The Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel (GEEAP) of experts—convened by the FCDO, World Bank, and UNICEF, with CGD as its research partner—synthesizes evidence on cost-effective education interventions and government experiences in scaling to produce policy-focused recommendations on what works in education across low- and middle-income countries.
GEEAP is an independent, cross-disciplinary body that includes 13 researchers and practitioners across economics, education, psychology, and policymaking. GEEAP distills key policy lessons into a consensus list of smart buys recommendations, with a focus on cost-effectiveness at scale, and collaborates with key stakeholders to strengthen evidence-informed policymaking in education.
- GEEAP distills the evidence base on education into usable smart buys categories that reflect cost, strength of impact evidence, and scalability—"Great buys," "Good buys," "Promising but limited evidence," "Effective but expensive," and, crucially, "Bad buys.” These guide government decision-makers on what to invest in at scale cost-effectively and what not to fund.
- GEEAP provides advice on when and where to use different approaches. Each recommendation includes information on the appropriate context and conditions where it is most likely to be effective, and alternative implementation approaches that would suit different local constraints.
- GEEAP engages with policymakers, donors, and implementers. With an average of 20+ engagements a year, real-world needs shape recommendations, and recommendations shape budgets, working through its conveners—the FCDO, World Bank, and UNICEF—to turn engagement into investment on the ground.
The next Smart Buys report, led by CGD, launches in 2027, and, for the first time, will incorporate non-English-language databases. GEEAP also aims to produce topical deep dives (such as the 2025 literacy report and the 2023 cost-effective approaches report), focusing on not just what works, but how to implement and to adapt it to different education systems.
A related workstream with J-PAL is to build a validated global item bank in literacy and numeracy that researchers can use to enable standardized learning measurement (beyond study-specific effect sizes in standard deviations). This will strengthen comparisons across programs and studies, help place microLAYS (which currently relies on many assumptions) on a more rigorous footing, and in turn allow decision-makers to assess real learning gains per $100 spent—a central part of GEEAP.
GEEAP is a part of CGD's Evidence Initiative. CGD’s Evidence Initiative includes various evidence advisory panels that aggregate and curate evidence and make recommendations such as smart buys for effective knowledge use and evidence-based decision-making, including the Global Advisory Panel on Skills (GAPS), GEEAP, and the Smart Buys Alliance (SBA).
For more information, contact Maleeha Hameed at [email protected].
