Projects should contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• New analysis and evaluation of education policy measures.
• Support use of SSH research evidence by education and training policy makers and practitioners.
• Enhanced culture of research and evaluation in education policymaking and among practitioners. Better understanding of the types of expertise and institutional settings that are more effective at informing education policies and practices with evidence.

The European Education Area^[1] aims to improve access to quality education for all. The strategic framework for the European Education Area set the EU-level target: “The share of low-achieving 15-year-olds in reading, mathematics and science should be less than 15%, by 2030” (Council of the European Union 2021). The latest data (2022) suggest that the European Union average is much higher^[2] than 15% and that pupils from low socio-economic status face a considerably higher risk of low achievement than their peers from high socio-economic background. Student performance varies widely, with differences at the student, school and education system levels. Improving educational quality and closing gaps in learning outcomes are important societal issues, and a major challenge for education systems across the European Union. There is a research gap in the empirical evaluation of education policies and practices and the understanding of the circumstances under which they are most beneficial. There is also a gap in the translation of scientific evidence into practices in educational institutions.

The action must enhance interdisciplinary collaborations among researchers in education and engage diverse educational research disciplines from social sciences, the arts and humanities. The action must include the perspectives of policy makers and practitioners who look at similar topics from different angles. The action should analyse policies in at least one level of education, with a particular focus on transitions from the previous level of education and to the next. Proposals may choose to analyse and evaluate general measures for all learners or targeted and individualised support in inclusive settings. Involvement of authorities responsible for the education and training policies is essential and should be ensured. The action should enhance collaborations to improve the access of researchers to administrative data and other types of data, including surveys of children and young people, to develop new research approaches and perspectives. Therefore, close cooperation with authorities and/or other institutions owning the data is essential and should be ensured.

The action should analyse and evaluate policy measures in their context, using a mixed methods approach including qualitative and quantitative methods. Proposals can include an experimental design, using e.g. small, randomized control trials and quasi-experimental methods (such as difference-in-difference or discontinuity designs) to test the effectiveness of specific interventions in different contexts. Proposals can also include participatory research approaches. Complementarities with the projects funded under the topics HORIZON-CL2-2023-TRANSFORMATIONS-01-05, HORIZON-CL2-2023-TRANSFORMATIONS-01-06; HORIZON-CL2-2024-TRANSFORMATIONS-01-10 and Topic HORIZON-CL5-2023-D1-01-10 are encouraged.

Where applicable, proposals should leverage the data and services available through European Research Infrastructures federated under the European Open Science Cloud, as well as data from relevant Data Spaces. Particular efforts should be made to ensure that the data produced in the context of this topic is FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable).

[1] https://education.ec.europa.eu/

[2] Data from the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) are used to measure progress towards the EU-level target and the latest data (2022) put the EU average at 26.2% for reading, 29.5% for mathematics and 24.2% for science.