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Gov Innovator Podcast

140 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 1 year ago - ★★★★★ - 18 ratings

Insights for Results-Focused Leaders

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Episodes

How results-driven contracting improved outcomes for Chicago’s most vulnerable: An interview with Lisa Morrison Butler, former Commissioner, Chicago Department of Family and Support Services – Episode #202

December 18, 2022 14:00 - 11 minutes - 7.9 MB

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...

Using mindfulness practices for greater self-awareness and self-improvement: Rabbi Marc Margolius, Senior Program Director, Institute for Jewish Spirituality – Episode #201

April 28, 2022 11:03 - 12 minutes - 8.99 MB

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, Ins...

Career reflections from an evidence leader: An interview with Naomi Goldstein, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Episode #200

March 31, 2022 07:05 - 16 minutes - 11.2 MB

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 Fami...

Colorado’s nation-leading practices in using evidence to guide budget decisions: An interview with Sara Dube, Director, Results First Initiative, The Pew Charitable Trusts – Episode #199

March 17, 2022 06:40 - 10 minutes - 7.57 MB

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 ...

How state tuition-free college programs are spanning political divides: An interview with Michelle Miller-Adams, Senior Researcher, Upjohn Institute – Episode #198

March 08, 2022 05:17 - 11 minutes - 8.02 MB

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, Sen...

How Promise Programs are expanding college access, affordability, and degree attainment: An interview with Elizabeth Bell, Florida State University – Episode #197

March 01, 2022 06:05 - 10 minutes - 7.94 MB

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 E...

Insights about building credible evidence in social policy: An interview with David Anderson, Vice President of Evidence-Based Policy, Arnold Ventures – Episode #196

November 23, 2021 17:11 - 10 minutes - 6.94 MB

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 Presi...

How Minnesota’s impact evaluation unit supports evidenece-based budgeting: An interview with Weston Merrick, Minnesota Management and Budget – Episode #195

November 16, 2021 07:23 - 6.77 MB

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 evidenece-based budgeting:...

How Minnesota’s impact evaluation unit supports evidence-based budgeting: An interview with Weston Merrick, Minnesota Management and Budget – Episode #195

November 16, 2021 07:23 - 9 minutes - 6.77 MB

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: ...

Insights on evidence use from Ohio’s Department of Education: An interview with Heather Boughton, Results for America – Episode #194

November 07, 2021 04:58 - 10 minutes - 7.8 MB

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...

Developing and using agency performance plans: An interview with Elizabeth Funsch, ArundelStat Manager, Anne Arundel County in Maryland – Episode #193

November 04, 2021 06:00 - 9 minutes - 7.19 MB

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 Maryla...

Three keys to a successful agency evaluation office: An interview with Susan Jenkins, Director of the Office of Performance and Evaluation, Administration for Community Living, HHS – Episode #192

October 20, 2021 19:47 - 12 minutes - 9.05 MB

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 Evaluat...

Lessons from New Hope for reducing poverty today: An interview with Julie Kirksick, former New Hope Executive Director, and Kali Grant, Georgetown University – Episode #191

October 14, 2021 21:49 - 5.35 MB

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 Julie Kirksick, former New Hope Executive Director, and Kali Grant, Ge...

Lessons from New Hope for reducing poverty today: An interview with Kali Grant, Georgetown University, and Julie Kirksick, former New Hope Executive Director – Episode #191

October 14, 2021 21:49 - 9 minutes - 5.35 MB

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...

Lessons from the New Hope Project for today: An interview with Julie Kirksick, former New Hope Executive Director, and Kali Grant, Georgetown University – Episode #191

October 14, 2021 21:49 - 5.35 MB

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 the New Hope Project for today: An interview with Julie Kirksick, former New Hope Executive Director, and Kali Grant, Georget...

Evidence-based budgeting in New Mexico: Part 2 interview with Charles Sallee, Deputy Director, Legislative Finance Committee, New Mexico – Episode #190

October 10, 2021 16:27 - 10 minutes - 7.02 MB

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 Me...

Launching LegisSTAT in New Mexico: Part 1 interview with Charles Sallee, Deputy Director, Legislative Finance Committee, New Mexico – Episode #189

September 14, 2021 19:36 - 9 minutes - 7.2 MB

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,...

Launching LegisSTAT in New Mexico: An interview with Charles Sallee, Deputy Director, Legislative Finance Committee – Episode #189

September 14, 2021 19:36 - 7.2 MB

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: An interview with Charles Sallee, Deputy Director, Legislative Finance Committee – Ep...

Leading successful change and strategy initiatives: An interview with John Kotter, best-selling author and management thought leader – Episode #188

June 01, 2021 22:14 - 5.45 MB

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. Many of you might know his book Leading Change, which is a classic on the topic […] The post Leading successful change and strategy initiatives: An interview with John Kotter, best-selling author and management thought leader – Episode #188...

Leading successful change initiatives: An interview with John Kotter, professor emeritus at the Harvard Business School and founder of Kotter International – Episode #188

June 01, 2021 22:14 - 8 minutes - 5.45 MB

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 foun...

Insights from Idaho’s Office of Performance Evaluations: An interview with Rakesh Mohan, Director – Episode #187

May 09, 2021 17:55 - 11 minutes - 7.23 MB

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 fi...

Five questions public agencies should ask to put their logic models to work: An interview with Cynthia Phillips, former Acting Chief Evaluation Officer, National Science Foundation – Episode #186

May 04, 2021 10:46 - 8 minutes - 5.63 MB

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 Ev...

Three cognitive biases that can influence decision makers’ use of evidence about what works: An interview with Ariel Kalil, University of Chicago – Episode #185

April 15, 2021 12:15 - 9 minutes - 5.98 MB

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 ...

Three cognitive biases that can influence decision makers use of evidence about what works: An interview with Ariel Kalil, University of Chicago – Episode #185

April 15, 2021 12:15 - 5.98 MB

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 and bandwagon bias. Understanding them can help […] 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 #18...

Insights from Tennessee’s Office of Evidence and Impact: An interview with Christin Lotz, Director – Episode #184

March 25, 2021 16:20 - 10 minutes - 6.34 MB

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 Po...

Boosting student achievement with high-dosage tutoring: An interview with Carly Robinson and Matthew Kraft, Brown University – Episode #183

March 17, 2021 05:49 - 10 minutes - 6.24 MB

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 Univ...

Launching a behavioral insights community of practice within a public agency: An interview with Melissa Leal, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment – Episode #182

February 24, 2021 05:16 - 9 minutes - 5.78 MB

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...

How to communicate so that busy people respond and take action: An interview with Todd Rogers, behavioral scientist and professor, Harvard Kennedy School – Episode #181

February 03, 2021 05:14 - 9 minutes - 5.71 MB

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, behavi...

Keep it short, simple and skimmable: How to communicate so that busy people respond and take action: An interview with Todd Rogers, behavioral scientist and professor, Harvard Kennedy School – Episode #181

February 03, 2021 05:14 - 5.71 MB

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 gain 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 Keep it short, simple and skimmable: How to communicate so that busy people respond and take action:...

How the California Policy Lab is helping state and local agencies tackle homelessness, poverty and other key policy challenges: An interview with Janey Rountree and Evan White, Executive Directors – Episode #180

January 25, 2021 05:33 - 15 minutes - 9.23 MB

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 ...

Lessons from HUD about building evidence on important social policy issues: An interview with Calvin Johnson, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research, Evaluation and Monitoring at HUD – Episode #179

January 15, 2021 07:14 - 10 minutes - 6.83 MB

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 Secretar...

How federal agencies can use IPAs to bolster evidence capacity and help implement the Evidence Act: An interview with Dayanand Manoli, Professor, Georgetown University – Episode #178

January 08, 2021 06:19 - 9 minutes - 5.96 MB

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, Pr...

The role of North Carolina’s Office of Strategic Partnerships: An interview with Jenni Owen, Director of Strategic Partnerships, North Carolina – Episode #177

January 05, 2021 06:28 - 10 minutes - 6.93 MB

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...

Colorado’s performance management strategy under Gov. Hickenlooper: An interview with David Padrino, former Chief Performance Officer, Colorado – Episode #176

December 22, 2020 06:38 - 11 minutes - 6.94 MB

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...

King County, Washington’s Equity and Social Justice Strategic Plan: An interview with Arun Sambataro, King County – Episode #175

December 16, 2020 07:23 - 9 minutes - 6.12 MB

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 Innovat...

Investing in what works at the federal level: An interview with Jed Herrmann, Vice President for State and Federal Policy Implementation, Results for America – Episode #174

December 09, 2020 17:00 - 11 minutes - 7.59 MB

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 Americ...

Insights from nearly a decade of CountyStat: An interview with Dave Gottesman, CountyStat Manager, Montgomery County, Maryland – Episode #173

November 24, 2020 23:54 - 9 minutes - 6.14 MB

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 Count...

Unlocking the power of big data to catalyze evidence-based policy: An interview with Amy O’Hara, Georgetown University – Episode #172

November 18, 2020 11:33 - 11 minutes - 7.82 MB

Administrative data – in other words, big data produced by public agencies and programs – is a valuable tool for program evaluation, research and analysis that can help improve government performance and tackle our nation’s pressing challenges. How can we enable more qualified researchers and government program managers to security and more easily access those […] The post Unlocking the power of big data to catalyze evidence-based policy: An interview with Amy O’Hara, Georgetown University ...

Creating a culture of experimentation within organizations: An interview with Stefan Thomke, Harvard Business School – Episode #171

July 03, 2020 19:58 - 9 minutes - 8.99 MB

What insights can public leaders gain from leading companies about building a culture of experimentation? To find out, we’re joined by Stefan Thomke, the author of the new book Experimentation Works: The Surprising Power of Business Experiments. Dr. Thomke is the William Barclay Harding Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and has published […] The post Creating a culture of experimentation within organizations: An interview with Stefan Thomke, Harvard Business Sc...

Using behavioral insights to help recruit diverse police candidates: An interview with Elizabeth Linos, University of California, Berkeley – Episode #170

June 08, 2020 04:01 - 13 minutes - 12.4 MB

Attracting a police force from diverse backgrounds is one important step in ensuring that citizens are well served by their police departments and have trust in the police. But what steps can police departments take that are effective in achieving that goal? The Behavioral Insights Team, in conjunction with the What Works Cities Initiative, set […] The post Using behavioral insights to help recruit diverse police candidates: An interview with Elizabeth Linos, University of California, Berke...

How the Small Business Administration became a leader in evidence-based decision making: An interview with Jason Bossie, Director, Office of Performance Management, SBA – Episode #169

April 02, 2019 05:11 - 9 minutes - 5 MB

Over the last two years, the Small Business Administration has made laudable progress in building and using evidence in order to learn what works and help programs improve. That includes launching an evaluation office and a chief data officer role within the CFO’s office, as well as creating a learning agenda to identify priority research […] The post How the Small Business Administration became a leader in evidence-based decision making: An interview with Jason Bossie, Director, Office of ...

How Oregon’s auto-enrollment IRA program, OregonSaves, helps state residents save for retirement: An interview with Lisa Massena, Executive Director, OregonSaves – Episode #168

March 30, 2018 10:52 - 7 minutes - 7.18 MB

It has been estimated that more than half of Americans are saving too little to support an adequate lifestyle if they plan to retire at age 65. It was economist and recent Nobel prize winner Richard Thaler who suggested a fix: Make payroll retirement savings plans available to everyone and then by add design features […] The post How Oregon’s auto-enrollment IRA program, OregonSaves, helps state residents save for retirement: An interview with Lisa Massena, Executive Director, OregonSaves –...

Two promising strategies to promote college success for disadvantaged students: An interview with Lindsay Page, University of Pittsburgh, and Michael Weiss, MDRC – Episode #167

March 20, 2018 09:30 - 11 minutes - 10.8 MB

Low-income and first-generation students enroll in and complete college at much lower rates than their more advantaged peers. This is particularly problematic because of the strong link between educational attainment and subsequent earnings, underscoring the need to find effective strategies that promote persistence and degree attainment. We profile two such programs that are making an important […] The post Two promising strategies to promote college success for disadvantaged students: An ...

How HHS’s Data Science CoLab catalyzes employee innovation: An interview with Will Yang, CoLab Director, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Episode #166

March 12, 2018 10:00 - 10 minutes - 9.38 MB

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently launched a pilot version of a new initiative called the Data Science CoLab, an eight-week-long data science training program. The first class, which kicked off in October 2017, included 25 employees from different agencies within HHS and with different levels of knowledge about using data. Participants applied […] The post How HHS’s Data Science CoLab catalyzes employee innovation: An interview with Will Yang, CoLab Director, U.S. De...

Wins for data and evidence-based policy in the bipartisan budget deal: An interview with Nick Hart, Bipartisan Policy Center – Episode #165

February 15, 2018 08:54 - 9 minutes - 8.24 MB

The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, passed by Congress and signed by the President on February 9th, 2018, contains several noteworthy bright spots in the use of data and evidence-based policy. Those wins suggest there is continuing bipartisan support in Washington for using evidence, data and innovation to improve the results and cost-effectiveness of Federal […] The post Wins for data and evidence-based policy in the bipartisan budget deal: An interview with Nick Hart, Bipartisan Policy Cen...

Why evaluation policies are useful to results-focused federal agencies: An interview with Naomi Goldstein, HHS, and Molly Irwin, DOL – Episode #164

February 06, 2018 05:03 - 13 minutes - 12.1 MB

A small but growing number of federal departments and agencies have created  evaluation policies that describe the principles that those agencies seek to promote when they conduct program evaluations. Those principles can include rigor, relevance, transparency, independence, and ethics. To learn more about evaluation policies and why they are useful to federal agencies, we are […] The post Why evaluation policies are useful to results-focused federal agencies: An interview with Naomi Goldst...

How program managers can use random assignment (i.e., a lottery) to build evidence that can improve customer service: An interview with Matthew Notowidigdo, Northwestern University – Episode #163

January 31, 2018 07:33 - 8 minutes - 8.12 MB

How can program managers within public agencies — whether local, state or federal — use random assignment (in other words, a lottery) within programs to build evidence that can strengthen results and improve customer service? A good example comes from South Carolina. Its Medicaid program is administered through Managed Care Organizations, which offer different health care […] The post How program managers can use random assignment (i.e., a lottery) to build evidence that can improve custome...

Reforming the federal Experimental Sites initiative to better learn what works in higher ed: An interview with Amy Laitinen and Clare McCann, New America – Episode #162

January 25, 2018 18:42 - 6 minutes - 6.33 MB

As the new report “Putting the Experiment Back in the Experimental Sites Initiative” discusses, the U.S. Department of Education’s “Ex Sites” initiative — in place in one form or another since the mid-1980s — is designed to allow the Department to grant flexibility to institutions of higher education to test and evaluate potential federal policy changes, […] The post Reforming the federal Experimental Sites initiative to better learn what works in higher ed: An interview with Amy Laitinen a...

Insights from a leading researcher-practitioner partnership, between Stanford University and San Francisco’s school district: An interview with Laura Wentworth, California Education Partners – Episode #161

January 11, 2018 09:59 - 10 minutes - 9.79 MB

The partnership between Stanford University and the San Francisco Unified School District is one of the best examples of a partnership between a university and a school district. Launched in 2009, the partnership matches researchers from Stanford’s Graduate School of Education with district leaders to create research projects to directly inform the school district’s work […] The post Insights from a leading researcher-practitioner partnership, between Stanford University and San Francisco’s...

A primer on the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking’s recommendations: An interview with Nick Hart, Bipartisan Policy Center – Episode #160

October 04, 2017 01:10 - 10 minutes - 9.52 MB

While Democrats and Republicans can’t seem to agree on much these days, there was a bright spot for bipartisanship recently: Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Democratic Senator Patty Murray joined together to praise the recommendations of the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking (CEP), which Ryan and Murray launched last year. The Commission was […] The post A primer on the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking’s recommendations: An interview with Nick Hart, Bipartisan...

Guests

Freeman Hrabowski
1 Episode
Michael Weiss
1 Episode
Robert Gordon
1 Episode

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