Community of Practice on Counterfactual Impact Evaluation of Education Policies

The Community of Practice on Counterfactual Impact Evaluation of Education Policies (CoP‑EP) fosters the collaboration between Community of Practice members to share good practices on causal impact evaluation of education policies by communicating experiences, knowledge and promoting joint activities. 

Given the lack of impact evaluation in the field of education, the CoP‑EP thereby contributes to the provision of education evaluation evidence.

If you would like to participate, please send an email to JRC-CCME-LearningLab@ec.europa.eu and subscribe to our newsletter 

7th CoP Meeting

Date: 19 November 2026

The meeting will take place in Brussels the day before the European Education and Skills Summit. 

Purpose

This seventh meeting of our Community of Practice will focus on Inclusion and Equity in education. 

The session will explore how rigorous impact evaluation methods can be used to assess the effectiveness of inclusive policies and reforms aiming at enhancing equity in education. 

Participants will learn from case studies produced by leading experts in the field, exchange and reflect on challenges in designing and executing policy evaluations, and on how to translate those results into effective policymaking.

Key Programme Highlights

• Introductory remarks
• Keynote speech -  Nienke Ruijs (Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market, Maastricht University)
• Results of the evaluation of the 'Open Classes' social inclusion programme in Lithuania
• Challenges and lessons learned from the evaluation - Inga Nekrošienė (Lithuanian Centre for Inclusion in Education)
• Presentation by volunteers from the Community
• Concluding remarks and next steps
• Counselling activity: Meet Your Expert (voluntary attendance)

Download the full agenda

Please write to JRC-CCME-LearningLab@ec.europa.eu to register your interest in attending the CoP meeting.

6th CoP Meeting – “Why Investing in Early Childhood Development Matters”

Date & Format: 11 June 2026 – Online (09:00 12:00 CEST) 

Purpose: Discuss the impact of early childhood education and care (ECEC) programmes and how to evaluate them with pilots and randomised controlled trials (RCTs).

Key Programme Highlights

• Welcome and introductory remarks – European Commission.
• Evidence presentation on learning outcomes of early child development – Josep Amer Mestre (JRC).
• Keynote speech & Q&A – Prof. Chiara D. Pronzato (University of Turin).
• Member state experiences:
  • Bulgarian early childhood support evaluation (Silviya Nikolova).
  • Italian preschool evaluation system (Cristina Stringher & Michela Freddano).
• Group discussion on turning CIE results into better ECEC policies (chaired by JRC).
• Concluding remarks – European Commission.
   

5th CoP Meeting – “Vocational Education & Training (VET) Evaluation” 

Date & Location: 12 November 2025 – Brussels, DG EAC (room 00/013) 

Purpose: Explore rigorous counterfactual impact evaluation (CIE) methods for VET policies and link findings to the Union of Skills agenda.

Key Programme Highlights

• Introductory remarks – Rossella Cravetto (DG EAC). 
• Learning Lab presentation: overview of VET CIEs (methods, data, results). 
• Keynote speech – Federica Origo (University of Bergamo) on lessons from VET evaluations. 
• Member state case studies:
  • Bulgarian and Slovakian CIE studies on VET programmes (Silviya Nikolova & Dávid Martinák).
  • Italian VET CIE study (Cristina Stringher). 
• Group discussion on using CIE results to design more effective VET policies. 
• Concluding remarks – Rossella Cravetto (DG EAC). 
• Optional counselling activity: one to one methodological support offered by the JRC. 
   

4th CoP Meeting – “Planning Evaluations through Pilot Projects & RCTs” 

Date & Format: 24 June 2025 – Online (14:00 17:00 CET) 

Purpose: Share practical guidance on designing pilot projects and randomised controlled trials for education policy evaluations.

Key Programme Highlights 

• Welcome – Silvia Granato (JRC). 
• Policy update: “Union of Skills” briefing – Rossella Cravetto (DG EAC). 
• Keynote speech & Q&A – Katherina Thomas (OECD). 
• Learning Lab for Evaluation (LL4E) experiences: 
  • Lithuania – inclusive education models for pupils with special needs (Inga Nekrošienė). 
  • Portugal – impact of optional national exams on high school performance and higher education enrolment (Joana Duarte & Pedro Luis Silva). 
• Follow up on LL4E call and information on the next call – Silvia Granato (JRC). 
• Breakout sessions on evaluation planning and data collection (chaired by JRC). 
• Concluding remarks – Josep Amer Mestre (JRC). 
   

3rd CoP Meeting – “Data for Impact Evaluation” 

Date & Location: 16 October 2024 – Brussels, Albert Borschette Congress Centre, Etterbeek (Room 4D) 

Purpose: Examine the availability and suitability of administrative and survey based education data for counterfactual impact evaluations across Member States.

Key Programme Highlights 

• Introductory remarks – Rossella Cravetto (DG EAC). 
• Presentation on education data (administrative and survey) – Silvia Granato (JRC). 
• Keynote speech – Thierry Rocher (Director for Evaluation, DEPP, France). 
• Member state case study – Pedro Luis Silva (University of Porto). 
• Session on the public value of learning using administrative data – Josep Amer Mestre (JRC). 
• Presentation on large scale assessment surveys and their use for CIE – Alec Kennedy (International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement). 
• Additional case study – Lynn Lagodny (SCRIPT Luxembourg).
• Group/plenary discussion on challenges and opportunities of administrative and survey data.
• Concluding remarks – Rossella Cravetto (DG EAC). 
   

2nd CoP Meeting – “Learning Lab” 

Date & Location: 7–8 February 2024 – Brussels (Herman Teirlinck building & DG Education, Youth, Sport & Culture) 

Purpose: Continue collaborative work on counterfactual impact evaluation of education policies.

Key Programme Highlights 

• Opening remarks on current activities – DG EAC Director General and JRC’s Josep Amer Mestre.
•  Keynote speech – Prof. Hessel Oosterbeek (Unive rsity of Amsterdam). 
• Member state case study presentations, including Latvia. 
• Presentations on recent uses of CIE in education – Manuel Serrano Alarcon (JRC) and Silvia Granato (JRC). 
• Parallel sessions where participants chose topics (planning, methods, data). 
• Synthesis of parallel session outcomes and concluding remarks. 
   

1st CoP Meeting – “Learning Lab” 

Date & Location: 17 October 2023 – Brussels (European Commission) 

Purpose: Launch the CoP to foster collaboration among public administration officials, external evaluators and education stakeholders on counterfactual impact evaluation of education policies.

Key Programme Highlights 

• Welcome and introductory remarks – Stefaan Hermans (DG EAC). 
• Keynote speech – Prof. Kristof de Witte (Education Economics). 
• Panel discussion on the state of the art in impact evaluation (DG EAC, JRC, country official). 
• Parallel sessions on three participant chosen topics: 
  • Planning a CIE of an education policy
  • CIE methods 
  • Data for CIE
• Plenary discussion of parallel session outcomes. 
• Concluding remarks – Gyula Cserey (DG EAC).