Obama’s Promise: Using Evidence to Fight the Nation’s Social Problems

Abstract

This article describes and analyzes the development of evidence-based policymaking in the Obama administration, with a particular focus on the Investing in Innovation (i3) initiative at the Department of Education. After a brief summary of the administration’s evidence-based initiatives, the authors turn to a detailed discussion of one of them (i3), a competitive grant program that awards money to conduct educational interventions. There are three award amounts (tiers). Each tier requires that applicants demonstrate a specific level of evidence of effectiveness for the proposed intervention in order to secure funding. Based on interviews with 15 individuals involved (advocates, officials at the Office of Management and Budget, congressional staff, and Department of Education officials), the authors describe the genesis, legislative passage, and enactment of i3. Particular attention is given to the challenge of developing the standards of evidence that applicants are required to meet. Arguing that the administration’s six initiatives are unique in the way that they bring evidence to the center of the policymaking process, the authors posit that the Obama administration’s effort represents a fundamental and promising shift in the funding of social welfare programs and on using strength of evidence as a major criterion in federal grantmaking.