Smart education in Romania: lessons learned from equipping high schools through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan

This study aims to examine the dynamics between funding institutions and beneficiaries, with a particular focus on identifying the factors that facilitated successful project implementation and those that contributed to delays or contract terminations. Furthermore, the analysis seeks to evaluate the extent to which these dynamics influence students' access to a modern and innovative educational process. In this paper there are reviewed different approaches in evaluation as result based evaluation and theory-based evaluation, arguing their relevance in the actual context of policy making. The research is based on data analysis and a survey with a representative group of beneficiaries for a better understanding of their perspective. Evidence from the cases indicates that capacity and expertise gaps on both the funder and beneficiary sides were salient drivers of implementation complications and delays; these experiences appear to have reduced beneficiaries' willingness to apply for subsequent funding opportunities. For evaluation practitioners this study is an opportunity to adapt and refine their methods in order to improve their program evaluation considering more the context and the secondary effects. The novelty of this paper lies in the fact that, until now, the dynamics between the state institutions involved and the beneficiaries, as well as the outcomes achieved, have not been analysed. The results of this analysis may serve as a foundation for a new approach to future funding initiatives.