Evidence-Based Policy Proponents Face Cost, Privacy, Political Hurdles

Bipartisan commission explores how to make federal data more widely available to program evaluators.

After three initial meetings, early hints are beginning to emerge on what may eventually become a package of recommendations from the congressionally authorized Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking.

Enacted in March, the bipartisan commission has been tasked with developing recommendations that would bolster evidence-based policy, principally by making federal data more widely available to program evaluators. Such evaluations have begun to influence funding decisions, both at the federal and state levels, although their direct influence is still small.

Statutorily, the commission's mission appears to be somewhat narrow, but at its first meeting in July senior Democratic and Republican congressional staff urged it to interpret its mandate more broadly.

At a minimum, the commission has been tasked with developing recommendations for improving the federal data infrastructure, possibly including the creation of a new data clearinghouse for researchers. The commission has also been asked to recommend ways to further incorporate outcomes measurement, randomized controlled trial-based studies, and rigorous impact analysis into federal programs. The recommendations are due by September 2017.

Substantial Challenges

The commission spent most of its first two meetings exploring broader issues. The inaugural meeting in July reviewed a variety of obstacles facing federal statistical agencies. The second meeting on Sept. 9 examined the implications of federal privacy and information security laws.

It was not until the third hearing, held on Oct. 21, that the most serious challenges facing the commission began to fully crystallize. The hearing featured testimony from a variety of public witnesses who described significant cost, privacy, and political challenges that have confronted similar data-related efforts in the past.

At a macro level, big data and related IT infrastructure issues have bedeviled the federal government for years. The Obama administration released a broad strategic plan for big data research and development in May.

Among the hearing witnesses, Results for America, a bipartisan organization that advocates for improved government performance, recommended that the commission endorse greater funding for such infrastructure. It also recommended that the Census Bureau be funded to acquire administrative data sets from local, state and federal agencies. Such recommendations could conceivably put the Census Bureau in charge of the proposed federal data clearinghouse, although the organization was silent about this in its testimony.

States could also accomplish more if they were given greater authority and support to integrate their own federally funded data sets, according to Jeremy Ayers, the organization's Vice President for Policy. "We believe there is great power in clarifying what state and local governments can do with the data sets they manage in order to improve outcomes," he said.

Acknowledging the enormity of the task, Ron Haskins, the commission co-chair, pressed witnesses to identify high-value data sets that could be prioritized. Some suggested education and workforce-related data, including those drawn from unemployment insurance and for new hires. But at least one witness was skeptical of the clearinghouse idea.

"I worry whether it would be sustained over the long term," said Kelleen Kaye, Vice President of Research at the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. "Even now, I stumble across broken links to data warehouses. I support greater access to data, but I wonder if those funds would yield more return by maintaining and enhancing the data already in place."

Another common concern at the hearing was privacy. Emmett McGroarty, education director at the American Principles Project, argued that too much of the debate was being driven by bureaucrats and well-funded organizations with vested interests. He worried that such efforts could lead to a federal "dossier on every citizen."

"I work full time with grassroots who are not well funded," he said. "These are parents and moms trying to protect their children."

Other witnesses cited possible benefits from greater access to education and workforce data. Rachel Zinn, Director of the Workforce Data Quality Campaign, said that wage and other data could provide insights on the effectiveness of federal job training programs and the value of college degrees while simultaneously respecting individual privacy rights.

Carrie Wofford, president of Veterans Education Success, cited similar potential benefits for former GIs seeking post-secondary degrees. She said veterans could benefit from comparative information about graduation rates, default rates, and which degrees have the greatest return on investment. However, Wofford acknowledged the political challenges associated with such efforts, noting that it took White House prodding to get cooperation from federal agencies to share data when it assembled a federal College Scorecard.

Evidence and Evaluation

Relatively few witnesses have weighed in on the specific concerns of researchers and evaluators, but this is expected to change on Nov. 4, when the commission will hold a hearing expressly devoted to evaluation-related issues.

Naomi Goldstein, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Planning, Research and Evaluation at the Administration for Children and Families is one of several federal evaluation officers scheduled to testify that day.

"Making data more accessible will be a huge advance and it will help the cause of evaluation," she said. "It's necessary, but it's not sufficient. We also need analysis."

She said the commission could help with a broad statement about the importance of rigorous evaluation. She plans to outline some of the most common barriers, including limited funding, statutory authority, and other bureaucratic barriers.

More broadly, she said, federal evaluation offices would benefit from statutory protections to protect their independence, similar to protections now given to federal statistical agencies. The National Academies of Sciences is convening a workshop on the topic this month.

“Federal evaluation offices need to generate research that is relevant, credible, rigorous, and independent," said Lauren Supplee, a former federal evaluator who is now a senior scientist at Child Trends. "The more that the commission and others can do to support these core criteria, the better.”

Supplee also argued for greater training of senior personnel. “For evidence-based policy to have a real impact, the government needs leadership with the needed knowledge, skill and attitude,” she said. “The leadership needs proper training and should be held accountable for using evidence.”

The commission may also weigh in on issues affecting other evaluators outside of federal agencies. In testimony before the Senate Finance Committee earlier this year, Gordon Berlin, the president of MDRC, a nonprofit national evaluation firm, called on Congress to bolster federal research capacity, clarify authority to conduct research within existing privacy laws, and extend federal waivers for research purposes.

The commission is accepting additional written comments and recommendations through Nov. 14.

The initial version of this story mischaracterized a comment from Carrie Wofford. The story has been corrected. 

Patrick Lester is the director of the Social Innovation Research Center.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.