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Evidence-based policy news updates from the Social Innovation Research Center.

Leading News / Featured

Government Executive, Evidence Commission Outlook – New Hope for Proponents of Evidence-Based Policy (April 8, 2016)
http://www.govexec.com/excellence/promising-practices/2016/04/theres-new-hope-proponents-evidence-based-policy/127351/

Urban Institute, Everything You Need to Know About the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking (April 6, 2016)
http://www.urban.org/urban-wire/everything-you-need-know-about-commission-evidence-based-policymaking

Events

W.T. Grant Foundation, American Educational Research Association (April 9-10)
http://wtgrantfoundation.org/presidents-comment-aera-turns-100

Results for America, What Works in Federal Agencies (April 18, 2016)
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/what-works-in-federal-agencies-tickets-22467907115

National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives, Congressional Briefing: Supporting Healthy Parenting through Primary Care (April 19, 2016)
http://www.npscoalition.org/#!healthy-parenting/j2vyt

ICS, Third Annual Conference on Early Childhood PFS (June 22-24, 2016)
http://pfs.instituteforchildsuccess.org/third-annual-early-childhood-social-impact-performance-advisors-conference/

Grants

Dept. of Education Office of Innovation and Improvement, Update on OII’s FY 2016 Grant Competitions & Awards (April 2016)
http://innovation.ed.gov/2016/04/01/update-on-oiis-fy-2016-grant-competitions-awards/

J-PAL, Health Care Delivery Innovation Competition (March 2016)
https://www.povertyactionlab.org/hcdi-innovation-competition

Nonprofit Finance Fund, Social Innovation Fund: PFS Transaction Structuring Program (March 2016)
http://www.payforsuccess.org/sif

Social Innovation Fund, SIF Classic Notice of Funding Availability FY 2016 (March 2016)
http://www.nationalservice.gov/build-your-capacity/grants/funding-opportunities/2016/sif-classic-NOFA-FY16

Annie E. Casey Foundation, New $5 Million Grant Program Will Connect Youth Facing Obstacles to Higher Education and Employment (February 25, 2016)
http://www.aecf.org/blog/new-5-million-grant-program-will-connect-youth-facing-obstacles-to-higher-education-and-employment/

Jobs

Urban Institute, Research Associate II (Policy Advisory Group/Justice Policy/Pay for Success)
https://urban.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Urban-Careers/job/The-Urban-Institute-DC/Research-Associate-II–Policy-Advisory-Group-Justice-Policy-_R-800053-1

Data

GovLab, Key Findings of the Open Data Impact Case Studies (March 2016)
http://odimpact.org/key-findings.html

Education

Brookings, Federally-supported Education Research Doesn’t Need a Do-over (April 7, 2016)
http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2016/04/07-federally-supported-research-doesnt-need-do-over-neild

Fordham Institute, How to Use Social Impact Bonds to Grow Effective Education Initiatives (April 6, 2016)
http://edexcellence.net/articles/how-to-use-social-impact-bonds-to-grow-effective-education-initiatives

Robert Slavin, Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University, Accelerating the Pace of Innovation (April 6, 2016)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-e-slavin/accelerating-the-pace-of_b_9626906.html

Education Week, Diane Ravitch Urges Parents to Opt Children Out of Common-Core Exams (April 4, 2016)
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/state_edwatch/2016/04/diane_ravitch_tells_parents_to_opt-out_of_common_core_exams.html

Robert Slavin, Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University, Is All That Glitters Gold-Standard? (March 31, 2016)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-e-slavin/is-all-that-glitters-gold_b_9584118.html

Sarah Mead, US News, Learning From Teach For America (March 31, 2016)
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/knowledge-bank/articles/2016-03-31/education-institutions-should-learn-from-teach-for-americas-restructuring

Education Week, What Will the New Federal Evidence-Based Policymaking Commission Do? (March 31, 2016)
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/inside-school-research/2016/03/obama_signs_bipartisan_bill_to.html

Education Week, House Hearing Weighs Student-Data Privacy Concerns (March 29, 2016)
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/03/30/house-hearing-weighs-student-data-privacy-concerns.html

Education Week, CAOs and CTOs Ramp Up on Collaboration (March 28, 2016)
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/03/28/caos-and-ctos-ramp-up-on-collaboration.html

U.S. News, Education Research Needs Data (March 25, 2016)
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/knowledge-bank/articles/2016-03-25/student-data-privacy-and-education-research-must-be-balanced

U.S. Department of Education, Data-Sharing Tool Kit for Communities (March 2016)
http://www2.ed.gov/programs/promiseneighborhoods/datasharingtool.pdf

Education Week, Lessons From i3: California, Georgia Schools Learn From ‘Failed’ Interventions (March 24, 2016)
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/inside-school-research/2016/03/stories_from_i3_california_sch.html

Education Week, i3 Grants: Findings From the First Round (March 24, 2016)
http://www.edweek.org/ew/section/multimedia/i3-grants-findings-from-the-first-round.html

Education Week, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Federal Innovation Grants (March 23, 2016)
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2016/03/everything_you_ever_wanted_to_2.html

Education Week, Investing in Innovation: An Introduction to i3 (March 23, 2016)
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/03/23/investing-in-innovation-an-introduction-to-i3.html

Bellwether Education Partners, How Should States Design School Rating Systems? A Conversation with an Expert (March 24, 2016)
http://aheadoftheheard.org/how-should-states-design-school-rating-systems-a-conversation-with-an-expert

Education Week, Education Data, Student Privacy Take Spotlight at Capitol Hill Hearing (March 22, 2016)
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2016/03/education_privacy_research_congressional_hearing.html

New America, Standardized Assessments of College Learning (March 22, 2016)
https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/standardized-assessments-of-college-learning/

Data Quality Campaign, Roadmap for Early Childhood and K-12 Data Linkages (January 20, 2016)
http://dataqualitycampaign.org/find-resources/roadmap-for-early-childhood-and-k-12-data-linkages/

Evidence

W.T. Grant Foundation, What is the Conceptual Use of Research, and Why is it Important? (April 8, 2016)
http://wtgrantfoundation.org/conceptual-use-research-important

Gov Innovator, Three Strategies to Promote Relevance in Program Evaluations: An Interview with Evan Weissman, Senior Associate, MDRC (April 4, 2016)
http://govinnovator.com/evan-weissman/

Annie E. Casey Foundation, New Paper Examines Role of Centers of Excellence in Promoting Systems Reform (March 24, 2016)
http://www.aecf.org/blog/new-paper-examines-role-of-centers-of-excellence-in-promoting-systems-reform/

William J. Congdon and Maya Shankar, The White House Social & Behavioral Sciences Team: Lessons Learned from Year One (March 2016)
https://behavioralpolicy.org/article/the-white-house-social-behavioral-sciences-team-lessons-learned-from-year-one/

538 Blog, Failure Is Moving Science Forward (March 24, 2016)
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/failure-is-moving-science-forward/

BMJ Blogs, The Rise of Rapid Reviews (March 24, 2016)
http://blogs.bmj.com/ce/2016/03/24/the-rise-of-rapid-reviews/

W.T. Grant Foundation, The Next Generation of Evidence-based Policy (March 23, 2016)
http://wtgrantfoundation.org/evidence-crossroads-pt-11-next-generation-evidence-based-policy

Hewlett Foundation, Are You Sure Policy Can’t Wait for Research? (March 21, 2016)
http://www.hewlett.org/blog/posts/are-you-sure-policy-can%E2%80%99t-wait-research-0

ERIC, Estimating the Difference Between Published and Unpublished Effect Sizes: A Meta-Review (March 2016)
http://eric.ed.gov/?q=polanin&ff1=dtyIn_2016&id=EJ1090515

Results for America, Local Governments’ Use of Evidence in Policymaking (March 2016)
http://results4america.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Local-Government-Fellows-Brief-SMALL.pdf

Pew Charitable Trusts, Pew and MacArthur Foundation Renew Partnership for Results First (March 11, 2016)
http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/analysis/2016/03/11/pew-and-macarthur-foundation-renew-partnership-for-results-first

Health

US News, Hospital Groups Debate How to Grade Quality of Care: Social and Demographic Factors Need to be Taken into Account. (April 8, 2016)
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/hospital-of-tomorrow/articles/2016-04-08/hospital-groups-debate-how-to-grade-quality-of-care

Fierce Healthpayer, Why Healthcare Needs Standard Care Quality Measures (April 8, 2016)
http://www.fiercehealthpayer.com/story/marilynn-tavenner-karen-desalvo-why-healthcare-needs-standard-care-quality/2016-04-07

NE Journal of Medicine, Finding Value in Unexpected Places – Fixing the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (April 7, 2016)
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1600999

Healthcare Informatics, Getting More Out of Your EHR: What Will it Take? (April 5, 2016)
http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/article/getting-more-out-your-ehr-what-will-it-take

Washington Post, Under Pressure to Digitize Everything, Hospitals Are Hackers’ Biggest New Target (April 1, 2016)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/04/01/under-pressure-to-digitize-everything-hospitals-are-hackers-biggest-new-target/

Health Affairs Blog, The Challenges Of Rewarding Value Over Volume Without Penalizing Safety-Net Hospitals (March 30, 2016)
http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2016/03/30/the-challenges-of-rewarding-value-over-volume-without-penalizing-safety-net-hospitals/

Washington Post, Drug Companies Are Sharing Their Data – But Few are Looking (March 29, 2016)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/03/29/pharma-companies-are-sharing-their-data-but-few-are-looking/

SIRC, Medicare and Medicaid Continue Transition to Value-based Payments (March 28, 2016)
http://www.socialinnovationcenter.org/?p=2022

Health Payer Intelligence, Medicaid Challenges with Value-Based Care Payment Models (March 28, 2016)
http://healthpayerintelligence.com/news/medicaid-challenges-with-value-based-care-payment-models

Health Affairs Blog, Value Pricing For Drugs: Whose Value, What Price? (March 28, 2016)
http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2016/03/28/value-pricing-for-drugs-whose-value-what-price/

Commonwealth Fund, Transforming Care: Reporting on Health System Improvement (March 24, 2016)
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/newsletters/transforming-care/2016/march/sidebar

Federal Computer Week, Do Health IT and Privacy Rules Need a Refresh? (March 23, 2016)
https://fcw.com/articles/2016/03/23/health-it-law-noble.aspx

Commonwealth Fund / CQ Roll Call, Lawmakers Urge Administration to Update Health IT Rules (March 22, 2016)
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/newsletters/washington-health-policy-in-review/2016/mar/march-28-2016/lawmakers-urge-administration-to-update-health-it-rules

Stuart Butler @Brookings, How Can We Know If Social Programs Will Work? (March 22, 2016)
http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2016/03/22/how_can_we_know_if_social_programs_will_work__102075.html

Nonprofits and Philanthropy

NPQ, The Strategic Philanthropy Crowd: Qualified Apologies-R-Us (April 6, 2016)
http://nonprofitquarterly.org/2016/04/06/the-strategic-philanthropy-crowd-qualified-apologies-r-us/

Kate Wolford @CEP Blog, Transparency for Impact (March 18, 2016)
http://www.effectivephilanthropy.org/transparency-for-impact/

GEO, Systems Grantmaking (March 2016)
http://systems.geofunders.org/

Pay for Success

Open Minds, Pay-For-Success Takes Aim At Child Services (April 7, 2016)
https://www.openminds.com/market-intelligence/executive-briefings/the-shifting-target-for-pay-for-success-child-services.htm/

Fordham Institute, How to use Social Impact Bonds to Grow Effective Education Initiatives (April 6, 2016)
http://edexcellence.net/articles/how-to-use-social-impact-bonds-to-grow-effective-education-initiatives

IBM Center for the Business of Government, Funding What Works Requires Building Performance Systems (April 5, 2016)
http://www.businessofgovernment.org/blog/business-government/funding-what-works-requires-building-performance-systems

SIB Review (April 4, 2016)
http://us3.campaign-archive2.com/?u=03a8ec6bb8a686493aa74892d&id=4126c6a85d

Third Sector Capital Partners, Why Run a PFS Pilot Program? (April 4, 2016)
http://www.thirdsectorcap.org/why-run-a-pfs-pilot-program/

Urban Institute, New Pay for Success Portal (March 29, 2016)
http://pfs.urban.org/

Urban Institute, Notes from the Field: (Strategic) Planning for Success with Our NoSA Applicants (April 2016)
http://pfs.urban.org/pay-success/pfs-perspectives/notes-field-strategic-planning-success-our-nosa-applicants

Governing, A New Twist on ‘Pay for Success’ Programs (March 24, 2016)
http://www.governing.com/topics/finance/gov-new-twist-pay-for-success-programs.html

Third Sector Capital Partners, An Alternative to the Social Impact Bond? (March 23, 2016)
http://www.thirdsectorcap.org/social-impact-guarantee/

Harvard Kennedy School, How “Pay for Success” Allows Governments to Experiment Without Risk (March 23, 2016)
http://hkspolicycast.org/post/141547555485/governments-of-all-sizes-are-often-admonished-for

Third Sector Capital Partners, Authorizing Pay for Success Projects – Legislative Review (March 22, 2016)
http://www.thirdsectorcap.org/social-innovation-fund/authorizing-pay-for-success-projects-legislative-review/

Nonprofits Assistance Fund, What Has Stalled Implementation of the Minnesota Pay for Performance Bond Pilot? (March 22, 2016)
https://nonprofitsassistancefund.org/blog/2016/03/what-has-stalled-implementation-of-minnesota-pay-for-performance-bond-pilot#sthash.ki4n6sno.dpuf

HUD, Financing Effective Housing Interventions With Pay for Success (March 2016)
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/periodicals/em/winter16/highlight3.html

Performance

Cities Today, New Report Reveals How Data Can Drive Better Policymaking (April 5, 2016)
http://cities-today.com/how-11-american-cities-are-using-data-and-evidence-to-drive-better-policymaking/

IBM Center for the Business of Government, Does Performance Matter? (March 28, 2016)
http://www.businessofgovernment.org/blog/business-government/does-performance-matter

The Economist, How Cities Score (March 26, 2016)
http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21695194-better-use-data-could-make-cities-more-efficientand-more-democratic-how-cities-score

Bruce Katz @Brookings, Devolution For an Urban Age: City Power and Problem-solving (March 25, 2016)
http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/metropolitan-revolution/posts/2016/03/25-city-power-problem-solving-katz

Harvard Ash Center, GIS in Focus (March 25, 2016)
http://datasmart.ash.harvard.edu/news/article/gis-in-focus-807

Stephen Goldsmith, Overcoming the Data Gap (March 23, 2016)
http://datasmart.ash.harvard.edu/news/article/overcoming-the-data-gap-804

Stanford Social Innovation Review, Forgetting Failure (March 22, 2016)
http://ssir.org/articles/entry/forgetting_failure

Next City, How the City of New Orleans Nudged Residents by Texting (March 22, 2016)
https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/new-orleans-behavioral-science-text-doctor-visit

Stanford Social Innovation Review, Who Will Pay for Data? (Spring 2016)
http://ssir.org/articles/entry/who_will_pay_for_data

Gov Innovator, Insights from the City of New Orleans’ Analytics Unit, NOLAlytics, about Using Data to Improve City Services (March 18, 2016)
http://govinnovator.com/oliver-wise/

Governing, Government’s Data-Driven Frenemies (March 17, 2016)
http://www.governing.com/columns/smart-mgmt/gov-performance-measurement-program-evaluator.html

Social Services

Social Innovation Fund, A Forum on the Social Innovation Fund’s Future and New Grant Competition (April 5, 2016)
https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/04/05/forum-social-innovation-funds-future-and-new-grant-competition-0

Workforce Data Quality Campaign, External Collaboration on Workforce Data (April 4, 2016)
http://www.workforcedqc.org/resources-events/resources/external-collaboration-workforce-data

ACF / OPRE, Using Data to Connect TANF Clients to Good Jobs: An Opportunity to Foster WIOA Partnerships (March 31, 2016)
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/resource/using-data-to-connect-tanf-clients-to-good-jobs-an-opportunity-to-foster-wioa-partnerships

Rep. Hal Rogers, Rogers, Larson, Cohen, and Wilson Introduce Bi-Partisan Legislation to Spur Job Creation and Investment in Promise Zones (March 23, 2016)
http://halrogers.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398589

The Hill, Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Incentivize Jobs in High-poverty Areas (March 23, 2016)
http://thehill.com/policy/finance/274081-lawmakers-introduce-bill-to-incentivize-jobs-in-high-poverty-areas

Administration for Children and Families, Matched and Administrative Data in Child Care (March 23, 2016)
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/resource/examining-child-care-subsidy-receipt-an-analysis-of-matched-nsece-and-illinois-administrative-data

Data Quality Campaign, Jobs Programs Need Data, Not Just Dollars (March 22, 2016)
http://dataqualitycampaign.org/blog/2016/03/jobs-programs-need-data-not-just-dollars/

PBS News Hour, Can Big Data Save These Children? (March 22, 2016)
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/can-big-data-save-these-children/

Administration for Children and Families, New Common Framework for Research and Evaluation (March 18, 2016)
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/blog/2016/03/new-common-framework-for-research-and-evaluation

GAO, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act: Information on Planned Changes to State Performance Reporting and Related Challenges (March 7, 2016)
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-16-287

QRIS Network, 2016 Quality Investments: How to Use Administrative Data and Other Sources to Evaluate What is Working (March 2016)
http://qrisnetwork.org/lt/2016-quality-investments-how-use-administrative-data-and-other-sources-evaluate-what-working/over

San Diego State University, Literature Review: Predictive Analytics in Human Services (February 2016)
http://theacademy.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/sachs-predictive-analytics-report-feb-2016.pdf