Education Systems Analysis
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This research strand focuses on applying frameworks related to systems thinking, particularly in conflict-affected contexts.
With support from a philanthropy—Dubai Cares—I was previously the Principal Investigator for a three-year, $913,000 research project entitled, "Crisis Management for Disaster Risk Reduction in Education Systems: Learning from the Elaboration and Integration of Technology-Focused Strategies in El Salvador, Honduras, and Colombia." |
This project was one of only two selected by Dubai Cares in 2020 from among a pool of 173 that were submitted for its “E-Cubed” Research Envelope, through which it supports evidence for education in emergencies. The project drew on literature and frameworks from the fields of educational administration/leadership, education policy, education technology, and education in conflict-affected contexts in order to understand the ways that the three countries of interest (El Salvador, Honduras, Colombia) formulated and then implemented their educational responses to the COVID-19 pandemic—and with what effects. This project was explicitly guided by systems thinking while also bringing a vertical perspective to the analysis in that it focuses on the international, national, and local levels (including the school- and community-level experiences with pandemic responses in education). The project team included members from each of the case countries together with experts from the University of Wisconsin (Madison), the University of Texas (Austin), and the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
This research project represented a new area of emphasis while also building on previous studies. As can be seen below, I have a long-standing interest—both— in systems thinking frameworks and in education in conflict-affected contexts.
I have also applied a systems perspective in the context of the evaluation of education policy in the State of Hawaii. The evaluation focused on understanding the operation of the action-oriented data-based decision-making strategy of the Hawaii Department of Education. This strategy has sought to promote the use of data in decision-making at and across each level of the HIDOE--that is, at the state, complex area, and school levels. The evaluation traced the implementation of the strategy, with an emphasis on how data (particularly related to student achievement) was used by key stakeholders in order to identify promising practices related to data use at the level of complex areas and schools. This evaluation was carried out within the context of the HIDOE partnership with the Hawaiʻi Education Research Network.
This research project represented a new area of emphasis while also building on previous studies. As can be seen below, I have a long-standing interest—both— in systems thinking frameworks and in education in conflict-affected contexts.
I have also applied a systems perspective in the context of the evaluation of education policy in the State of Hawaii. The evaluation focused on understanding the operation of the action-oriented data-based decision-making strategy of the Hawaii Department of Education. This strategy has sought to promote the use of data in decision-making at and across each level of the HIDOE--that is, at the state, complex area, and school levels. The evaluation traced the implementation of the strategy, with an emphasis on how data (particularly related to student achievement) was used by key stakeholders in order to identify promising practices related to data use at the level of complex areas and schools. This evaluation was carried out within the context of the HIDOE partnership with the Hawaiʻi Education Research Network.
System analysis |
Edwards Jr., D.B. & Setiani, D. (2024). ESD for 2030 monitoring report. UNESCO.
Ng, S. & Edwards Jr., D.B. (2024). ESSER Research Brief: A flashlight, not a hammer: Shifting perceptions of data use under Action-Oriented Data-based Decision Making. Hawaii Education Research Network, for the Hawaii Department of Education. Parra, J. & Edwards Jr., D. B. (2023). “Systems, complexity and realist evaluation: Reflections from a large-scale education policy evaluation in Colombia,” In M. Faul & L. Savage (Eds.), Systems thinking in international education and development. (pp. 183-203). Cheltenham, UK: E. Elgar. (open access). Edwards Jr., D.B. (2019). “Shifting the perspective on community-based management of education: From systems theory to social capital and community empowerment,” International Journal of Educational Development, 64, 17-26. Edwards Jr., D.B., Victoria, J.A., & Martin, P. (2015). “The geometry of policy implementation: Lessons from the political economy of three education reforms in El Salvador during 1990-2005,” International Journal of Educational Development, 44, 28-41. Edwards Jr., D. B., Zimmerman, T., Chhinh, S., Williams, J., & Kitamura, Y. (2014). “Student retention and transition from primary to lower secondary school in Cambodia: Narrative insights into complex systems,” Prospects, 44 (3), 367-380. |
Education policy and conflict-affected contexts |
Edwards Jr., D.B. & Higa, S. (2018). “The global education policy of school-based management in conflict-affected contexts: Current reach, prominent rationales, future research,” Policy Futures in Education, 16 (3), 306-320.
Edwards Jr., D. B., (2017). “The global education policy of school-based management in conflict-affected contexts: A cautionary tale,” Comparative Education: Bulletin of the Japan Comparative Education Society, 55 (2), 72-86. Edwards Jr., D. B. (2015). “Conflict-affected contexts and emergence of global education policy: The case of El Salvador’s EDUCO program”. In Z. Gross & L. Davies (Eds.), The contested role of education in conflict and fragility. (pp. 85-103). Rotterdam: Sense. |