“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...Main Findings Misreported in Major Study of Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Expansion
Highlights: We review a recent large randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the Paycheck Plus program, which tested the effects of expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for low-income, single adults without dependent children. The EITC is a refundable tax credit...Large randomized trial finds disappointing effects for federally-funded programs to facilitate the re-entry of prisoners into the community. A new approach is needed.
Highlights: This report discusses findings from a well-conducted randomized controlled trial (RCT) of program services funded by the Department of Justice’s Second Chance Act (SCA) Adult Demonstration Program, aimed at facilitating the re-entry of prisoners into the...National Academy of Sciences publishes questionable, potentially chance findings on the crime effects of restoring vacant urban lots
Highlights: We review a recently-published article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reporting findings of a randomized controlled trial that evaluated the effects of restoring vacant urban lots. The article claims that the restoration intervention...Large randomized trial finds “Year Up” workforce training produces major earnings gains for low-income young adults (but longer-term follow-up is needed)
In this report we discuss unusually promising findings from a large, multisite randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the Year Up program for low-income young adults. This newly-published study found earnings effects that are among the largest of any workforce training...Large randomized trial finds state pre-k program has adverse effects on academic achievement. Reform is needed to increase effectiveness.
Highlights: This report discusses new findings from a well-conducted randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Tennessee’s voluntary prekindergarten program for low-income children. This study is the first large RCT of a state-funded pre-k program and one of only two such...When Congressionally-authorized federal programs are evaluated in randomized controlled trials, most fall short. Reform is needed.
Highlights: In the history of U.S. social policy, the federal government has commissioned 13 large randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the effectiveness of ongoing, Congressionally-authorized federal programs, such as Head Start, Job Corps, Abstinence...KIPP charter schools—strong, replicated evidence of sizable effects on student achievement
Having just published two Straight Talk reports on the pattern of disappointing effects for most rigorously-evaluated programs, we focus this report on a compelling positive example of demonstrated effectiveness. The example we showcase is the Knowledge is Power...How to solve U.S. social problems when most rigorous program evaluations find disappointing effects (part two – a proposed solution)
Highlights: As discussed in our previous Straight Talk report, the pattern of disappointing effects in most rigorous program evaluations is compelling and needs to be taken seriously if we hope to make progress in solving social problems. We suggest that policymakers,...Showing 10 of 34 Reviews