Hi!  I’m Natalie Donahue. I am the Chief of Evaluation in the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ Monitoring Evaluation Learning and Innovation (MELI) Unit and am the Washington Evaluators (WE) Past President. The Evidence Act has had a great impact on federal evaluation practices. Over the past five years we’ve seen federal agencies create learning agendas, increase capacity-building efforts, update (or, in some cases, create) evaluation policies and accompanying guidance documents, and increase collaborative efforts around evaluation – both internally and with other agencies.

My name is Valerie Jean Caracelli, and I am a Senior Social Science Analyst in the Center for Evaluation Methods and Issues, Applied Research and Methods team at the U.S. Government Accountability Office. As we greet the 5th year anniversary of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018, it is useful to reflect on federal evaluation and its use in decision making prior to the passage of the Evidence Act. In 2013 a series of evaluation questions were introduced into a generalizable survey of federal civilian managers and supervisors to obtain their perspectives on several results-oriented management topics, including the extent of and barriers to evaluation use. The survey results indicated just over a third (37 percent) of federal managers reported that an evaluation had been completed in the past 5 years on any program, operation, or project they were involved in. GAO concluded that agencies’ lack of evaluations may be the greatest barrier to their ability to inform program management and policy making.

My name is Sana Ahmed Wilder, and I’m a program evaluator for the U.S. Small Business Administration. A five year old’s birthday is a big deal. It may be the first they’ll actually remember, a milestone celebrating increased independence, and the last one before launch into formal education; yep, I’m talking Kindergarten. So, a very happy and important 5th birthday to the Evidence Act!

My name is Nicole Germano, and I serve as the Washington Evaluators’ Communications Chair. By day, I am an evaluation contractor at the Department of State. This week, Washington Evaluators will be sharing a series of posts related to the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act, in celebration of the legislation’s fifth birthday. The Foundations for …

Washington Evaluators Affiliate Week: What is the Evidence Act, And Why Are We Still Talking About It? by Nicole Germano Read More »