Too often, contracting is seen as a back-office function, even though many government programs are actually implemented with contracted service providers. In reality, contracting — and contracting reforms — can be a key driver of better results in human services, including for the most vulnerable families and individuals. We discuss specific steps in results-driven contracting […] The post How results-driven contracting improved outcomes for Chicago’s most vulnerable: An interview with Lisa Morr...
Dec 18, 2022•12 min
When we think about what skills leaders need to be successful — such as making good decisions, regulating their emotions and stress, and forming strong and healthy relationships with others — an important foundation for those skills is mindfulness. Our guest today has deep expertise in helping people cultivate self-awareness and mindfulness in order to […] The post Using mindfulness practices for greater self-awareness and self-improvement: Rabbi Marc Margolius, Senior Program Director, Institut...
Apr 28, 2022•13 min
To celebrate our 200th interview, we are joined by one of the most respected people within the evidence and evaluation field, Dr. Naomi Goldstein, to share reflections on her 21-year career at the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Human Services. Dr. Goldstein (@NaomiGoldstein1) is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Planning, […] The post Career reflections from an evidence leader: An interview with Naomi Goldstein, Administration for Children and Families,...
Mar 31, 2022•16 min
Colorado is a leader in the U.S. in terms of using evidence to guide state budget decisions, so that dollars flow to programs that are effective. It’s also a leader in terms of building evidence to better learn what works in key program areas. For example: State agencies are required by the governor’s budget office […] The post Colorado’s nation-leading practices in using evidence to guide budget decisions: An interview with Sara Dube, Director, Results First Initiative, The Pew Charitable Trust...
Mar 17, 2022•11 min
An important area of innovation within higher-education policy in recent years has been tuition-free college policies — also known as Promise Programs — designed to make college more affordable and accessible. Our previous podcast interview with Professor Elizabeth Bell of Florida State University provided an overview of the topic. In this new interview, we focus […] The post How state tuition-free college programs are spanning political divides: An interview with Michelle Miller-Adams, Senior R...
Mar 08, 2022•12 min
Tuition-free college policies have become a cornerstone of policymakers’ efforts to expand college access, affordability, and degree attainment. The movement began at the local level with initiatives such as the Kalamazoo Promise, but has since been taken to the state level, with 21 states currently operating Promise Programs. To learn more about these important policies […] The post How Promise Programs are expanding college access, affordability, and degree attainment: An interview with Elizab...
Mar 01, 2022•11 min
Arnold Ventures launched its evidence-based policy initiative in 2015 in large part to increase the number of social programs with strong evidence behind them. To do that, the team funds randomized controlled trials of programs in social policy whose prior evidence has shown the potential for sizable effects on educational achievement, earnings, and other important outcomes. […] The post Insights about building credible evidence in social policy: An interview with David Anderson, Vice President ...
Nov 23, 2021•10 min
Minnesota has been identified by several good-government organizations as one of the leaders in the nation on evidence-based policymaking. The Pew Charitable Trusts, for example, has noted that “Using evidence-based policymaking has enabled Minnesota…to provide better outcomes for residents, [and] improve the way research and evidence inform the budget and policymaking processes….” One important piece of […] The post How Minnesota’s impact evaluation unit supports evidence-based budgeting: An in...
Nov 16, 2021•10 min
Ohio’s Department of Education is one of the leading state agencies in the U.S. in terms of its focus on helping and encouraging school leaders to use evidence-based educational strategies and supports. For the past almost four years, Dr. Heather Boughton (@hrosemaryb) helped lead those efforts. She’s the former director of the Office of Research, […] The post Insights on evidence use from Ohio’s Department of Education: An interview with Heather Boughton, Results for America – Episode #194 appe...
Nov 07, 2021•11 min
Anne Arundel County, Maryland, has a population of just under 600,000 and is south of Baltimore and East of Washington D.C., with the county seat being Annapolis. In 2018, under County Executive Steuart Pittman, the county launched a performance-focused office called ArundelStat. One of the key initiatives of the office so far has been developing […] The post Developing and using agency performance plans: An interview with Elizabeth Funsch, ArundelStat Manager, Anne Arundel County in Maryland – ...
Nov 04, 2021•10 min
What does it take to be a successful evaluation office within a public agency? Three things that are important are being trustworthy, being engaging, and being relentless, explains Dr. Susan Jenkins. Since 2016, Dr. Jenkins has been the Director of the Office of Performance and Evaluation at the Administration for Community Living (ACL) at the […] The post Three keys to a successful agency evaluation office: An interview with Susan Jenkins, Director of the Office of Performance and Evaluation, A...
Oct 20, 2021•13 min
The New Hope Project was an anti-poverty program in the 1990s in Milwaukee that offered a simple but powerful pledge: If participants were willing to work full-time, they would not be poor. The program used a wage subsidy, support for child care and health insurance, and (if participants needed it) short-term subsidized employment to achieve […] The post Lessons from New Hope for reducing poverty today: An interview with Kali Grant, Georgetown University, and Julie Kirksick, former New Hope Exec...
Oct 14, 2021•9 min
New Mexico state government is a leader in the use of evidence, lead by its Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) that has been a catalyst for evidence-based budgeting, including through its participation in the Pew MacArthur Results First Initiative. In this part 2 of our interview with Charles Sallee, the Deputy Director of the Legislative Finance […] The post Evidence-based budgeting in New Mexico: Part 2 interview with Charles Sallee, Deputy Director, Legislative Finance Committee, New Mexico ...
Oct 10, 2021•10 min
Last month, New Mexico’s Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) did something that that possibly no other legislative committee in the U.S. has done to date: It launched a “PerformanceStat” initiative. As listeners to this podcast will know, the PerformanceStat process was pioneered in New York City for policing and then expanded to other government settings, as […] The post Launching LegisSTAT in New Mexico: Part 1 interview with Charles Sallee, Deputy Director, Legislative Finance Committee, New ...
Sep 14, 2021•10 min
John Kotter (@JohnPKotter) is one of the most respected thinkers on the topics of leadership and change. He is professor emeritus at the Harvard Business School, a widely-read author, and the founder of Kotter International, a management consulting firm. Alexander Eaton, director of Retina Health Centers, said of its final approval. STP is believed to […] The post Leading successful change initiatives: An interview with John Kotter, professor emeritus at the Harvard Business School and founder o...
Jun 01, 2021•9 min
Idaho’s Office of Performance Evaluations (OPE) was created in 1994 and is a nonpartisan, independent office that serves the Idaho legislature by conducting evaluations of state agencies and programs, as well as studies of key policy issues. With its staff of seven evaluators, plus its director, OPE’s mission is to promote confidence and accountability in […] The post Insights from Idaho’s Office of Performance Evaluations: An interview with Rakesh Mohan, Director – Episode #187 appeared first o...
May 09, 2021•11 min
A logic model is a detailed visual representation of an organization or program that expresses the organization’s theory of change. It’s useful for getting a clear and shared understanding of how an office, division, program or initiative works. But what important questions should an organization ask once its created a logic model? To find out, […] The post Five questions public agencies should ask to put their logic models to work: An interview with Cynthia Phillips, former Acting Chief Evaluat...
May 04, 2021•9 min
What leads decision makers to decide to implement or scale up a program? Research evidence may be one factor, but, as we know, lots of other factors can play in as well. Three of those factors are what are called cognitive biases, including: confirmation bias status quo bias bandwagon bias Understanding those biases — which […] The post Three cognitive biases that can influence decision makers’ use of evidence about what works: An interview with Ariel Kalil, University of Chicago – Episode #185 ...
Apr 15, 2021•10 min
Tennessee’s Office of Evidence and Impact was created in 2019 by Governor Bill Lee. The office works with the Governor’s office and with Tennessee’s executive agencies to use data and evidence to help decision makers invest in programs that work for Tennesseans. To learn more about the office’s work and what lessons it provides for […] The post Insights from Tennessee’s Office of Evidence and Impact: An interview with Christin Lotz, Director – Episode #184 appeared first on Gov Innovator Podcast...
Mar 25, 2021•10 min
A new policy brief examines the research evidence behind tutoring and what design principles for tutoring have shown to be important for boosting K-12 student achievement. The report is titled Accelerating Student Learning with High-Dosage Tutoring. It’s coauthored by Dr. Carly Robinson, Dr. Matthew Kraft and Dr. Susanna Loeb of the Annenberg Institute at Brown […] The post Boosting student achievement with high-dosage tutoring: An interview with Carly Robinson and Matthew Kraft, Brown Universit...
Mar 17, 2021•10 min
Governments at all levels are increasingly using research findings from behavioral economics and other behavioral sciences to improve program and agency outcomes. These interventions and program changes draw on how people process information and make decisions and can often be implemented quickly and at little cost. One way to help support the use of behavioral […] The post Launching a behavioral insights community of practice within a public agency: An interview with Melissa Leal, Colorado Depa...
Feb 24, 2021•9 min
What evidence-based strategies can you use to more effectively craft communications with practical purposes, so that busy people respond and take needed action? We get insights from Dr. Todd Rogers (@Todd_Rogers_), a behavioral scientist and professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. His work applies behavioral science insights and methods to understand important […] The post How to communicate so that busy people respond and take action: An interview with Todd Rogers, behavioral ...
Feb 03, 2021•9 min
The California Policy Lab (@CAPolicyLab) was launched in January 2017 with a mission to create partnerships between researchers at two of California’s leading universities — UCLA and UC Berkeley — and California’s state and local government agencies. The goal: to generate scientific evidence that solves California’s most urgent problems, including the issues of homelessness, poverty, […] The post How the California Policy Lab is helping state and local agencies tackle homelessness, poverty and o...
Jan 25, 2021•16 min
How can public agencies build credible evidence about what works to help move the needle on important social policy challenges? It’s often a multi-step, iterative process. A good example is the efforts across the past two administrations by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) – in particular, their efforts to help support […] The post Lessons from HUD about building evidence on important social policy issues: An interview with Calvin Johnson, Deputy Assistant Secretary for...
Jan 15, 2021•11 min
The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act (Evidence Act) was enacted in early 2019 and has led a wide range of federal agencies to take new steps in building and using evidence, including developing learning agendas. The Act, however, didn’t come with new funding, so resources are likely a constraint in many agencies in doing this […] The post How federal agencies can use IPAs to bolster evidence capacity and help implement the Evidence Act: An interview with Dayanand Manoli, Professor...
Jan 08, 2021•10 min
North Carolina’s Office of Strategic Partnerships was launched at the end of 2018 under Governor Roy Cooper with a mission to enhance partnerships between state government and North Carolina’s research and philanthropic sectors. As its website notes, “This includes elevating the State’s internal capacity to use and generate evidence in its policy and programmatic functions.” […] The post The role of North Carolina’s Office of Strategic Partnerships: An interview with Jenni Owen, Director of Stra...
Jan 05, 2021•11 min
The State of Colorado under the previous Governor, John Hickenlooper, had a multifaceted performance-improvement strategy that included performance management, operational improvements and talent development, among other elements. That work continues today under current Governor Jared Polis. We look back at the previous administration to draw lessons for other states. We’re joined by David Padrino. He served […] The post Colorado’s performance management strategy under Gov. Hickenlooper: An inte...
Dec 22, 2020•11 min
In King County, Washington, under Executive Dow Constantine and the County Council, equity and social justice has been an important focus of the county’s work. That includes the launch in 2015 of an Office of Equity and Social Justice and the creation of its strategic plan, designed to help the county become a place where […] The post King County, Washington’s Equity and Social Justice Strategic Plan: An interview with Arun Sambataro, King County – Episode #175 appeared first on Gov Innovator Po...
Dec 16, 2020•10 min
The nonprofit Results for America has been an important advocate of — and catalyst for — evidence-based policy and decision making over the last decade. It recently released two new resources: The 2020 Invest in What Works Federal Standard of Excellence (click to see the federal standard and the press release), as well as a […] The post Investing in what works at the federal level: An interview with Jed Herrmann, Vice President for State and Federal Policy Implementation, Results for America – E...
Dec 09, 2020•12 min
Montgomery County, located just north of Washington D.C. is a leader in the use of performance management, including through its CountyStat initiative, drawing on the model of other PerformanceStat efforts. Its reputation for results-focused government continues today under County Executive Marc Elrich, who has been in that role since 2018. To learn more about the […] The post Insights from nearly a decade of CountyStat: An interview with Dave Gottesman, CountyStat Manager, Montgomery County, Ma...
Nov 24, 2020•10 min
