| Abstrakt: |
Evidence-based education and training policies are analyzed as a recurrent cycle of informed judgements, follow-ups, and effect evaluations. To make policy changes more transparent, it is suggested that politicians to an increasing extent draw on researchers in policy design and implementation, that intermediate follow-ups are conducted at predetermined points in time, and that resources for the evaluation of the policy's effects are committed already when the policy change is decided upon. One conclusion is that inferences about causal relationships between policy and outcomes do not necessarily have to be based on randomized controlled trials; provided that the policy change is implemented such, not all in the target population are affected at the same time. Another conclusion is that further empirical research is needed to obtain more reliable estimates of the positive external effects of education and training policies, i.e., the positive differences between the social and the private returns to these policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
