Journal on Education in Emergencies Volume 11, Number 1

In this JEiE Special Issue, we offer our contributing authors’ critical reflections and analyses of the EiE data and evidence ecosystem, including these authors’ findings on learners’ experiences and education outcomes; on innovative responses to education disruption; on governance, institutional dynamics, and evidence-based decisionmaking in EiE; and on ethics and localization in EiE data and evidence practices. 

In their editorial note, Samantha Colón, Nathan Thompson, and Dana Burde discuss that the challenge is not simply generating more data in emergencies, but ensuring that evidence systems are ethical, equitable, locally grounded, and capable of meaningfully supporting crisis-affected learners and communities.

In this article, Silvia Diazgranados Ferráns, Bernard Thuo, and Ignacio López address a gap in the evidence on education interventions in settings of conflict and protracted crisis. Using meta-analysis, they synthesize the findings from 20 impact evaluations across seven intervention types to identify which approaches are most effective, for which social and emotional learning domains, under what conditions, and at what cost. Their findings provide direction on how social-emotional learning programs in EiE contexts may improve children’s outcomes most cost-effectively.

In this research article, Cirenia Chávez Villegas, Alanna Heyer, Seun Bunmi Adebayo, Pierre Vernier, Arsenii Slieba, and Ivan Lopes use Project 21 to examine school and community safety across displacement settings in the Central Sahel. Their analysis addresses critical gaps in safety-related data and contributes to a deeper understanding of safety in contexts of forced displacement.  

In this research article, Thomas Brown, Allyson Krupar, and Farman Khan offer a study of accelerated education programming for crisis-affected girls ages 11 to 14 in Pakistan. Their longitudinal study provides empirical evidence on how mobile-based EdTech can meaningfully improve learning outcomes and close gaps in education for vulnerable girls in emergency settings. 

In this research article, Marion Imboden and Cathryn Magno examine the reorganization of the EiE data and evidence ecosystem through a focus on the Haitian education system, particularly NGO-supported schools. The authors argue the importance of centering the evidence priorities, needs, and agendas of crisis-affected communities, and for repositioning school leaders as valued sources of expertise and education leadership rather than primarily as implementers of top-down administrative requirements.

In this research article, Celia Reddick examines how government officials, policymakers, and program leaders make decisions about language in refugee education, with a particular focus on Uganda. Drawing from 34 interviews with EiE stakeholders and participant observations across meetings and convenings, Reddick identifies the strong tendency toward isomorphism in EiE and considers the implications for future research, evidence generation, and program implementation.

In this field note, Allyson Krupar, Wafa Al-Amaireh, Bem Tivkaa, Khaled Al-Yousef, and Abeer Attari examine how the education in emergencies and protracted crises (EiEPC) data and evidence ecosystem, both within and beyond the education management information systems, can support teaching and learning through the expansion and implementation of the Holistic Assessment for Learning (HAL) in Northwest and Northeast Syria. The authors reflect on what HAL reveals about the feasibility of data-informed teaching in crisis contexts, as well as the challenges and opportunities of embedding such practices within education data systems.

In this field note, Gray Rinehart, Myat Thandar Aung, Naw Bway Paw, May Yi Myint, and Saw Ler Moo reflect on quantitative codesign processes within the Myanmar research program of the Education Research in Conflict and Protracted Crisis (ERICC) consortium. The authors outline three guiding principles for transforming historically unequal North-South research partnerships into a model grounded in complementary, nonhierarchical expertise.

In this field note, Janice D’souza and Jeremy Bryan Coats relate how they examined 400 adult learners in Afghanistan who participated in online professional development courses. Their findings position ethical data stewardship as a foundational consideration when designing digital learning programs.

In this field note, Friedrich W. Affolter and Michelle Brown examine the work of Education Clusters across crisis-affected contexts through four key areas: inclusive response systems, coordinated planning and operationalization, collective and inclusive evidence generation and knowledge-sharing, and resource mobilization. Drawing from cluster documentation and coordination literature, the authors assess how Education Clusters operate, their contributions, and their limitations. 

Drawing from her keynote address at the 2023 INEE Data and Evidence Summit, Francine Menashy suggests the need for a fundamental shift in how the EiE field envisions research. She argues that ethics must be the starting point for improving EiE data ecosystems and proposes a four-question framework to guide future research.

In this book review, Abraha Asfaw examines Education and Resilience in Crisis: Challenges and Opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Asfaw highlights the authors’ exploration of teacher and student wellbeing, resilience, and education in crisis contexts. He suggests that the book offers valuable insights for EiE researchers and practitioners who seek to design interventions that account for the realities shaping education’s transformative potential.

In this book review of Schooling for Refugee Children, Elisheva Cohen highlights its contribution to the scholarship on refugee children’s access to social justice, with a particular focus on Syrian refugee children in Lebanon and the United Kingdom. Cohen emphasizes the value of the authors’ participatory approach while calling for greater attention to the policy and structural barriers that shape refugee education.

In this review of Unsettled Families, Gabrielle Oliveira explores the politics of refugee resettlement and family recognition through the lived experiences of displaced families. Oliveira’s review highlights how personal narratives deepen understanding of the everyday realities of displacement and humanitarian systems. 

In her review of The Art of Global Peacebuilding and Excellence in Education, Sofía Antonia Gómez-Doyle explores what makes education meaningful in times of conflict. Gómez-Doyle considers how language, educational values, and reflective practices can help to reimagine educational approaches in conflict-affected settings. 

In this book review, Shreya Shreeraman and Luke Pye examine Decolonizing Education for Sustainable Futures, edited by Yvette Hutchinson, Artemio Arturo Cortez Ochoa, Julia Paulson, and Leon Tikly. Shreeraman and Pye highlight the authors’ call to move beyond conventional frameworks for understanding education and development and invite researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to reimagine the role of education through decolonial, reparative, and sustainable perspectives.