The U.S. Department of Education today announced that it will work with the Council for Excellence in Government's Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy on a new initiative to explore how the department can most effectively advance evidence-based approaches to federal education policy.

This initiative is designed to help the department achieve the goal of transforming education into an evidence-based field as outlined in the department's recently released strategic plan. The initiative will also help advance the key principle in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001: that federal funds should support programs and strategies that are based on scientifically based research.

"The success of federal education programs depends ultimately on the ability to evaluate which programs are working as intended and which are not. With rigorous evidence on effectiveness we can begin to focus our resources on programs that work," said Grover "Russ" Whitehurst, assistant secretary for educational research and improvement. "The coalition has brought together representatives from various disciplines and areas of policy to provide an independent analysis of how the department can use its authority strategically and effectively to embed the collection and use of evidence in all of its programs. This is a very important initiative, and I look forward to working with the coalition."

The Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy is sponsored by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Council for Excellence in Government. Its mission is to promote government policymaking based on rigorous evidence of program effectiveness. This coalition initiative will specifically address how the department can most effectively use its statutory and policy authority to (1) promote rigorous evaluation of education programs and strategies, and (2) ensure that program funds support research-proven educational activities. The initiative will draw on successful precedents for evidence-based approaches from medicine and welfare policy, where rigorous evaluation has played a prominent role in policy and funding decisions.

More information on the Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy and its activities can be found at http://www.excelgov.org/performance/evidence/execsumm.htm.

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