Blog

On 14 September 2026, Building Evidence in Education (BE²) brought members and Special Interest Group participants together in Oxford and online to explore how collaboration among education funders and research partners can better support the evidence countries need. The discussion focused on strengthening country ownership, making better use of existing evidence, investing in sustainable research systems and relationships, and identifying how BE² can help connect existing initiatives around country priorities.

At the June 2026 meeting of BE²’s Education Workforce Special Interest Group, Professor Yuli Tamir explored the growing global teacher shortage and argued that it reflects not only recruitment challenges but also deeper changes in how younger generations view work. The discussion highlighted how evolving career expectations, advances in AI, and increasing social pressures are reshaping the teaching profession. Participants considered how education systems might redesign teaching roles to offer greater autonomy, purpose, and flexibility, while reinforcing teachers’ essential role as mentors, guides, and trusted facilitators of learning in an increasingly complex world.

Building Evidence in Education (BE²) and the Zenex Foundation convened funders, researchers, and practitioners to explore how philanthropy can make smarter, evidence-informed investment choices in contexts of constrained resources. Discussions highlighted the importance of cost-effectiveness, implementation, system-level change, and responsible AI in supporting evidence use and decision-making.

The working paper Responsible AI in Education: Evidence Synthesis and Use in Low- and Middle-Income Countriesshifts attention away from AI as a tool for efficiency and toward a deeper question: how evidence is interpreted, trusted, and used in policy contexts. In many education systems, the challenge is not a lack of data but weak relational infrastructure – the spaces and capacities that allow policymakers, researchers, and practitioners to make sense of evidence together.

Written by: Sreehari Ravindranath (Director, Research and Impact, Dream a Dream, India)

On Wednesday, 4 February 2026, Building Evidence in Education (BE²) hosted a public webinar to launch our new working paper, Artificial Intelligence in Education Evidence Synthesis and Use in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. The session brought together researchers, evidence intermediaries, funders, and practitioners to focus on a practical question: How can AI responsibly speed up evidence synthesis and evidence uptake, without weakening trust, quality, equity, or local evidence ecosystems?

Building Evidence in Education (BE²) has released a new working paper, Artificial Intelligence in Education Evidence Synthesis and Use in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. The paper responds to a fast-moving reality: AI is already reshaping how education evidence is found, synthesised, translated, and used. The core question is not whether AI will be used in the work of producing and applying evidence, but how to use it responsibly in ways that improve quality and access without reinforcing bias, inequities, or dependency.

As 2026 begins, the newly rebranded Education Workforce: Supporting Impactful Classrooms Special Interest Group (SIG), hosted by Building Evidence in Education (BE²), marks a renewed, more holistic focus on the education workforce. Shaped by member dialogue in 2025, the SIG moves beyond teacher professional development to consider the full teacher lifecycle, school leadership, and the middle tier—aiming to strengthen collaboration and evidence-informed action to support impactful classrooms at scale.

This blog is part of a blog series: “How can we improve the use of evidence for policy, planning and implementation in education”? The Blog Series is hosted by Building Evidence in Education (BE²) and Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel (GEEAP) Secretariat.

The blog highlights how Embedded Evidence Labs equip governments to systematically use data and evidence—aligning policy priorities, strengthening capacity, and institutionalizing learning cycles to improve education policymaking and implementation at scale.

This blog is part of a blog series: “How can we improve the use of evidence for policy, planning and implementation in education”? The Blog Series is hosted by Building Evidence in Education (BE²) and Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel (GEEAP) Secretariat.

The blog highlights how education research is becoming more user-driven, locally led, and tech-enabled to improve evidence use in policymaking and practice in low- and middle-income countries.

This blog is part of a blog series: “How can we improve the use of evidence for policy, planning and implementation in education”? The Blog Series is hosted by Building Evidence in Education (BE²) and Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel (GEEAP) Secretariat.

The blog calls for recognizing knowledge brokers as key to turning education evidence into action, highlighting their unique mix of data, policy, and communication skills, and the need to train and support them.