Data Foundation Statement on Changes to Federal Evaluation Activities
Recent changes in just the last three weeks include:
--Cancellation of nearly all research (85%) studying how to improve America's schools through the Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences
--Announcement of the elimination of three-quarters of the staff studying solutions to homelessness and affordable housing at the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Policy Development and Research
--Shutdown of teams evaluating foreign aid effectiveness and humanitarian assistance at the United States Agency for International Development
--Removal of public access to Environmental Protection Agency research and findings yesterday
--Removal of Department of Labor databases that helped policymakers and the public understand which job training and employment programs work, including the Clearinghouse for Labor Evaluation and Research
--Effective elimination of the evaluation function at the Office of Personnel Management
--Elimination of the evaluation function at the Office of Personnel Management
--Substantial reductions to evaluation activities at the National Science Foundation and General Services Administration
'These abrupt changes to data and evaluation systems across government take away the very tools we need to understand program effectiveness and ensure public dollars are well spent,' said Molly Irwin, Data Foundation Board Member and former Chief Evaluation Officer at the U.S. Department of Labor. 'Federal research offices, like the Chief Evaluation Office in the Labor Department, house the capacity and oversee the rigorous research needed to understand things like which job training programs actually help meet America's labor market demand and help Americans find work.. Without this research infrastructure, policymakers lack the information they need to make sound investments and taxpayers have no way to know if their money is being well spent.'
These changes directly impact Americans' daily lives and reverse five years of progress in building evaluation capacity. In November 2024, federal evaluation officers reported growing success in:
-- Using data to improve educational outcomes and recovery strategies
-- Identifying which emergency response systems save the most lives
-- Determining which mental health services best prevent veteran suicide
-- Tracking whether job training participants actually find employment
-- Evaluating which senior service programs help elderly Americans stay independent
'In my decades studying how the government uses evidence, I've never seen such a widespread elimination of evaluation capacity,' noted Kathryn Newcomer, Data Foundation Board Member and public administration and evaluation expert. 'These changes threaten our ability to learn from both successes and failures in government programs. Without evaluation capacity, agencies lose their ability to identify ineffective programs, scale successful interventions, and ensure taxpayer dollars are invested in solutions that work.'
'As we look to optimize government operations and ensure efficient use of taxpayer resources, it's critical that we maintain our ability to measure what works,' said Nick Hart, President and CEO of the Data Foundation. 'Several months ago, our survey of federal evaluators showed agencies had successfully built evaluation systems since President Trump signed the Evidence Act that were informing strategic planning (57%), operational decisions (45%), and regulatory actions (22%). Without these evaluation capabilities, we lose not only our ability to measure current program effectiveness but also our capacity to understand the full value and impact of what's being cut. We encourage the evaluation community and businesses affected by these changes to share specific examples of impacts, so we can better understand the implications for government effectiveness and efficiency.'
Of particular concern, several evaluation contracts have been terminated as they approached completion. This means substantial taxpayer investments in data collection and analysis may not result in findings being shared with the American public or government decision-makers - similar to halting clinical trials of new medicines before learning if the treatment worked.
The Data Foundation invites affected stakeholders to share impacts:
--SAFE-Track: The Data Foundation's secure portal for anonymous, encrypted submissions and examples: www.safe-track.org
--Public submissions for recorded video testimonials:
--Written public examples can be sent to:
The Data Foundation remains committed to promoting evidence-informed decision-making through constructive engagement with all stakeholders to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent effectively on programs that work for the American people.
###
About the Data Foundation
The Data Foundation is a Washington, DC-based, non-profit, non-partisan organization. It is a trusted authority on the use of open, accessible data to fuel a more efficient, effective, and accountable government; spark innovation; and provide insights to the country's most pressing challenges. The Data Foundation conducts research, facilitates collaborative thought leadership, and promotes advocacy programs that advance practical policies for the creation and use of accessible, trustworthy data and evidence.
The Data Foundation's Center for Evidence Capacity works to strengthen evidence-building functions across government through research, education, and technical assistance to support effective implementation of laws like the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act. The Data Foundation is recognized by Candid Guidestar with the Platinum Seal of Transparency and by Charity Navigator as a 4-Star non-profit. To learn more, visit www.datafoundation.org. (LEI: 254900I43CTC59RFW495)
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Data Foundation
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At 18, you can legally go to jail, join the army, and vote on who will run the entire country, but you can't have a beer." "The degree to which so-called 'trickle down economics' still pervades the general approach to the economic and legal systems. Everyone is sitting here being robbed blind by corporations 24/7, and then patting each other on the backs about all the sacrifices we make so that our employers, banks, favorite online retailers, etc. can hit their revenue targets." "The lack of community that is due to dominant car culture. A lot of Americans are very badly socially adjusted because of this atomization. Extremely performative culture. Many Americans act like what they see on TV/internet media. It's tiresome and inhumane. I think this leads to an unacceptably high number of people treating others like sources of entertainment/products. Anti-urbanism, anti-intellectualism, and anti-progressive attitudes are very common. Being reactionary as opposed to critical political discourse due to media overexposure. A lot of Americans, including pretty much all conservatives/MAGA, only care about making the 'other guy' look bad. There are no other thoughts there. That's exactly how our political entertainment networks prime people to think, and it works. As such, there is very little room for critical analysis of our society and how we can improve it. We're totally stymied." "I'm a pretty friendly and sociable dude, but I have genuine disdain for the way Americans will just walk up to you and start a conversation out of the blue. I'm good with small talk and meeting new people, but I couldn't walk two blocks in the US without getting pulled into some kind of interaction. After a dozen conversations, it gets kinda tiring. The worst is when people use you as their captive audience while you're pumping gas or waiting in line. Political freaks are especially fond of this." "I don't know if it's the culture, but people using personal freedom as a reason to ignore social responsibility, e.g., refusing to mask up when they are sick with COVID-19." "Expensive healthcare for life-threatening conditions and insurance companies running loops around why they shouldn't pay your bill, even though they take money out of your check every fuckin' month. And if you're not full-time or work as a contractor, freelancer, or gig fucking luck paying $357 a month for the lowest tier of healthcare insurance. I spent more on health insurance when I was part-time and had to decide between health and car insurance. I ended up going with health, and got into a car accident that I had to pay out-of-pocket for. Then I switched to car insurance and then sprained my ankle, which I also had to pay out of pocket for, in the same fucking year." "Treating political parties like sports teams." "The two-party system." "The 'pull yourself up by your bootstraps' mentality and the entire culture around work while we all work our asses off for people who don't work." "Materialism and the constant advertisements. Buy, buy, buy more crap that really will not make you much happier." "(Many) Universities are associated with athletic programs before academics." "Car dependence. More specifically, designing car-dependent cities, then gaslighting the next generation into thinking car dependence is their choice. We can still have cars. We can still not charge out the ass for gasoline. But we can also create transportation networks that don't punish you for being blind, a child, or broke." "Performative Christianity." "The adulation of billionaires who treat common people like garbage." "The assumption that a tip is required and starts at 18% now." "The obsession with oversized trucks." "Nothing other than complete domination of an industry is seen as success. God forbid a company is run to have reasonable profits for the sake of filling a need in a community and providing for its workers and owners. It must extract every cent possible for maximum profits at all times." "The obsession with 'hustle culture.' Sometimes rest is just rest, not failure." "Teachers are supposed to be the most respected profession in a functioning society, alongside doctors and the people who keep us safe. It is unreal to me how flippant we are towards the people who spend more time with children than parents." "Affordable health insurance being tied to employment." "The idea that parents are no longer responsible for their kids after they turn 18, and that anything but moving out as soon as you can is being a loser." "As a non-American, the obsession with guns while kids are constantly getting killed by guns in schools." "That minimum wage is not tied to the cost of living. I mean, WTF?" "Pharmaceutical ads." "How uptight everyone is about nudity. I have been around the world, and Americans just have this thing that nudity is bad." "The whole emphasis on 'independence' and 'self-reliance', to the point where people who need/want help are shamed." "Using AI in place of imagination and knowledge. There's actually a new study showing that people who relied on AI to write essays had lower brain activity than people who didn't. Literally less intelligent for doing it." "The blending (especially recently) of politics and religion, and enforcing your religious beliefs on others via policy. It's fine to not get an abortion or be against it if your religious beliefs dictate it, but it's not okay to be against it and remove it as a choice for others. Or, in a less 'controversial' topic: I can't buy hard liquor on a Sunday in my state from a liquor store because it's 'God's Day,' but I can sit down at the bar next door and take shot after shot. If you don't want to drink/buy alcohol on Sundays, don't. It's not up to you to determine if others do." And: "Misguided patriotism and supporting destructive policies that go against everything the country was founded on. Proud ignorance kind of goes hand-in-hand with the aforementioned, but it's another problem as well. The belief in exceptionalism — that there's no way any other country or idea could be better than we are, so there's no need to continue to improve. Denial of hard truths. This effort to hide our past because it makes people uncomfortable. Of course it does. That's what makes us great — to LEARN from it, not hide it. No one is supposed to feel good about slavery. It was very bad. We fought a damn war over it and killed each other in the hundreds of thousands. It should be damn well remembered." What's an aspect of American culture that you find annoying or frustrating? Tell us in the comments or share anonymously using this form. Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
