Building Evidence

1. Evaluation Leadership

The government has a designated leader and/or team responsible for coordinating evaluation policy and use of findings (e.g., Chief Evaluation Officer).

Tennessee

Leading Example

Tennessee’s Office of Evidence and Impact is led by the state’s Director of Evidence and Impact. To advance Tennessee’s evidence-based budgeting efforts, the office defined five evidence steps, conducted program inventories, developed evidence reviews, and provided evidence-building technical assistance, such as guidance for prioritizing programs for evaluation funding and implementation. As part of the FY23 budget, Tennessee added a Chief Evaluation Officer position dedicated to leading the creation of agency and state learning agendas and administering new dedicated funding for program evaluations.

The Chief Evaluation Officer oversees a recently launched initiative to develop a current state analysis of evaluation activities and capacity across Tennessee’s executive branch, craft evaluation guidelines, develop a statewide learning agenda, and curriculum and materials to train agencies to develop their own learning agendas in partnership with the Office of Evidence and Impact.

Promising Examples

Alabama

Alabama

Colorado

Colorado

Connecticut

Connecticut

Delaware

Delaware

Asset 1

Maine

Minnesota

Minnesota

North Carolina

North Carolina

Oregon

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

Washington

Washington

Wyoming Image

Wyoming