Education systems around the world are navigating rapid change, yet global tools for understanding their progress remain limited. The WISE Education Index aims to provide a deeper and more multidimensional view of how systems improve across diverse contexts.
Why Current Global Metrics Fall Short
Global assessments have strengthened the visibility of student outcomes, but they focus primarily on what learners achieve. These tools often correlate with national wealth, which means that systems operating with limited resources may be misunderstood or overlooked, even when they demonstrate meaningful development.
Outcome-based rankings also provide limited insight into the underlying conditions that shape learning. They rarely account for teacher preparedness, governance, infrastructure, or the broader environments in which education takes place. As a result, policymakers may not receive the information they need to design strategies that support long-term improvement.
To understand how systems truly progress, we need evidence that reflects not only results but also the conditions that make those results possible.
The Gap Between Outcomes and Processes
Focusing on outcomes alone reveals only part of the picture. Two systems may achieve similar results even though they differ significantly in resources, organizational structures, and implementation capacity. Understanding these differences requires a clearer view of processes, including how teachers are supported, how schools are led, how data is used, and how learning environments evolve.
This gap between outcomes and processes limits the ability of governments and institutions to identify which interventions work, why they work, and how they can be adapted across contexts. Measuring improvement therefore requires tools that examine the mechanisms behind learning, not only the results that appear in assessments.
How the WISE Education Index Responds to This Gap
The WISE Education Index was developed to provide a more comprehensive view of how education systems function and improve. It is built on the recognition that outcomes alone cannot explain system performance. Instead, progress depends on how systems allocate resources, organize their processes, and create the conditions that enable effective teaching and learning.
The Index offers a framework that is not designed to rank systems, but to guide them. It provides information that can help leaders analyze their strengths, identify areas for development, and understand how system components interact over time.
What Makes the Framework Unique
The WISE Education Index incorporates three connected dimensions that together shape system effectiveness.
Inputs
These represent the conditions that make learning possible. They include teacher preparation, infrastructure, financial resources, governance, and socioeconomic factors that influence education.
Processes
These reflect how inputs are used. They include leadership practices, teaching support, curriculum implementation, inclusion, data use, and the broader innovation environment that allows systems to adapt and improve.
Outcomes
These capture what learning enables, including academic achievement, inclusion, wellbeing, employment, and opportunities for lifelong learning.
This structure makes the Index unique because it captures not only the results of education but also the pathways that lead to improvement.
Why the Index Matters for Policymakers
Policymakers often need to understand where systems should invest, how to support teachers and schools, and how to strengthen long-term capacity. The WISE Education Index provides evidence that supports these decisions.
It is particularly relevant for countries that operate in resource-constrained environments or face rapid demographic and economic change. By highlighting the relationship between inputs, processes, and outcomes, the Index helps leaders identify where targeted actions can create sustainable improvement.
It also enables more equitable comparisons by recognizing that systems start from different points and by valuing the progress they make within their specific context.
How the Index Is Being Developed
The development of the WISE Education Index is grounded in research, global expertise, and collaboration. SUMMA, an education research and innovation lab, was selected as our research and statistical partner through a competitive evaluation process.
Together, we have refined the Index through literature review, expert consultation, and analysis of diverse education systems. During WISE 12, we engaged international experts in a closed session to review the framework and offer guidance on its next phase of development.
This process ensures that the Index reflects both global evidence and practical experience from different regions.
Preparing for the 2026 to 2027 Pilot Phase
The next phase of the project is a pilot study across twelve countries with varied social and economic contexts. The pilot will evaluate the feasibility of data collection, explore the clarity of indicators, and test how the Index functions across different systems.
An advisory board of international experts will support this work to ensure that the methodology is robust, relevant, and adaptable.
Insights from the pilot will inform the final structure of the Index and guide the development of future knowledge products.
Long-Term Vision: Reports, Dashboards, and Insights
Following the pilot phase, the WISE Education Index will evolve into a set of global knowledge resources. These will include a dashboard with interactive data, a comprehensive report, and regular insights that support policymakers in designing effective strategies.
The long-term vision is to create a tool that helps education systems understand where they are, how they are progressing, and which actions can lead to improvement. By offering a multidimensional perspective, the Index aims to contribute to a more informed and actionable global conversation on education reform.
Conclusion
Education systems require evidence that reflects the full complexity of how learning happens and how systems develop. The WISE Education Index is designed to support this need by providing a clearer view of the conditions, processes, and outcomes that shape improvement.
As countries seek to strengthen their systems and prepare for the future, we hope the Index will serve as a resource that supports strategic planning, inclusive learning environments, and long-term progress.