Increasing Government Effectiveness Through Rigorous Evidence About “What Works”
Mission: A nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, the Coalition seeks to increase government effectiveness through the use of rigorous evidence about what works. In the field of medicine, public policies based on scientifically-rigorous evidence have produced extraordinary advances in health over the past 50 years. By contrast, in most areas of social policy – such as education, poverty reduction, and crime prevention – government programs often are implemented with little regard to evidence, costing billions of dollars yet failing to address critical social problems. However, rigorous studies have identified a few highly-effective program models and strategies (”interventions”), suggesting that a concerted government effort to build the number of these proven interventions, and spur their widespread use, could bring rapid progress to social policy similar to that which transformed medicine.
The Coalition advocates many types of research to identify the most promising social interventions. However, a central theme of our advocacy, consistent with a recent National Academies recommendation, is that evidence of effectiveness generally cannot be considered definitive without ultimate confirmation in well-conducted randomized controlled trials.
Policy Impact: The Coalition’s work with key Executive Branch and Congressional officials has helped inform and/or shape major new evidence-based policy initiatives, such as –
- The Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Program Evaluation initiative ($100 million in the FY11 budget for rigorous evaluations to determine what works across 17 federal agencies);
- The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Evidence-Based Home Visitation program for at-risk families with young children ($1.5 billion over five years, enacted in 2010);
- The Education Department’s Investing in Innovation Fund, to scale up evidence-based K-12 educational strategies ($650 million enacted in the 2009 Recovery Act);
- HHS’s Evidence-Based Teen Pregnancy Prevention program ($110 million enacted for FY10); and
- The Corporation for National and Community Service’s Social Innovation Fund, to support public/private investment in evidence-based programs in low-income communities ($50 million enacted for FY 10).
The key initiatives are summarized here on the OMB website by then-Director Peter Orszag (his second paragraph links to our website).
An independent assessment of our work over 2004-2009, conducted under our grant agreement with the William T. Grant Foundation, found that “the Coalition has successfully influenced legislative language, increased funding for evidence-based evaluations and programs, helped shape OMB’s Program Assessment Rating Tool, and raised the level of debate in the policy process regarding standards of evidence. The Coalition has established a generally positive reputation as a rigorous, responsive, honest, and impartial advocate for evidence-based approaches, primarily at the federal level.”
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> For a summary of the Coalition’s recent progress/accomplishments, click here.
> For an overview of our mission and activities, click here.
> Visit our sister sites: Social Programs That Work, Top Tier Evidence Initiative, and Evidence-Based Policy Help Desk
The Coalition is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, and has no affiliation with any programs or program models. Our work has been primarily funded by philanthopic foundations, including the MacArthur Foundation, the William T. Grant Foundation, and the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation.