"What Makes Education Policy Transfer Successful? The Case of the National Assessment and Examination Center of Georgia "

Abstract

In education policymaking, policy transfer can be seen as one of the practical tools. The cons and pros of the process are clearly manifested in post-socialist countries where the education system started to change fundamentally after regaining independence in line with increased interest from donor organizations. The article deals with the process of education policy transfer based on the case of the National Assessment and Examination Center of Georgia. The proposed orthodox framework of policy transfer and data analysis allows us to draw main conclusions to answer the research question: what makes education policy transfer successful? Besides hindering factors, such as challenging socio-cultural environment and vertical administration of the education system, there are some facilitating factors: continuous political support, a motivated team that knows how to build organizational culture, communicate effectively with all stakeholders, feels the local context, and tries to establish foreign policy transfer networks. These key determinants can make education policy transfer successful. The methodological approach and conclusions of the article can be used by scholars from post-socialist education research and beyond who are interested in determining the causes and results of education policy transfer.