on their projects.

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Supporting Learning Cycle 1: Advancing Gender Equity in School Leader Selection and Appointment has been a genuine privilege. Professionally, the work brought into focus how persistently gender inequity shapes school leadership across education systems, not only at the point of selection, but also through development and retention as well. What reassured me was the company I was privileged to work with: intellectual researchers and leaders from NGOs and government-affiliated institutions who bring field-grounded ideas and genuine conviction to the problem. Personally, that combination of rigor and aspiration was heartening, and it has stayed with me. I’m grateful for this opportunity to have contributed, and I’ll carry this experience forward.

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As a project coordinator, it has been especially delightful to help oversee a global initiative comprising more than a hundred individuals from various research, NGO, and government-affiliated institutions in 26 countries. The level of cultural, institutional, and professional diversity has been among the highest I have worked with. Being supervised by Professor Steiner-Khamsi, the Project Director, and working alongside three talented ICEP alumni as course instructors has been particularly invaluable, as I have learned a great deal from all of them.

The two classes have met online since March 2026. The culminating event was a workshop in Addis Ababa from June 29 to July 2, 2026, which was jointly organized by Teachers College, NORRAG, and the . Each institution nominated a team member to attend the workshop in Addis. The picture shows the workshop instructors and participants, as well as Ethiopian government officials and policy advisors who attended the second day.

— International and Comparative Education Program