This report presents summative findings from an evaluation of the BHP Foundation’s Education Equity program. The evaluation is based on a review of funded partner organizations’ performance indicators and evaluation reports, interviews, and case study investigations of specific strands of each partner’s work. It includes evidence of the program’s impacts and lessons learned related to its design and implementation.

The BHP Foundation’s Education Equity Program

Summative Evaluation Report

Benjamin K. Master, Elaine Lin Wang, Brian Phillips

ResearchPublished Apr 24, 2025

This report presents summative findings from RAND’s six-year evaluation of the BHP Foundation’s Education Equity program. The evaluation is based on a review of funded partner organizations’ internal program progress reports, performance indicators, and independent project evaluation reports; interviews with representatives from partner organizations funded by the program and program leadership; and case study investigations of specific strands of each partner’s work. This report builds on the findings included in two prior interim RAND evaluation reports. It includes evidence of the program’s impacts and lessons learned related to its design and implementation. The authors describe anticipated next steps for the Foundation and reflect on the implications of their findings for its future endeavors, as well as for other organizations that may seek to do similar types of work in the global education sector.

Key Findings

Findings were related to evidence of impact

  • Partners had demonstrable success in areas related to evidence creation, curation, and dissemination.
  • Some partners documented robust demand for their expertise and knowledge products.
  • Several partners established networks of collaboration around evidence-based improvement efforts.
  • One partner delivered innovative educational services at a large scale directly to learners. However, this partner did not collect robust evidence of impacts.
  • Partners generally did not meet their most ambitious step change goals.
  • Participation in the program bolstered grantees’ overall organizational capacity.

Findings were also related to implementation of evidence-to-practice work

  • Rigorous evidence is needed to recommend best practices in education practice, but the evidence must also be accessible and locally relevant to ensure take-up.
  • Additional supports or direct integration of evidence into processes within local educational systems may be needed to reach practitioners.
  • Engaging closely with local partners helps create demand for the knowledge products.
  • Local relationships, knowledge of the implementation context, and an ability to work within existing educational systems are critical to facilitating systemic improvements.
  • Networks can facilitate knowledge exchange and innovation when established among engaged actors working on shared challenges.
  • Demand for technical assistance tends to follow successful information sharing.
  • More-established partners and partners whose funded activities were closely aligned with their core organizational missions tended to be more successful at identifying follow-on funding.

Recommendations

  • To ensure robust take-up of evidence, prioritize investments in partners that have strong local connections, preexisting collaboration networks, resources aimed at addressing specific needs, and clear dissemination pathways for engaging with key audiences.
  • Work to identify projects that better complement each other and synergize with the BHP Foundation’s own competitive advantages, including brand, professional networks, and connections to other potential donors.
  • To maximize both impact and learning, donor programs should prespecify a clear theory of change and ensure that funded projects and program evaluations are aligned with it.
  • Investments in specific projects should require that grantees work with evaluators from the outset of the grant to enable more-rigorous tests of the grant’s effects.
  • Evaluations of investments focused on grantees’ long-term missions should focus on more-foundational elements, such as contributions to partners’ organizational capacities, strategies, or brands.
  • Begin sustainability planning at the outset of the grant, particularly by helping partners work toward the conditions necessary to secure long-term financing from the BHP Foundation or other sources.
  • Specify goals around equity to ensure better tracking of impacts for specific groups.

Topics

Document Details

Citation

RAND Style Manual

Master, Benjamin K., Elaine Lin Wang, and Brian Phillips, The BHP Foundation’s Education Equity Program: Summative Evaluation Report, RAND Corporation, RR-A239-11, 2025. As of April 30, 2025: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA239-11.html

Chicago Manual of Style

Master, Benjamin K., Elaine Lin Wang, and Brian Phillips, The BHP Foundation’s Education Equity Program: Summative Evaluation Report. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2025. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA239-11.html.
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This research was based on research sponsored by the BHP Foundation and conducted within RAND Education and Labor.

This publication is part of the RAND research report series. Research reports present research findings and objective analysis that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND research reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.

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