The article challenges the deficit view in which education in the Arab region is portrayed by examining the process of educational regionalisation. It takes as its case study the Arab Regional Agenda for Improving Educational Quality in order to explore the construction of an educational quality space that uses data as a governance model. Drawing on critical theory and evidence collected from 70 interviews, I argue that such approaches promote globalised versions of what quality education means remaining blind to context. I suggest that improving educational quality in the region entails creating responsive approaches grounded in political and socio-economic contexts.