Four steps of sound educational decision-making, according to the authors of “Educational Goods: Values, Evidence and Decision-Making”
- Identify the main values at play. What are you trying to achieve?
- Identify the key decisions related to those values. What are the possible courses of action that can help you achieve those values?
- Assess how well actions identified in Step 2 promote the values you identified in Step 1. Look at data and social science evidence. What intel does it offer on your proposed courses of action?
- Identify policy that brings greatest return regarding the values identified in Step 1. What are the trade-offs to each proposal, and which trade-off is worth it?