Evidence-Based Policies in Education: Initiatives and Challenges in Europe

Oct 15, 2026

This article examines the state of progress of evidence-based educational policies in Europe and highlights organizations responsible for generating and disseminating evidence. It analyzes official documents by the European Commission and other bodies, linking global research on evidence-based education to the key obstacles for building an evidence culture. The study finds increased EU prioritization since 2006, while persistent challenges remain in promoting evidence-informed policymaking.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages21

Reading Time53 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Purpose and scope

Design/Approach/Methods

Findings

Introduction

Origins of evidence-based education

Definitions: evidence-informed vs evidence-based

Policy changes in Europe and beyond

Evidence-Based Policies in Education: Initiatives and Challenges in Europe Marta Pellegrini University of Florence Giuliano Vivanet University of Cagliari ECNU Review of Education 2021, Vol. 4(1) 25–45 ª The Author(s) 2020 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[DOI: 10.1177/2096531120924670](DOI: 10.1177/2096531120924670)[ ](DOI: 10.1177/2096531120924670)[journals.sagepub.com/home/roe](journals.sagepub.com/home/roe) Abstract Purpose: This article examines the state of progress of evidence-based educational policies in Europe and identifies organizations for the generation and dissemination of evidence. Further, it discusses some of the most relevant challenges facing the development of evidence-informed education policies in Europe. Design/Approach/Methods: This article analyzes official documents by the European Commission (EC) and other organizations. Literature in the field of evidence-based education worldwide is examined to identify the primary challenges and issues related to the development of a culture of evidence in Europe’s education sector. Findings: The EC has recently prioritized evidence-informed policy and practice in education, increasingly encouraging member states to utilize evidence in the policy decision-making process. According to official documents, this process began in 2006 and has since enjoyed remarkable progress through several initiatives intended to spread a culture of evidence in education. However, several challenges and issues remain regarding the promotion of evidence-informed policymaking. Corresponding author: Marta Pellegrini, Department of Education, Languages, Intercultures, Literatures and Psychology, University of Florence, Via Laura 48, Florence 50121, Italy. [Email: marta.pellegrini@unifi.it](Email: marta.pellegrini@unifi.it) Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License ([https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages ([https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage](https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage)). Originality/Value: Having prioritized evidence-informed policy and practice, the EC strongly encourages the adoption of evidence in the policymaking process. This article provides a point of reference regarding the initiatives already undertaken and the challenges facing evidence-based educational policies and policymaking in Europe. Keywords Challenges, educational system, European policy, evidence-based policy Date received: 21 November 2019; accepted: 15 April 2020 Introduction Researchers first began advancing the need for educational programs and practices to be based on evidence approximately 20 years ago (Davies, 1999; Hargreaves, 1996) . A growing number of high-quality studies evaluating replicable programs in real education settings have since been produced, providing evidence to inform the decisions of educators and policymakers (Slavin, 2002) . Together with an exponential growth of interest in evidence-based education, policies have been changed to support the use of evidence in decision-making. According to Davies (2004), evidence-informed policy is an approach that “helps people make well informed decisions about policies, programmes and projects by putting the best available evidence at the heart of policy development and implementation”(p. 3) . Conversely, opinionbased policy bases decision-making on ideological or individual perspectives. Others prefer using the term “evidence-based” rather than “evidence-informed” when referring to the use of evidence in decision-making

FAQs

What progress and challenges does the article report about European evidence-informed policymaking?

The European Commission has increasingly prioritized evidence-informed policy and practice, encouraging member states to use evidence in decision-making. The article notes remarkable progress through multiple initiatives since around 2006, but several challenges still remain in promoting this approach.

Oct 15, 2026

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