The Results Are In! States are Increasingly Investing in What Works to Advance Economic Mobility
By Jed Herrmann and Josh Inaba
In today’s heated political environment, many Americans don’t believe that their government is using evidence and data to inform decisions.
But in an increasing number of states across the country, Governors and state agency leaders from both parties are investing in what works to get better results for their communities.
Results for America’s 2019 Invest in What Works State Standard of Excellence — which was released today at an event with the National Governors Association — found a nearly 50% increase in the number of data-driven and evidence-based practices, policies, programs, and systems within state governments since last year.
The Invest in What Works State Standard of Excellence (State Standard of Excellence) sets a national standard — a “north star” — for how state governments can consistently and effectively use evidence and data in budget, policy, and management decisions to achieve better outcomes for their residents.
The 2019 State Standard of Excellence showcases 125 leading and promising examples of evidence and data use in state governments — a significant increase from the 88 examples featured in the 2018 edition. States are innovating, learning from their colleagues in other states, and using the State Standard of Excellence for its intended purpose: as a roadmap for using evidence and data to address state priorities.
“I encourage states to use the State Standard of Excellence as a resource to learn how their peers in other states are advancing data-driven and evidence-based approaches to inform decision-making,” said John Hicks, Executive Director of the National Association of State Budget Officers and Co-Chair of the Results for America State Standard of Excellence Advisory Committee.
As a result of this increased use of evidence and data, a bipartisan group of state governments are getting better results, including:
- Indiana: The Indiana Management Performance Hub has integrated cross-departmental data to address pressing policy issues related to opioids, vehicle crashes, medicaid, fiscal transparency, and other areas. The Hub’s 2018 Annual Report estimates a return on investment of $40 million for the state.
- Nevada: Nevada Department of Education has allocated 100% of the state’s $8.5 million in federal Title I school improvement funds to districts and schools for interventions backed by evidence (using the definitions from the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)), an increase over the approximately 15% of funds that had been allocated based on level of evidence in the 2016–2017 school year.
- Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections’ use of performance-based contracts for its community corrections program has helped produce drops in the recidivism rate by 11.3% in 2014, another 16% in 2015, and another 11% in 2016, leading to a recommendation to expand the performance-based contracts into other areas.
- Minnesota: Integrating evidence to inform funding decisions for the state budget resulted in $87 million in new or expanded evidence-based programming in the FY 2020–2021 budget.
“In Colorado we want to ensure we’re delivering the best services we can for our constituents as efficiently as possible,” said Colorado Governor Jared Polis. “Prioritizing the use of data and evidence-based practices is just good government.”
This year, Results for America recognized the following five Leading States for their use of data-driven and evidence-based practices, policies, programs, and systems: Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Additionally, three Rising Star States have significantly increased their evidence and data efforts this past year: Maryland (from three promising examples in 2018 to six in 2019), Nevada (new leading example of using evidence in nine education grant programs), and North Carolina (from one promising example in 2018 to four in 2019).
“Maryland is proud to be recognized as a Rising Star State in Results for America’s 2019 Invest in What Works State Standard of Excellence,” said Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, Chair of the National Governors Association. “We know that using evidence-based practices allow us to make smarter decisions, get better results, and save money for hardworking taxpayers.”
Overall, Results for America identified leading or promising data-driven, evidence-based examples in a total of 33 states, including five new states not represented in the 2018 State Standard of Excellence: Arizona, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, and Vermont. There was also a significant growth in education, with a 300% increase in the number state examples, and workforce, with a 400% increase. To help State Education Agencies and State and Local Workforce Boards advance these efforts, Results for America’s Evidence in Education Lab and Evidence in Workforce Labs are designed to accelerate the generation and use of evidence among senior policymakers.
“I was very pleased that the Nevada Department of Education made efforts to incorporate evidence-based programs in our grants and guide our school districts to spend their funding on interventions with proven outcomes,” said Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak. “We are starting to see the results of this work in improved test scores.”
Results for America has developed an Education Policy Roadmap and a Workforce Policy Roadmap to provide state and local governments with concrete policy recommendations for shifting their taxpayer dollars toward evidence-based and results-driven solutions. Expanding on the State Standard of Excellence, these roadmaps also contain details of how this work is being implemented all across the country.
Based on the growth in 2019, it will be exciting to see what state governments will achieve in 2020. There will be a day in the not so distant future when all States — and all state agencies within them — are building and using evidence and data when making their budget, policy, and management decisions.
“America’s governors are committed to making a positive difference in the states and territories they serve,” said Bill McBride, Executive Director of the National Governors Association. “We are proud to work with Results for America to help governors and other leaders make the best use of evidence and data to inform policymaking.”
While these achievements by state governments are important, they are not unique. Similar results are also being achieved at the local and federal levels. Results for America’s 2018 Invest in What Works Federal Standard of Excellence highlights the extent to which nine federal agencies have built the infrastructure necessary to be able to use data and evidence when making budget, policy, and management decisions; these agencies oversaw more than $220 billion in federal investments in FY2018. Results for America leads Bloomberg Philanthropies’ What Works Cities Certification, which assesses how well cities are managed by detailing the extent to which city leaders incorporate data and evidence in their decision-making. At the city level, over 150 mayors — Democrats and Republicans — have participated in Bloomberg Philanthropies’ What Works Cities initiative with 14 cities receiving a 2019 What Works Certification for their data-based decision-making.
Jed Herrmann is Vice President for State and Federal Policy Implementation at Results for America where Josh Inaba is Manager of State and Federal Policy. For more information or to share how your state is investing in what works, email info@results4america.org.
