Podcasts by Gov Innovator Podcast
Insights for Results-Focused Leaders
Further podcasts by Andy Feldman
Podcast on the topic Regierung
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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 from 2022-12-18T14:00:54
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 con...
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Using mindfulness practices for greater self-awareness and self-improvement: Rabbi Marc Margolius, Senior Program Director, Institute for Jewish Spirituality – Episode #201 from 2022-04-28T11:03:11
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 other...
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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 from 2022-03-31T07:05:37
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 t...
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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 from 2022-03-17T06:40:52
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 ev...
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How state tuition-free college programs are spanning political divides: An interview with Michelle Miller-Adams, Senior Researcher, Upjohn Institute – Episode #198 from 2022-03-08T05:17:40
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...
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How Promise Programs are expanding college access, affordability, and degree attainment: An interview with Elizabeth Bell, Florida State University – Episode #197 from 2022-03-01T06:05:46
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 initia...
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Insights about building credible evidence in social policy: An interview with David Anderson, Vice President of Evidence-Based Policy, Arnold Ventures – Episode #196 from 2021-11-23T17:11:16
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 randomi...
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How Minnesota’s impact evaluation unit supports evidence-based budgeting: An interview with Weston Merrick, Minnesota Management and Budget – Episode #195 from 2021-11-16T07:23:36
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 ...
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Insights on evidence use from Ohio’s Department of Education: An interview with Heather Boughton, Results for America – Episode #194 from 2021-11-07T04:58:15
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...
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Developing and using agency performance plans: An interview with Elizabeth Funsch, ArundelStat Manager, Anne Arundel County in Maryland – Episode #193 from 2021-11-04T06:00:11
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...
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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 from 2021-10-20T19:47:05
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 Jen...
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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 from 2021-10-14T21:49
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 ...
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Evidence-based budgeting in New Mexico: Part 2 interview with Charles Sallee, Deputy Director, Legislative Finance Committee, New Mexico – Episode #190 from 2021-10-10T16:27:55
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 parti...
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Launching LegisSTAT in New Mexico: Part 1 interview with Charles Sallee, Deputy Director, Legislative Finance Committee, New Mexico – Episode #189 from 2021-09-14T19:36:48
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” initiat...
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Launching LegisSTAT in New Mexico: Part 1 interview with Charles Sallee, Deputy Director, Legislative Finance Committee, New Mexico – Episode #189 from 2021-09-14T19:36:48
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...
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Leading successful change initiatives: An interview with John Kotter, professor emeritus at the Harvard Business School and founder of Kotter International – Episode #188 from 2021-06-01T22:14:12
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 found...
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Leading successful change initiatives: An interview with John Kotter, professor emeritus at the Harvard Business School and founder of Kotter International – Episode #188 from 2021-06-01T22:14:12
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 fo...
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Insights from Idaho’s Office of Performance Evaluations: An interview with Rakesh Mohan, Director – Episode #187 from 2021-05-09T17:55:02
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 pro...
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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 from 2021-05-04T10:46:18
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 underst...
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Three cognitive biases that can influence decision makers’ use of evidence about what works: An interview with Ariel Kalil, University of Chicago – Episode #185 from 2021-04-15T12:15:41
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 a...
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Insights from Tennessee’s Office of Evidence and Impact: An interview with Christin Lotz, Director – Episode #184 from 2021-03-25T16:20:11
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 evid...
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Boosting student achievement with high-dosage tutoring: An interview with Carly Robinson and Matthew Kraft, Brown University – Episode #183 from 2021-03-17T05:49:29
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 A...
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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 from 2021-02-24T05:16:23
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...
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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 from 2021-02-03T05:14:37
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 Rog...
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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 from 2021-01-25T05:33:30
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...
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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 from 2021-01-15T07:14:59
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 i...
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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 from 2021-01-08T06:19:59
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, includ...
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The role of North Carolina’s Office of Strategic Partnerships: An interview with Jenni Owen, Director of Strategic Partnerships, North Carolina – Episode #177 from 2021-01-05T06:28:46
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 Caroli...
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Colorado’s performance management strategy under Gov. Hickenlooper: An interview with David Padrino, former Chief Performance Officer, Colorado – Episode #176 from 2020-12-22T06:38:36
The State of Colorado under the previous Governor, John Hickenlooper, had a multifaceted performance-improvement strategy that included performance management, operational improvements and talen...
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King County, Washington’s Equity and Social Justice Strategic Plan: An interview with Arun Sambataro, King County – Episode #175 from 2020-12-16T07:23:07
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 o...
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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 from 2020-12-09T17:00:01
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 ...
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Insights from nearly a decade of CountyStat: An interview with Dave Gottesman, CountyStat Manager, Montgomery County, Maryland – Episode #173 from 2020-11-24T23:54:49
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 PerformanceS...
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Unlocking the power of big data to catalyze evidence-based policy: An interview with Amy O’Hara, Georgetown University – Episode #172 from 2020-11-18T11:33:53
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 perfor...
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Creating a culture of experimentation within organizations: An interview with Stefan Thomke, Harvard Business School – Episode #171 from 2020-07-03T19:58:04
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 Experimenta...
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Using behavioral insights to help recruit diverse police candidates: An interview with Elizabeth Linos, University of California, Berkeley – Episode #170 from 2020-06-08T04:01:30
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 po...
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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 from 2019-04-02T05:11:50
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 launchi...
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How Oregon’s auto-enrollment IRA program, OregonSaves, helps state residents save for retirement: An interview with Lisa Massena, Executive Director, OregonSaves – Episode #168 from 2018-03-30T10:52:32
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 Ric...
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Two promising strategies to promote college success for disadvantaged students: An interview with Lindsay Page, University of Pittsburgh, and Michael Weiss, MDRC – Episode #167 from 2018-03-20T09:30:16
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 ...
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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 from 2018-03-12T10:00:28
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 ...
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Wins for data and evidence-based policy in the bipartisan budget deal: An interview with Nick Hart, Bipartisan Policy Center – Episode #165 from 2018-02-15T08:54:09
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. Th...
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Why evaluation policies are useful to results-focused federal agencies: An interview with Naomi Goldstein, HHS, and Molly Irwin, DOL – Episode #164 from 2018-02-06T05:03:34
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 evalua...
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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 from 2018-01-31T07:33:47
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 stren...
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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 from 2018-01-25T18:42:54
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 ...
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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 from 2018-01-11T09:59:07
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 200...
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A primer on the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking’s recommendations: An interview with Nick Hart, Bipartisan Policy Center – Episode #160 from 2017-10-04T01:10:34
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 Patt...
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Strategies to sustain program impacts for children and adolescents: An interview with Greg Duncan, Professor, University of California, Irvine – Episode #159 from 2017-07-31T00:21:38
Many interventions that aim to increase the cognitive or socioemotional skills of children and adolescents have shown positive results, but far too often their impacts quickly disappear as child...
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The use of impact bonds around the world: An interview with Emily Gustafsson-Wright, Fellow, Center for Universal Education, The Brookings Institution – Episode #158 from 2017-07-26T11:47:46
Social Impact Bonds, also called Pay for Success projects in the U.S., draw on private sources of capital to fund preventive services, with governments acting as the outcome funders, paying back...
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How states can use ESSA to focus education spending on what works: An interview with Tom Kane, Professor, Harvard Graduate School of Education – Episode #157 from 2017-07-24T23:40:07
The bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was enacted in December 2015. ESSA gives states more opportunities to design their own educational systems, while also encouraging and sometimes ...
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Helping nonprofits build and use evidence through Project Evident: An interview with Kelly Fitzsimmons, Founder and Managing Director, Project Evident – Episode #156 from 2017-07-22T23:08:16
Project Evident (@project_evident) launched earlier this year to help nonprofit leaders and their funders develop and implement multi-year evidence-building plans – plans that can help those non...
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How the Connecticut Green Bank is catalyzing green energy infrastructure: An interview with Bryan Garcia, President and CEO, CT Green Bank – Episode #155 from 2017-07-18T12:25:29
The Connecticut Green Bank (@CTGreenBank) is designed to help mobilize more private investment and accelerate the growth of green energy, such as solar power, in order to create jobs, reduce gre...
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Insights from C-Stat in Colorado at year 5: An interview with Reggie Bicha, Executive Director, Colorado Department of Human Services – Episode #154 from 2017-07-16T05:55:34
The Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) recently celebrated five years of C-Stat, its performance management and leadership strategy and one of the leading examples in the U.S. of data-...
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Launching an applied research team within city government: An interview with David Yokum, Director, The Lab @ DC – Interview #153 from 2017-07-14T05:57:50
In 2016, the District of Columbia launched The Lab @ DC, based in the Office of the City Administrator within the Office of Mayor Muriel Bowser. Its mission: To embed the scientific method into ...
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How New Zealand links data from public data sets to address important policy challenges: An interview with Kelvin Watson, Deputy Chief Executive, Statistics New Zealand – Episode #152 from 2017-07-12T08:33:44
Statistics New Zealand (@Stats_NZ) is the government department of New Zealand charged with collecting and producing statistical information. It is known as a leader in terms of linking data fro...
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Linking data to improve human services while working within privacy laws: An interview with Erin Dalton and Brian Bell, Allegheny County Department of Human Services – Episode #151 from 2017-07-10T16:20:51
The Department of Human Services (DHS) in Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh, is a leader in the use of data to continually improve services for its residents. In 1999, DHS created its ...
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Four fundamental principles of evidence-based policy and practice, drawing from U.S. and European experience: An interview with Howard White, Executive Director, Campbell Collaboration – Episode #150 from 2017-06-25T23:24:14
What principles can help guide public leaders—whether policymakers or public managers—in their use of evidence-based policy to improve results? Howard White (@HowardNWhite) of the Campbell Colla...
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The opportunities and pitfalls of government reorganization: An interview with Bob Behn, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School – Episode #149 from 2017-06-22T08:07:57
Last month, President Trump issued an executive order calling for agencies to analyze their structures and programs in preparation for a major reorganization. The Trump administration’s fo...
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An overview of Performance Partnership Pilots for Disconnected Youth, with lessons for other areas of social policy: An interview with Thaddeus Ferber, Vice President, Forum for Youth Investment – Episode #148 from 2017-06-02T19:30:01
One of the most innovative new approaches in Federal policy is known as Performance Partnership Pilots, also called P3. In 2014, Congress authorized several Federal agencies, including Education...
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How the Rhode Island Innovative Policy Lab (RIIPL) works: An interview with Justine Hastings, Director, RIIPL – Episode #147 from 2017-05-26T18:09:31
In 2015, a unique collaboration was launched call the Rhode Island Innovative Policy Lab (RIIPL). It is a partnership between researchers at Brown University and the Office of the Governor of Rh...
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The importance of replication and validation in evidence-based policy: An interview with Tammy Chang, U.S. Treasury Department, and Nathaniel Higgins, formerly U.S. Social and Behavioral Sciences Team – Episode #146 from 2017-05-24T04:55:13
In this podcast episode, we explore two real-life stories from the front lines of government performance improvement efforts that highlight the importance of replication and validation in eviden...
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How Massachusetts provides education policymakers with research insights: An interview with Carrie Conaway, Chief Strategy and Research Officer, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education – Episode #145 from 2017-05-12T22:56:27
Massachusetts is known as a leader in providing education policymakers with research findings that they can use to improve policy and practices. The state’s Office of Planning and Research...
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How Seattle used results-driven contracting to improve homeless services: An interview with Jason Johnson, Deputy Director, Human Services Department, City of Seattle – Episode #144 from 2017-05-10T05:30:17
Because many of the most important functions of state and local governments involve contracting for goods and services supplied by the private sector, improving procurement processes is an impor...
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How states can optimize their pre-K programs: An interview with Greg Duncan, Professor, UC Irvine, and Member, Pre-Kindergarten Task Force – Episode #143 from 2017-05-03T08:51:28
Forty-two states and the District of Columbia spent $6.2 billion in state funds on pre-kindergarten programs in 2015, highlighting the emphasis that policymakers are placing on pre-k to help stu...
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How states can use “efficacy networks” to test strategies for school improvement: An interview with Tom Kane, Professor, Harvard Graduate School of Education – Episode #142 from 2017-04-27T12:07:43
The new federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), emphasizes the importance of evidence, including defining four levels of evidence-based practices. The law, however, leaves ...
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Transforming the culture of procurement in state and local government: An interview with Jeffrey Liebman, Director, Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab – Episode #141 from 2017-04-20T04:31:46
“Many of the most important functions of state and local governments – from building and maintaining roads to housing the homeless – involve contracting for goods and services supplied by ...
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Insights from the only Federal department with two Deputy Secretaries: An interview with Heather Higginbottom, former Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources, U.S. Department of State – Episode #140 from 2017-04-13T07:28:54
Almost all Federal agencies are lead by a Secretary and a Deputy Secretary. But in 2000, Congress created a new position at the State Department, the Deputy Secretary of State for Management and...
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Transforming support services in Federal agencies: An interview with Jeffrey Neal, Former Chief Human Capital Officer, Defense Logistics Agency and Department of Homeland Security – Episode #139 from 2017-04-07T08:29:24
How can Federal agencies successfully streamline their support services, such as HR and IT, to boost efficiency and improve results? We get insights from Jeffrey Neal (@JeffNealHR), a leading ex...
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Creating a results-focused city government: An interview with Michael Nutter, former Mayor of Philadelphia – Episode #138 from 2016-08-26T08:33:43
What is the value of evidence and data for elected city leaders as well as how can those leaders create a results-focused culture within city government? We get insights from Michael Nutter who ...
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Making rigorous program evaluation easier with RCT-YES software: An interview with Peter Schochet, Fellow, Mathematica Policy Research – Episode #137 from 2016-08-19T06:23
Public leaders — whether they’re helping run a state agency, a school system, a hospital, a set of Head Start centers or any other organization — are likely to implement change...
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Lessons in applying behavioral insights to human services from the Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) project: An interview with Lashawn Richburg-Hayes and Nadine Deshausay, MDRC – Episode #136 from 2016-08-10T21:49:27
In 2010, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched a project to explore how programs could advance their goals, and address ...
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How states and localities are improving the quality of education, health, and human services through integrated data systems: An interview with Dennis Culhane, Professor, University of Pennsylvania – Episode #135 from 2016-08-05T20:57:34
Programs and agencies in government often exist in silos, where the efforts of one aren’t necessarily connected with others and their data are not shared between them. That slows the process wit...
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Why broadening access to Federal administrative data is critical for improving government services and increasing taxpayer value: An interview with Maria Cancian, Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison – Episode #134 from 2016-08-03T05:43:40
Federal programs produce a lot of data — known as administrative data — and those data can be very useful for program administrators and researchers to answer important questions abo...
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Test, learn and adapt – How public agencies can use researcher-practitioner partnerships to test low-cost, light-touch interventions: An interview with Adam Sacarny, Professor, Columbia University – Episode #133 from 2016-07-27T08:24:03
How can public agencies can use rapid, low-cost experiments to test (and learn from) low-cost, light-touch interventions such as communications and outreach strategies? Also, how can agencies pa...
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How Utah became a leader in evidence-based policymaking: An interview with Kristen Cox, Director, Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget, and Jonathan Ball, Director, Utah Fiscal Analysts Office – Episode #132 from 2016-07-22T09:51:18
Utah is one of the top states in the U.S. in terms of evidence-based policymaking and budgeting. In particular, with efforts by the Utah State Legislature and the administration of Governor Gary...
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How the State of Mississippi uses evidence-based budgeting to increase return on investment and improve program outcomes: An interview with Toby Barker, Mississippi State Representative – Episode #131 from 2016-07-15T22:17:16
Over the past several years, the State of Mississippi has taken important steps to use evidence in order to get better results from state spending and, in turn, achieve better outcomes for the p...
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How the UK’s Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) is building rigorous evidence about how to close education achievement gaps: An interview with Sir Kevan Collins, Chief Executive, EEF – Episode #130 from 2016-07-13T10:27:21
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) is dedicated to breaking the link between family income and educational achievement. To do that, it has a unique strategy: increasing the supply of high-...
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Transforming Federal grant programs from compliance driven to results focused: An interview with Robert Gordon, former Acting Deputy Director, White House Office of Management and Budget – Episode #129 from 2016-07-07T06:31:40
If you think about what the Federal government does, grant making may not be the first thing you think of. Even so, billions of dollars flow from the Federal level to states, localities and nonp...
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Creating successful researcher-practitioner partnerships at the Federal level: An interview with Dayanand Manoli, Professor, University of Texas at Austin – Episode #128 from 2016-07-01T06:09:06
An important and underused opportunity for public agencies to improve their results and tackle critical challenges is researcher-practitioner partnerships. When researchers and government execut...
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Raising job quality and skills for American workers through more effective education and workforce development within states: An interview with Harry Holzer, Professor, Georgetown University – Episode #127 from 2016-06-25T16:39:01
How can the United States raise job quality and skills for American workers through more effective education and workforce development within states? In particular: How can we fix the misalignme...
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Using school-based health centers to address the health needs of low-income youth: An interview with Olga Acosta Price, Professor, The George Washington University – Episode #126 from 2016-06-10T17:34:28
How can communities better address young people’s physical and emotional health needs? A growing trend is the use of school-based health centers. The goal is to provide convenient, accessi...
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How one Federal agency, the Corporation for National and Community Service, strengthened the role of evidence in a key grant program, AmeriCorps: An interview with Diana Epstein and Carla Ganiel, CNCS – Episode #125 from 2016-06-06T05:46:09
The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is probably best known for overseeing the AmeriCorps program. The program provides grants to nonprofits and local governments to address...
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Twelve “better practices” that can help public leaders tackle key organizational challenges and boost results: An interview with Bob Behn, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School – Episode #124 from 2016-05-27T17:30:43
Bob Behn of the Harvard Kennedy School is one of the leading thinkers on the subjects of public management and leadership. He has argued that public agencies are unlikely to produce better resul...
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How school districts can use rigorous program evaluation to test new education reforms: An interview with Matthew Lenard, Director, Data Strategy and Analytics, Wake County Public Schools – Episode #123 from 2016-05-13T07:25:35
When schools or school districts implement district wide reform initiatives, how can they accurately determine if those reform efforts are having the positive effects that school leaders had hop...
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Determining if your program is having a positive impact (i.e., impact evaluation 101): An interview with David Evans, Senior Economist, The World Bank – Episode #122 from 2016-05-02T07:28:11
Is my program or initiative having a positive impact? It’s a question about which organizational leaders may want hard evidence, either to take stock and help improve program results, or t...
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Using intensive, individualized math tutoring to boost academic outcomes of disadvantaged youth: An interview with Jonathan Guryan, Professor, Northwestern University – Episode #121 from 2016-04-26T05:32:39
Improving schooling outcomes of disadvantaged youth is a top policy priority in the United States, but few interventions have produced convincing evidence that they can improve those outcomes, e...
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Lessons from the nation’s first Social Impact Bond, aimed at reducing recidivism among adolescent offenders at Rikers Island: An interview with Gordon Berlin, President, MDRC – Episode #120 from 2016-04-20T09:56:01
A Social Impact Bond (SIB) uses private funds – from philanthropy or other investors — to pay for a social, educational, or health programs. Importantly, the government only repays investo...
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How the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Dept. of Education is helping the education field to learn and do what works: An interview with Russ Whitehurst, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution – Episode #119 from 2016-04-15T08:13:17
Over the last 15 years, the field of education has become considerably more evidence focused, including a growing number of high-quality studies about how to help students succeed in school. An ...
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Milwaukee’s three-pronged strategy to reduce teen pregnancy: An interview with Bevan Baker, Commissioner of Health, City of Milwaukee, and Nicole Angresano, United Way of Greater Milwaukee – Episode #118 from 2016-04-13T10:34:23
Milwaukee’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative, launched in 2008, is a citywide effort led by the United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County. It has been recognized as a model o...
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Three strategies to promote relevance in program evaluations so that findings are useful to policymakers and practitioners: An interview with Evan Weissman, Senior Associate, MDRC – Episode #117 from 2016-04-04T07:30:18
In program evaluation, using the most rigorous methods possible is essential for producing credible research findings. But beyond the goal of rigor, relevance is important too. In particular, th...
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Improving student outcomes by giving parents detailed information about their child’s academic progress: An interview with Peter Bergman, Professor, Teachers College, Columbia University – Episode #116 from 2016-03-28T07:09:59
Can regular, detailed information sent to parents about their students’ progress lead to improved student achievement? That question was put to the test by in a field experiment in the Los...
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Las Vegas’s data-driven effort to improve traffic safety at its most dangerous intersections: An interview with Betsy Fretwell, City Manager, City of Las Vegas – Episode #115 from 2016-03-24T22:35:16
Today, results-focused cities are using data to improve city services, boost the quality of life, and literally save lives. The City of Las Vegas has gained a reputation for its data-focused app...
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Insights from the City of New Orleans’ analytics unit, NOLAlytics, about using data to improve city services: An interview with Oliver Wise, Director, Office of Performance and Accountability, City of New Orleans – Episode #114 from 2016-03-18T13:34:08
The City of New Orleans under Mayor Mitch Landrieu has gained a reputation as being one of the most innovative and data-driven city governments. An important element in those efforts is the Offi...
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Improving health outcomes of older adults while reducing costs through the nursing-led Transitional Care Model: An interview with Mary Naylor, Professor, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing – Episode #113 from 2016-03-15T22:38:16
In the U.S., more than a third of elderly patients discharged from hospitals are re-admitted within 90 days, often needlessly. An intervention that is helping change that is the nursing-led Tran...
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Using randomized evaluations to address global poverty and other social policy challenges: An interview with Dean Karlan, Professor, Yale University, and President, Innovations for Poverty Action – Episode #112 from 2016-03-09T06:42:42
Addressing the nation’s — and the world’s — biggest challenges will require learning and doing what works. A powerful tool for doing that is the randomized evaluation, al...
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Increasing diversity in the sciences through the Meyerhoff Scholars Program: An interview with Freeman Hrabowski, President, University of Maryland, Baltimore County – Episode #111 from 2016-02-19T06:31:55
The Meyerhoff Scholars Program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is at the forefront of efforts to increase diversity among future leaders in the sciences. It was launched i...
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How Allegheny County’s Data Warehouse is improving human services through integrated data: An interview with Erin Dalton, Allegheny County Department of Human Services – Episode #110 from 2016-02-17T08:25:27
Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh, is recognized as a leader in using data to improve the results of its human services programs. In particular, the county’s Department of Human Servic...
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How Philadelphia became a leader in the use of data and evidence: An interview with Maia Jachimowicz, V.P. for Evidence-Based Policy, Results for America, and former policy director to Mayor Michael Nutter – Episode #109 from 2016-02-15T07:10:16
Michael Nutter served as Mayor of Philadelphia from 2008 to 2016. During his eight years in office, the city became a leader in the use of data, evidence and evaluation to improve outcomes for c...
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The first-year effects of Mexico’s soda tax: An interview with Barry Popkin, Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health – Episode #108 from 2016-02-11T08:05:31
Can a tax on sugary drinks reduce consumption and therefore fight obesity? The nation of Mexico, which has similarly high rates of obesity as the United States, is putting that question to the t...
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Using behavioral insights to design smarter school lunchrooms: An interview with David Just, Co-Director, Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Programs – Episode #107 from 2016-02-04T19:13:41
How can schools use low-cost solutions to help children make healthier food choices? David Just is an expert on that topic. An economist by training, he is a professor at Cornell University and ...
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How Mexico took on the soda industry and won, passing a soda tax: An interview with Tina Rosenberg, New York Times and Solutions Journalism Network – Episode #106 from 2016-02-02T07:08:49
Mexico consumes a lot of soda and its soda industry (particularly Coca-Cola) is very powerful. Even so, in 2013, Mexico’s congress was able to successfully pass a nationwide one-peso-per-l...
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Calling on states to close their youth prisons: An interview with Patrick McCarthy, President, Annie E. Casey Foundation – Episode #105 from 2016-01-14T08:34:02
The Annie E. Casey Foundation, through its juvenile justice initiative, has documented widespread maltreatment of youth in state-funded juvenile corrections facilities, including high rates of s...
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Doubling community college graduation rates through CUNY’s ASAP program: An interview with Donna Linderman, Dean for Student Success Initiatives, City University of New York – Episode #104 from 2016-01-08T07:47:44
Increasing the graduation rates at community colleges is an important national challenge. Nationally, less than 40 percent of community college students attain a degree or certificate — an...
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Colorado’s Family Planning Initiative: An interview with Larry Wolk, Executive Director, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment – Episode #103 from 2015-12-30T07:12:46
To quote social policy expert Isabel Sawhill, “If we want to reduce poverty [in the U.S.], one of the simplest, fastest and cheapest things we could do would be to make sure that as few pe...
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Using food banks to fight diabetes and promote health for vulnerable populations: An interview with Dr. Hilary Seligman, Professor, University of California, San Francisco – Episode #102 from 2015-12-13T07:41:24
Can food banks be used to address diet-sensitive disease in low-income communities? A new study of a pilot intervention suggests they can. Between 2012 and 2014, researchers enrolled almost 700 ...
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Colorado’s lean initiative in state government: An interview with Henry Sobanet, Director of the Office of State Planning and Budgeting, State of Colorado – Episode #101 from 2015-11-29T06:43:42
Colorado is a leader among U.S. states in involving state employees in efforts to make state government agencies and programs more efficient and effective through a so-called lean approach. Lean...
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A bold proposal to catalyze progress on key social policy challenges, the Ten Year Challenge: An interview with Jeffrey Liebman, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School – Episode #100 from 2015-11-12T07:33:21
How can the nation catalyze progress on key social policy challenges? A bold proposal, called the Ten Year Challenge, calls for selecting ten important social challenges and then having the fede...
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Reducing bullying in schools through a peer-based strategy: An interview with Betsy Levy Paluck, Professor, Princeton University – Episode #99 from 2015-11-05T09:20:43
There is growing awareness in the U.S. of the problem of bullying in middle and high school. Between a third and a fourth of all students say they have been bullied by other students, whether ve...
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Applying behavioral insights through the EAST (Easy, Attractive, Social, Timely) framework: An interview with Simon Ruda, UK Behavioral Insights Team – Episode #98 from 2015-10-30T09:14:38
How can public leaders, whether you’re running a large department or a small program, apply the insights of behavioral economics and other behavioral sciences to improve results? A simplif...
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How a small nonprofit in New Mexico achieves big good government wins: An interview with Fred Nathan, Executive Director, Think New Mexico – Episode #97 from 2015-10-23T07:45:41
Fred Nathan of the nonpartisan nonprofit Think New Mexico describes the results-focused strategies it uses to achieve landmark good government laws.
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Improving the outcomes of disadvantaged youth by teaching them to be less automatic: An interview with Jens Ludwig, Director, University of Chicago Crime Lab – Episode #96 from 2015-10-11T15:16:16
How can we help disadvantaged youth avoid negative outcomes such as delinquency and dropout? A recent NBER working paper presents findings from three randomized control trials that help low-income ...
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Using behavioral insights to improve government performance: An interview with Maya Shankar, Chair, White House Social and Behavioral Science Team – Episode #95 from 2015-10-04T15:19:17
Maya Shankar of the White House Social & Behavioral Sciences Team discuses how federal agencies are using behavioral insights to tackle important challenges.
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How to design performance measures to better measure impact: An interview with Peter Schochet, Senior Fellow, Mathematica Policy Research – Episode #94 from 2015-09-24T07:58:36
Peter Schochet of Mathematica Policy Research on how to design performance measures to better measure impact, including using regression-adjusted measures.
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Strengthening a culture of data-driven decision making: An interview with Carter Hewgley, Enterprise Analytics Division Director, FEMA – Episode #93 from 2015-08-29T21:33:58
How can public agencies strengthen a culture of data-driven decision making? We explore that question with Carter Hewgley, the Enterprise Analytics Division Director at the Federal Emergency Manage...
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Connecting decision makers with high-quality research through the What Works Clearinghouse: An interview with Joy Lesnick of the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education – Episode #92 from 2015-08-25T06:06:41
Joy Lesnick of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) at the U.S. Department of Education provides an overview of the What Works Clearinghouse.
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Setting HUD’s research agenda with input from the field through its Research Roadmap: An interview with Katherine O’Regan, Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Episode #91 from 2015-05-21T07:37:44
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) invests significant resources ($237 million since 2009) in research and evaluation to improve the evidence base for policymaking and the e...
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Exploring how outstanding public executives make tough decisions: An interview with Ronald Sanders, Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton – Episode #90 from 2015-05-19T06:19:34
Ronald Sanders, Vice President at Booz Allen Hamilton, discusses exploratory research on how outstanding government executives make tough decisions.
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Using the Balanced Scorecard in the public sector: An interview with Kenneth Thompson, Professor, Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, DePaul University – Episode #89 from 2015-05-13T07:22:49
Kenneth Thompson, Professor of Management at DePaul University, shares insights about applying the Balanced Scorecard to public sector agencies.
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Implementing a turnaround strategy at DOL: An interview with Seth Harris, former Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor – Episode #88 from 2015-04-27T02:11:10
Seth Harris, the former Deputy Secretary of Labor, discusses DOL's successful strategy to strengthen a culture of results, data and learning.
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Insights from the FTC about promoting employee engagement: An interview with David Robbins, Executive Director, Federal Trade Commission – Episode #87 from 2015-04-20T00:18:05
Given the Federal Trade Commission's high ranking on employee engagement, Exec. Director David Robbins discusses how the agency works to foster engagement.
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Using Pay for Success to fund early-childhood programs: An interview with Janis Dubno, Voices for Utah Children – Episode #86 from 2015-04-15T07:10:31
Janis Dubno of Voices for Utah Children provides lessons on using Pay for Success, aka Social Impact Bonds, to fund early childhood interventions.
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Closing the social-class achievement gap for first-generation college students: An interview with Nicole Stephens, Professor, Northwestern University – Episode #85 from 2015-04-01T07:42:06
Professor Nicole Stephens of Northwestern University discusses a brief difference-education intervention for first generation college students.
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Using analytics to tackle tough agency challenges: An interview with Dean Silverman, former head of the IRS Office of Compliance Analytics – Episode #84 from 2015-03-26T08:08:38
Dean Silverman, the former head of the IRS Office of Compliance Analytics, discusses how public agencies can use analytics to tackle key challenges.
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The importance of administrative data for learning what works in public policy: An interview with Raj Chetty, Professor, Harvard University – Episode #83 from 2015-03-18T08:17:58
Raj Chetty of Harvard University discusses why administrative data are useful & what policymakers can do to strengthen its use for policy-relevant research.
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