For Immediate Release

November 1, 2017

Contact: Cheryl Oros, Ph.D.

Senior Advisor to the Evaluation Policy Task Force

American Evaluation Association

202-367-1166

EvaluationPolicy@eval.org

AEA Press Release on Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking Report

The American Evaluation Association (AEA) applauds the work of the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking and its final report, The Promise of Evidence-Based Policymaking, issued in September 2017. The report makes a very thoughtful contribution to the ongoing discussion of how the federal government can ensure that decision makers have access to credible information on the performance and results of government programs and policies. As the Commission notes, "Generating and using evidence to inform government policymaking and program administration is not a partisan issue." The Commission's recommendations represent a nonpartisan approach to making greater use of data the government already collects, improving data privacy protections, and strengthening the government's capacity to generate the evidence needed to support policy decisions.

In particular, the recommendations to strengthen the government's evidence-building capacity mirror our own in An Evaluation Roadmap for a More Effective Government (2013): to institutionalize evaluation as an integral component of government program management; to ensure evaluations provide the information needed to inform planning, budgeting, and ongoing program management; and to ensure agencies have sufficient resources to support credible, systematic data collection and analysis.

AEA thanks the Commissioners and staff for their hard work, as well as Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator Patty Murray for authoring the legislation establishing the Commission and their ongoing commitment to encouraging the development and use of evidence to build strong public policy. While the report's recommendations are an important start, many details of implementation remain to be determined. AEA looks forward to working with Congress and the federal agencies on legislation and policy changes to strengthen a government culture of learning and improvement.

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The American Evaluation Association is a professional association of evaluators devoted to the application and exploration of program evaluation, personnel evaluation, technology, and many other forms of evaluation. Evaluation involves assessing the strengths and weaknesses of programs, policies, personnel, products, and organizations to improve their effectiveness. AEA has approximately 7600 members representing all 50 states in the United States as well as over 80 foreign countries. The American Evaluation Association seeks to act in ways that embody our mission, vision, and values in pursuit of our defined policies and goals.