Why most non-RCT program evaluation findings are unreliable (and a way to improve them)
Highlights: Well-conducted randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are considered the strongest method of evaluating a program’s effectiveness. But, for some programs, RCT evidence may not be available. In these cases, policy officials often look to...Initial findings on “what works” from the 75+ randomized controlled trials funded by Arnold Ventures’ Evidence-Based Policy initiative
Highlights: Since 2015, Arnold Ventures’ Evidence-Based Policy initiative has funded more than 75 randomized controlled trials (RCTs), totaling about $50 million, to evaluate a wide range of social programs. Well-conducted RCTs are widely considered the strongest...Beware the pitfalls of short-term program effects: They often fade
Highlights: For many social programs, it is important from a policy perspective to know not just whether the program produces positive effects in the short term, but whether the effects endure long enough to constitute a meaningful improvement in participants’ lives....FDR’s call for “bold, persistent experimentation”: An antidote to 40-year stagnation in key areas of social policy (part two in a series)
Highlights: In our previous report, we described 40 years of stagnation in key areas of social policy— e.g., little change in earned income of low/moderate income Americans or in educational achievement of high school students. Given the stagnation’s endurance and...“Government by guesswork” is not solving the nation’s social problems. A fundamentally different—evidence based—approach is needed (part one in a series)
Highlights: In key areas of social policy, the United States has made little progress over many years: (i) The earned income of the bottom 40 percent of the population is almost unchanged since the late 1970s, after adjusting for inflation. (ii) The average reading...Showing 6 of 9 Reviews