Transforming Global Education through Evidence: An Evaluation System for the BHP Foundation's Education Equity Global Signature Program. Research Report. RR-A239-1

In 2017, the BHP Foundation launched its Education Equity Global Signature Program, which is meant to enhance opportunities for disadvantaged young people to access a quality education and, through this, strengthen the civil and economic components of society. It does so through investing in efforts that increase the use of evidence to improve education. In support of the BHP Foundation's goals, RAND Corporation researchers are conducting a five-year evaluation of the program. The aims of the evaluation are to contribute to the development and evolution of the program's strategy by articulating a theory of change, assess the impacts of the program across funded partnerships and inform learning and continuous improvement for both the BHP Foundation and its partners, share lessons learned with the global education community about the results of a social investment initiative that aims to translate evidence into practice, and develop a model for evaluating a foundation's portfolio of investments. The evaluation will result in three public reports. This initial report describes a framework to evaluate the BHP Foundation's program, explains researchers' methods for assessing progress over the five-year period, and presents some preliminary results after the first year of evaluation.