SHARE

While progress has been made in recent years to conduct research that strengthens education systems in low-middle income countries (LMIC), there continue to be significant barriers to the utilization of education research to inform policy and practice. SHARE brings together education policy-makers, practitioners, researchers, and knowledge disseminators  to ensure education research meets the needs of and is accessible to key stakeholders in education systems. SHARE seeks to develop a replicable and adaptable model to advance efforts to strengthen education systems in low-middle income countries.

This program, led by UND’s Pulte Institute for Global Development, is a true collaboration of partners across Notre Dame including the GC-DWC, the Institute for Educational Initiatives, and the Keough School of Global Affairs.

Our Approach

The program is built upon a deep appreciation of local capacity and ownership as the cornerstone of effective development practice. The Notre Dame team will mentor an impressive coalition of partners in higher education across Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia to implement the program. The first year will convene critical country-level and regional stakeholders to identify pathways to address learning agenda questions around education in crises and conflict, foundational learning skills, youth and workforce development, and higher education. Additionally, the program will offer a series of capacity-strengthening actions — including training sessions, workshops, mentorship, and technical assistance — to ensure that individuals and institutions engaged in the research generation, translation, and utilization ecology are equipped to work together to advance education interests.

Goals, Progress, and Impact

Notre Dame's overall goal for SHARE is to advance USAID learning priorities in international education to improve education system outcomes. This will be accomplished through the following development objectives (DOs):

1. Targeted research and learning to advance USAID education sector learning priorities is conducted;

2. Capacity of education ecosystems to generate, translate, and use high quality, actionable data and evidence to inform programmatic and investment decisions in the course of addressing USAID learning priorities at the local, regional, and/or global levels is strengthened; and

3. Specialized technical assistance to design and implement education research that supports country priorities is provided.

SHARE Research Studies

Through June 2023, SHARE will be engaging in research around five high-priority areas for the global education community.  These studies will combine SHARE’s competencies in qualitative and quantitative research approaches while looking more systemically at how to foster a greater culture of evidence-based decision-making.  Learn more about these SHARE research activities by clicking each link below:

• Contextually Relevant Emotional and Social Wellbeing Tools (CREST): This study will conduct research on children’s socio-emotional learning skills and teacher wellbeing that is grounded in the perspectives of teachers, children, and caregivers.
• Language of Instruction Transition in Education Systems (LITES): The LITES study seeks to fill knowledge gaps in language acquisition by generating evidence surrounding language of instruction transitions and their relationship to learners’ first and second-language literacy skills. 
• Learning to Improve Book Resource Operational Systems (LIBROS): This study will explore the underlying conditions that improve book supply chains and  identify policy and practice pathways to strengthen the primary education level book supply chains in low- and middle-income countries.
• Higher Education Institutions Generating Holistic and Transformative Solutions (HEIGHTS)- Financial Sustainability: This study aims to produce evidence-informed strategies that can facilitate financial sustainability in higher education systems, and will analyze the ways in which governments and higher education institutions mobilize public and private resources.
• HEIGHTS- Innovation Ecosystems: This study will explore how higher education institutions can positively influence an innovation ecosystem through a variety of roles while considering limiting factors like resources, relationships, and social norms

Press Release: Notre Dame receives $40 million federal award to improve global education outcomes

Funded by USAID