Working Paper_ERICC Evidence Review_Taking stock in Jordan: The evidence landscape and gaps in Jordan’s educational response to the Syrian refugee crisis

This working paper outlines the aims, process, and outcomes of an evidence review, conducted over five months, from April to August 2022, to map the evidence landscape and identify key gaps across Jordan’s education system, particularly those related to services provided to and affected by the influx of Syrian refugee students. The evidence review was part of a larger, multi-country research program known as Education Research in Conflict and Protracted Crisis (ERICC), funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). The review was driven by five key questions derived from the ERICC Conceptual Framework on the current state of educational outcomes across local and policy levels. These outcomes are shaped by four drivers of learning – access, quality, continuity, and coherence – that affect outcomes across the system. The evidence review ultimately included 48 studies related to the Jordan education system, which were reviewed and coded based on ERICC’s Conceptual Framework. The evidence review highlighted seven key evidence gaps, which aided researchers in collaboratively developing a national research agenda, with national stakeholders, to guide further studies in the area of education provision in conflict-affected settings. The seven identified gaps, in which more evidence is needed to inform policy and related interventions are: (1) literacy, referring to the widespread lack of reading fluency and comprehension in the Arabic language among students, (2) the gender achievement gap, (3) teachers, including quality and management, (4) inclusion, particularly of students with disabilities, (5) early childhood education (kindergartens), (6) data systems, and (7) refugee education.