On the Evidence on Steno.fm

On the Evidence

A podcast hosted by Mathematica’s J.B. Wogan that examines what we know about today’s most urgent challenges and how we can make progress in addressing them. Reimagining the way the world gathers and uses data, Mathematica uncovers the evidence that offers our partners the confidence and clarity they need to find out what can be done, how to make it happen, and where to go next.

Wed, February 26, 2025
136 | How a Fintech Company Helps Workers in Africa Access Credit and Savings with Smartphones
On the latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast, M-KOPA Chief Executive Officer Jesse Moore talks about increasing access to financial and digital services for unbanked workers in Africa by leasing out smartphones. He and Paul Decker, the president and chief executive officer of Mathematica, discuss the needs of everyday earners in Africa who work regular but informal jobs that make it difficult to build credit and open a bank account. They also discuss the role of data in informing an organization’s business strategy as well as assessing its social impact on customers. Find a blog summarizing highlights from the conversation, plus the full transcript here: mathematica.org/blogs/how-a-fintech-company-helps-workers-in-africa-access-credit-and-savings-with-smartphones
Sat, January 11, 2025
135 | It’s the Evidence, Stupid: GAO’s Report on Evidence-Based Policymaking and What Comes Next
This episode features audio from an in-person roundtable discussion at the 2024 Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management Fall Research Conference. The roundtable focused on the five-year anniversary of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act (Evidence Act) and a recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on federal agencies' ability to assess their capacity to collect and use evidence. The panelists also discussed what needs to happen next to further strengthen the use of evidence in the federal government. The roundtable featured remarks from Erika Rissi, Nick Hart, Melinda Buntin, Rachel Snyderman, and Paul Decker. Rissi is the chief evaluation officer of the National Science Foundation, where she is also the Head of its Evaluation and Assessment Capability Section. Hart is the president and CEO of the Data Foundation. Buntin is a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Carey Business School. Snyderman is the managing director of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Economic Policy Program. Decker is the president and chief executive officer of Mathematica. You can also read a short blog by Decker summarizing key themes from the roundtable here: https://mathematica.org/blogs/advancing-and-enhancing-evidence-based-policymaking Listen to a past episode of On the Evidence featuring a discussion about the five-year anniversary of the Evidence Act with experts from government, think tanks, research organizations, and academia: https://mathematica.org/blogs/building-on-the-evidence-act-to-increase-the-positive-impact-of-federal-policymaking Listen to a past episode of On the Evidence featuring Robert Shea, an expert on performance improvement in government who served on the bipartisan U.S. Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, a group whose recommendations informed the Evidence Act: https://mathematica.org/blogs/robert-shea-on-the-federal-governments-progress-in-using-evidence-to-improve-programs-and-policies
Wed, December 18, 2024
134 | Modernizing State Public Health Data Policies and Practices
In the same way a doctor uses data to diagnose and treat a patient, states’ public health agencies use data to measure and address health in their communities. In the United States, states have the autonomy to decide their own data policies, which influences the amount, quality, and timeliness of public health data they produce. On the heels of the worst global pandemic in a century—and at a time when technology is significantly changing the way that information flows to public health agencies—a new report from the Pew Charitable Trusts offers a first-of-its-kind glimpse into the patchwork of state data policies and practices that together form our modern system for the nation’s public health data. The latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast features a discussion about the report’s implications with Lilly Kan of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Annie Fine of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, Mary Beth Kurilo of the American Immunization Registry Association, and Monica Huang of Mathematica. A full transcript of the episode is available at mathematica.org/blogs/modernizing-state-public-health-data-policies-and-practices Read a blog by The Pew Charitable Trusts' Margaret Arneson and Kathy Talkington about key takeaways from the report: https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2024/12/12/states-must-modernize-public-health-data-reporting-new-report-finds-promising-practices Read the full report from the Pew Charitable Trusts, which was supported with research by Mathematica: https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/reports/2024/12/state-public-health-data-reporting-policies-and-practices-vary-widely Read a LinkedIn article from Kathy Talkington of The Pew Charitable Trusts discussing key takeaways from the report: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/public-health-data-reporting-strengths-shortcomings-kathy-talkington-gcdne/?trackingId=qNW27JNuSXq2Uf67iWKD9g%3D%3D Take an online quiz to test how much you know about public health data reporting: https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2024/12/12/how-much-do-you-know-about-public-health-data-reporting
Thu, December 05, 2024
133 | Boosting the Use of Social Policy Research
On the latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast, Lauren Supplee, the deputy assistant secretary for planning, research, and evaluation at the Administration for Children and Families, sat down for a wide-ranging conversation about the use of evidence in social policy. Supplee reflected on this year’s White House blueprint on social and behavioral science in government, which included Head Start as an example of a government program for children and families that benefited from decades of social policy research overseen by the Administration for Children and Families. On the episode, Supplee also discussed the role of research in informing improvements to Head Start over time, how the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act is changing the use of evidence in the federal government, and insights from Supplee’s blog series on boosting the use of research evidence. Find a full transcript of the conversation here: https://mathematica.org/blogs/opres-lauren-supplee-on-boosting-the-use-of-social-policy-research Read the White House Office of Science and Technology blog announcing its Blueprint for the Use of Social and Behavioral Science to Advance Evidence-Based Policymaking: https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/news-updates/2024/05/15/applying-social-and-behavioral-science-to-federal-policies-and-programs-to-deliver-better-outcomes/ Read Lauren Supplee’s blog about measuring whether and how evidence is used: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/blog/2024/01/how-do-we-measure-whether-and-how-evidence-used Read Supplee’s blog about cultivating more “knowledge brokers” in social policy research who translate complex data into action-ready insights: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/blog/2024/07/can-we-all-develop-superpowers-knowledge-brokers Read Supplee’s blog about establishing systems to support the use of evidence: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/blog/2024/04/evidence-action-how-do-we-establish-systems-support-evidence-use Read a blog by Colleen Rathgeb, the former director of policy at the Office of Head Start and current associate deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Early Childhood Development, about research showing the need for full-day, year-round Head Start programs: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/archive/blog/2015/02/presidents-fy-2016-budget-head-start Explore the ELOF 2 Go mobile app, the free online tool Supplee references that supports teachers who want to access and learn more about the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ohs.elof2go&hl=en_US&pli=1 Watch the video series referenced by Supplee that shares the perspectives and experiences of those who are involved in obtaining and using data from the American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/training-technical-assistance/overview-aian-faces-video-series
Thu, November 21, 2024
132 | Embedding Data and Innovation Across California State Government
The latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast features Jeffery Marino, the director of California’s Office of Data and Innovation (ODI). For the podcast, Mathematica’s President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Decker spoke with Marino about ODI’s CalAcademy for training state employees in areas such as plain language and human-centered design, California Governor Gavin Newsom’s executive order on generative artificial intelligence, facilitating interagency data sharing agreements, and data-driven storytelling about government’s impact in people’s lives. They also discussed Marino’s career trajectory: he majored in English literature in college, became a data journalist, and now leads ODI, a department within California’s Government Operations Agency encouraging collaboration across state agencies to improve digital services for all Californians. Find the full transcript of the interview: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/embedding-data-and-innovation-across-california-state-government Learn more about ODI’s CalAcademy: https://innovation.ca.gov/who-we-are/calacademy/ Read California Governor Newsom’s executive order on generative AI: https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/AI-EO-No.12-_-GGN-Signed.pdf Listen to an On the Evidence interview with Jennifer Pahlka, author of Recoding America: Why Government is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better, which is referenced in the discussion between Decker and Marino: https://mathematica.org/blogs/jennifer-pahlka-on-government-in-the-digital-age Explore a playlist of interviews between Mathematica’s Paul Decker and fellow leaders of evidence-driven organizations: https://soundcloud.com/ontheevidence/sets/evidence-leadership?si=ea534d2c041c44e99c289a8d4dffa664&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
Wed, November 06, 2024
131 | How Expanded Tax Credits Benefited Family Well-Being
The latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast features an interview with Katherine Michelmore, an associate professor of public policy at the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the 24th recipient of the David N. Kershaw Award and Prize. Michelmore’s research has focused on temporary expansions of tax credits during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is part of a growing body of evidence informing state and federal policy proposals to make permanent some or all of those changes. On the episode, Michelmore talks about her experiences interacting with the media and policymakers about the subject of her research, using a novel source of data from a private mobile app to study the impacts of an expanded Child Tax Credit on households, and questions she would like to pursue in the future related to tax credits that support working parents and their children. Find the full transcript at mathematica.org/blogs/kershaw-award-winner-katherine-michelmore-on-how-expanded-tax-credits-benefited-family-well-being Check out the Spotify playlist with interviews with the 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 winners of the Kershaw Award: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Qz9HKUOxBhj33neIpPEUd?si=9oBu3VV2QJig8nUgKVVUKg&nd=1&dlsi=c61b4fd6357f426d Going to the 2024 APPAM Fall Research Conference? On the Evidence will be there, too. Find us at the Mathematica booth. Send us a message at jwogan@mathematica-mpr.com to let us know you're coming. Read a working paper co-authored by Michelmore on the effects of the temporary expansion of the CTC on the economic well-being of families, including a reduction in food insecurity: https://www.nber.org/papers/w30533 Read an article co-authored by Michelmore on the effects of the temporary expansion of the CTC on housing affordability and the living arrangements of families: https://read.dukeupress.edu/demography/article/61/4/1069/389197/The-Effects-of-the-2021-Child-Tax-Credit-on Read an article co-authored by Michelmore on the effects of the temporary expansion of the CTC on short- and long-term child development, including the likely improvement of children’s health: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00027162241264412 Read a working paper co-authored by Michelmore on the effects of the temporary expansion of the childless EITC: https://www.nber.org/papers/w32571
Thu, October 24, 2024
130 | The Evidence-Based Benefits of Employee Ownership
In honor of Employee Ownership Month in October, Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast features a special episode with Paul Decker, Mathematica’s president and chief executive officer, and Jim Bonham, the president and chief executive officer of The ESOP Association. On the episode, Decker and Bonham discuss the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) as an evidence-based tool that benefits employees, consumers, and communities across the nation. An ESOP is a retirement vehicle for employees that many companies use to increase employee engagement and retain talent over time. As Decker and Bonham discuss on the episode, an ESOP can be more than a nice perk companies offer their employees. Business leaders and policymakers across the political spectrum have applauded the potential of ESOPs to strengthen the middle class and keep jobs in local communities. Research even shows ESOPs help reduce gender and racial wealth gaps. On the episode, Decker and Bonham discuss the benefits of ESOPs and challenges facing ESOPs going forward. A full transcript of the episode is available at https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/supporting-workers-and-strengthening-communities-through-employee-ownership Read the study from Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing within the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University that found ESOPs help narrow gender and racial wealth gaps: https://smlr.rutgers.edu/sites/smlr/files/Documents/News/rutgerskelloggreport_april2019.pdf Read an article in The Star-Ledger about the benefits of employee stock ownership plans for reducing wealth inequality and ensuring the longevity of a business, which describes Mathematica’s experience with becoming an ESOP and quotes Paul Decker: https://www.nj.com/opinion/2024/09/nj-business-owners-need-a-succession-plan-and-workers-need-savings-we-can-solve-both-problems-opinion.html Learn more about Mathematica’s history as an employee-owned company: https://mathematica.org/blogs/employee-ownership-is-at-the-heart-of-mathematica
Wed, October 09, 2024
129 | How Evaluation Can Support Housing Justice and Community Change
A new episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast explores recent research that experimented with a new approach to equitable data collection that also equips individuals and their organizations with new skills and resources. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation contracted with Mathematica and its partner UBUNTU Research and Evaluation to learn how grassroots organizations in the housing justice movement had used grant funds for community power building. Through a fellowship program established by Mathematica and UBUNTU, researchers provided training in evaluation to fellows selected from staff at grassroots organizations while learning from those staff about the impact of the foundation’s investment. The research also provided early evidence that the foundation’s investment helped local grassroots organizations become more effective in achieving their affordable housing goals. On the episode, researchers and program fellows discuss the impact of the foundation’s investment and how the fellowship model helped strengthen organizations’ internal capacity to learn from campaigns and make evidence-informed changes. Find a full transcript of the episode at mathematica.org/blogs/how-evaluation-can-support-housing-justice-and-community-change Learn more about the housing justice and community power building evaluation conducted by Mathematica and UBUNTU on behalf of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: https://www.ubunturesearch.com/hjet Explore the interactive graphic that illustrates a new framework for community power building in the housing justice movement: https://mathematica.org/features/the-house-that-justice-built Learn more about the recent (open source) book Drew Koleros edited on updating theories of change for the field of evaluation, which includes sections that are relevant for evaluating community power building: https://www.routledge.com/Theories-of-Change-in-Reality-Strengths-Limitations-and-Future-Directions/Koleros-Adrien-Tyrrell/p/book/9781032669588?srsltid=AfmBOooKlrBZhZa5lb2HnU1K2Nw-IjWyQQ660RW0qfWxzw9P3FUTYpMU
Wed, September 25, 2024
128 | How Better Data Interoperability Can Improve Care Delivered To Patients
The latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast focuses on the potential for health data interoperability to improve people’s health and well-being. Improved data interoperability is part of a broader push in the public and private sectors to use digital technology to make greater volumes of data available faster, at lower cost, and in higher-quality formats. These advances would make data easier to access, especially when needed to prevent or address urgent problems. In health care, the digital transformation in data could keep people healthier by improving the speed and quality of care patients receive. The episode features a discussion that originally aired as a webinar hosted by Mathematica’s Health Data Innovation Lab, which examined strategies and tools for achieving greater data interoperability. During the webinar, Mathematica’s Steve Linthicum moderated a conversation between Dr. Abel Kho of the Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine at Northwestern University, Steven Gruner of HealthWare Systems, and Nicholai Mitchko of InterSystems. A full transcript of the episode is available at https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/how-health-data-interoperability-can-improve-patient-care Learn more about Mathematica’s Health Data Innovation Lab: https://www.mathematica.org/sites/health-data-innovation-lab Watch the previous webinar hosted by Mathematica’s Health Data Innovation Lab on data governance: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/event-takeaways-using-data-governance-to-improve-health-outcomes Watch the previous webinar hosted by Mathematica’s Health Data Innovation Lab on artificial intelligence: https://www.mathematica.org/news/health-ai-event-recap-its-all-about-the-data
Thu, September 12, 2024
127 | Ensuring Evidence Use in Public Policy with Brookings Institution Pres. Cecilia Rouse
Cecilia Rouse is the former dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and the current president of the Brookings Institution. For the first two years of the Biden administration, she was the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers—the first Black American to chair the council in its 75-year history. In August, she joined Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast for a conversation with Mathematica’s President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Decker about leadership, the use of evidence in public policy, and the role of research organizations in improving public well-being. During the interview, Rouse talks about what she learned from her government posts about the role of research in informing policy decisions, how she thinks about the role of academic institutions in conducting policy research and training future public servants, how economics and related professions are doing at diversifying their workforces, and what she has learned about leadership. A full transcript of the episode is available at https://mathematica.org/blogs/cecilia-rouse-on-the-use-of-evidence-in-public-policy Listen to Rouse’s January 2024 interview with the Brookings Institution’s podcast, The Current, which posted shortly after she became the Brookings president: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/meet-cecilia-rouse-new-brookings-president/ Listen to Paul Decker’s previous interviews about leadership and evidence-based decision making: https://staginginter.mathematica.net/search#q=paul%20decker&sort=relevancy&f:BlogSeries=%5BOn%20The%20Evidence%2DPodcast%5D&f:BlogSeries:operator=and
Wed, August 28, 2024
126 | How AmeriCorps Uses Data to Support Communities Through National Service and Volunteerism
Thirty years ago, President Bill Clinton signed bipartisan legislation creating what is now known as AmeriCorps, a federal agency for national service and volunteerism. Since then, the agency estimates that more than 1.3 million AmeriCorps members and hundreds of thousands more AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers have provided billions of hours of service across each of the 50 states and U.S. territories. To commemorate the 30th anniversary of AmeriCorps, On the Evidence hosted a discussion about the role of data and research in helping AmeriCorps and its grantees deliver on their respective missions. The episode features Dr. Mary Hyde of AmeriCorps, Scott Richman of Mathematica, and Stephanie Garippa and Diana Gioia of Maggie’s Place, an AmeriCorps grantee. On the episode, they discuss the important but complex task of measuring the impact of AmeriCorps, given that it seeks to not only spur higher levels of civic engagement and national service, but to simultaneously help its service members, partnering organizations, the communities in which both operate, and society as a whole. They talk about the kinds of evidence that AmeriCorps and grantees like Maggie’s Place collect, how that evidence is used to drive impact, and how the role of evidence in guiding AmeriCorps’ work has evolved over time. Read the 2023 AmeriCorps State of the Evidence Report: https://www.mathematica.org/publications/americorps-2023-state-of-the-evidence-report Find the full transcript for the episode at https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/how-americorps-uses-data-to-support-communities-through-national-service-and-volunteerism
Wed, August 14, 2024
125 | 20 Years of Evidence-Based Poverty Reduction from the Millennium Challenge Corporation
Twenty years ago, the U.S. Congress created a new federal agency that represented a bold experiment in international aid. That agency, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), strove to reduce global poverty through grant-making to low- and lower-middle-income countries that demonstrated a commitment to good governance, economic freedom, and investing in their citizens. Part of what made MCC distinct in the international development space was its evidence-based approach, which focused on evaluating impacts and fostering a culture of learning and accountability to improve the effectiveness of aid. For this episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast, and in recognition of the agency’s 20th anniversary, Alicia Phillips Mandaville of MCC joins Jeff Bernson of Mathematica to discuss the agency’s past, present, and future. Among other topics, Phillips Mandaville and Bernson discuss how MCC approaches country ownership and locally led development, how the agency’s evidence-based approach to learning has evolved over time, and what MCC has learned about how to reduce poverty in developing countries. A full transcript of the episode is available at mathematica.org/blogs/twenty-years-of-insights-from-the-millennium-challenge-corporation-on-reducing-poverty. Visit MCC’s 20th anniversary page, which reflects further on the agency’s impacts over two decades: https://www.mcc.gov/about/priority/20th-anniversary/
Wed, July 31, 2024
124 | AcademyHealth’s New CEO on AI, Climate Change, and Other Topics of Health Services Research
Our guest for this episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast is Dr. Aaron Carroll, a pediatrician, health researcher, and science communicator who recently assumed the post of president and chief executive officer at AcademyHealth, the leading national organization for convening and sharing information across health services researchers, policymakers, and health care practitioners. On the Evidence spoke with Carroll ahead of his organization’s Health Datapalooza conference in mid-September. This year, the event is focused on data-driven solutions that address critical public health challenges. The conference’s theme reflects a collaboration between AcademyHealth and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to facilitate greater coordination and learning across health care and public health data systems. Mathematica is a member organization of AcademyHealth and a sponsor of the 2024 Health Datapalooza. In the episode, Carroll discusses what he has learned about effective science communication from blogging for The Incidental Economist, hosting the Healthcare Triage podcast, authoring several books, publishing research in peer-review journals, and contributing regularly to The New York Times. The interview covers a range of other topics as well, including the implications of climate change and artificial intelligence on health care and health services research; the need for greater interoperability among health and social services data systems; and the value of solutions for addressing the social determinants of health. Visit our website for a transcript of this episode: https://mathematica.org/blogs/aaron-carroll-on-the-future-of-health-services-research Watch the Healthcare Triage series on health and climate change: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkfBg8ML-gInVPCl7zVMWvRX3SVwTRhgc Read Carroll’s guest essay in The New York Times about lessons from other countries that could improve health care in the U.S.: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/13/opinion/health-care-reform.html Learn more about Mathematica’s interdisciplinary climate practice: https://www.mathematica.org/sp/climate-change/climate-action Read a blog series by Mathematica staff about improving the quality and usability of social determinants of health data: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/to-address-the-social-determinants-of-health-start-with-the-data Listen to a podcast about a federally-funded initiative to improve the collection of information from patients about their health-related social needs: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/lessons-from-a-national-health-initiative-that-helps-address-social-needs Learn more about Mathematica’s public health data modernization work, including recent projects for the Pew Charitable Trusts on public health data policies and practices in states, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on transforming public health data systems to advance equity, and operation of a Public Health Data Modernization Implementation Center for t
Thu, July 18, 2024
123 | Validating Natural Climate Solutions with Better Data
In the United States, conversations about solutions to climate change often revolve around reducing fossil fuel emissions from human activities. But many believe regenerative agricultural practices and other nature-based solutions—which use soil and plants and try to either prevent or capture emissions—should complement policies and programs to reduce emissions from vehicles and power plants. As the nature-based climate solutions mature, public and private organizations that invest in them will need ways to measure their impact. In an interview with Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast, Dr. Jenny Soong, a soil biogeochemist within Mathematica’s interdisciplinary climate practice, explains how better measurement, better data collection, and better web-based decision support tools could ensure the effective implementation of regenerative agriculture and other nature-based climate solutions. Find a full transcript of the episode at mathematica.org/ontheevidence. Learn more about Mathematica’s interdisciplinary climate practice: https://www.mathematica.org/sp/climate-change/climate-action
Wed, June 19, 2024
122 | Reflecting on Juneteenth and Our Collective Equity Journey
The latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast coincides with June 19, which is celebrated by many around the United States as Juneteenth, a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in this country. Recently, one way staff at Mathematica have honored this important moment in U.S. history is by joining together in person and virtually on June 18th to read aloud and discuss a speech by Frederick Douglass titled “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Douglass gave the speech in front of a predominately white abolitionist audience about 11 years before President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring more than three million enslaved people living in the Confederate states to be free. The speech focuses on the contradiction of celebrating liberty at a time when millions remained in slavery. It both celebrates the ideals of the country’s founding and laments how the country has fallen short of those ideals. This episode of On the Evidence features an interview with Sheldon Bond, the deputy director of Mathematica’s labor and employment area, who also acts as a co-lead for the company’s Black Employee Resource Group. Mathematica’s Black and Disability employee resource groups work with the Princeton Public Library to organize the readings of Frederick Douglass’s speech. The episode also features clips from last year’s Juneteenth event, with passages read by Mathematica’s Rachel Miller, Sarah Lieff, Gloria Jackson, Stacie Feldman, Rachael Jackson, A’lantra Wright, Kirsten Miller, Boyd Gilman, and Dawnavan Davis. A full transcript from the episode is available here: mathematica.org/blogs/on-juneteenth-reflecting-on-our-collective-equity-journey Read Sheldon Bond’s My Mathematica blog about how, as a natural introvert, he has learned to communicate, connect, and build relationships in the context of a growing company with an increasingly hybrid work culture: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/my-mathematica-sheldon-bond
Wed, June 05, 2024
121 | NORC and Mathematica CEOs on the Future of Data and Evidence
Within the past few years, organizations that help improve public well-being by providing data-driven insights have witnessed significant changes. From a digital transformation hastened by big data and artificial intelligence (AI) to the globalization of evidence-based solutions for problems that transcend borders, changes in technology, society, and culture are challenging leaders to rethink how their organizations operate. On the latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast, NORC at the University of Chicago President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Gaylin joined Mathematica President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Decker for a wide-ranging discussion about leadership, AI, globalization, the COVID-19 pandemic, and advocating for the use of high-quality evidence without straying into activism. Find a full transcript at mathematica.org/blogs/norc-and-mathematica-ceos-on-the-future-of-data-and-evidence Read an article by Dan Gaylin on LinkedIn where he explains his philosophy around the importance of sharing research findings: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-silence-significance-case-sharing-your-research-dan-gaylin-d1cve/?trackingId=Mm6Fa4kN4WbH29J%2FQArQrg%3D%3D Learn more about NORC’s AmeriSpeak Panel: https://amerispeak.norc.org/ Learn more about NORC’s 2020 Election Research Project for Facebook: https://www.norc.org/research/projects/2020-election-research-project.html Learn more about NORC’s Advanced Data Solutions Center: https://www.norc.org/about/departments/advanced-data-solutions-center.html Watch Decker’s interview with Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, which includes a discussion about the declining response rates in federal surveys and what they might mean for informing policy decisions: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/mark-zandi-chief-economist-of-moodys-analytics-on-data-driven-decisions-in-public-policy Watch Decker’s interview with Max Stier, the president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/the-partnership-for-public-services-max-stier-on-using-data-to-improve-the-government
Wed, May 22, 2024
120 | Improving Health through Responsible Use of AI
This episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast features a discussion about how various parties within the health care ecosystem can responsibly use artificial intelligence (AI) to improve patient health. The conversation comes amid increasing interest in the applications of AI in daily life and one month after Mathematica announced the launch of its Health Data Innovation Lab, a digital operational hub for government agencies, foundations, medical centers, and other health organizations to collaborate with data scientists and health policy experts. The episode draws from a recent webinar moderated by Noland Joiner, the chief technology officer of health care at Mathematica, with Ngan MacDonald and Ellie Graeden as guests. MacDonald is the director of health data innovations at Mathematica and Graeden is a partner and chief data scientist at Luminos.Law. She is also an adjunct research professor at Georgetown University. A transcript of the episode is available here: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/improving-health-through-responsible-ai Learn more about Mathematica’s Health Data Innovation Lab: https://www.mathematica.org/sites/health-data-innovation-lab
Wed, May 08, 2024
119 | Max Stier on Using Data to Improve the Federal Government
The latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast features Max Stier, the president and chief executive officer of the Partnership for Public Service. Stier discusses the central role that data and research play in supporting his organization’s mission to make the federal government more effective. The episode comes during Public Service Recognition Week (May 5–11), which is also when the partnership announces finalists for its Service to America Medals. These annual awards celebrate extraordinary leadership by career federal employees. For the episode, Stier sits down with Mathematica President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Decker to talk about using data to improve government, enhancing data literacy among federal workers, measuring and rebuilding trust in government, the power of employee recognition, and more. A full transcript of the episode is available at mathematica.org/blogs/the-partnership-for-public-services-max-stier-on-using-data-to-improve-the-government See the list of 2024 finalists for the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals: https://servicetoamericamedals.org/honorees/?_year=2024 Learn more about the Partnership’s Service to America Medals program: https://ourpublicservice.org/our-solutions/recognition/service-to-america-medals/ Learn more about the Partnership’s Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings: https://ourpublicservice.org/performance-measures/best-places-to-work-in-the-federal-government/ Explore data from the Partnership on Americans’ level of trust in the federal government: https://ourpublicservice.org/our-solutions/rebuilding-trust-in-government/dashboard/
Wed, April 17, 2024
118 | Moving from Evidence Generation to Evidence Use in President Biden's 2025 Budget
In March, when the Biden administration released its budget request for fiscal year 2025, it not only offered a blueprint for the president’s policymaking agenda—it also provided the latest indication of how the White House and federal agencies are going beyond evidence generation to use evidence as a guide in making program investments that can improve Americans’ lives. For this episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast, Nichole Dunn, the vice president of federal policy at Results for America, joins the show to discuss evidence-based policy in the president’s budget as well as larger trends in federal and state funding of evidence-based initiatives and programs. On the episode, Dunn speaks with Mike Burns, senior director of communications and public affairs at Mathematica, about American Rescue Plan spending, the growth of evidence clearinghouses, the increasing level of federal investment in program evaluation, the implications of the presidential election for federal investment in evidence-based policy, the implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act, the recent formation of the bipartisan Congressional What Works Caucus, the Congressional Evidence-Based Policymaking Resolution, and the potential for evidence-based policy to bypass partisan gridlock in Washington. A full transcript of the conversation is available at mathematica.org/blogs/evidence-based-policy-in-president-bidens-2025-budget Read an op-ed by Michele Jolin, the chief executive officer and co-founder of Results for America, about how bipartisan elected leaders and career civil servants across the country who have been quietly transforming how governments invest taxpayer dollars to achieve better results: https://www.minnpost.com/community-voices/2024/03/from-minnesota-to-washington-d-c-a-better-way-to-deliver-results/ Read the research brief by Mathematica for Results for America, which shows how city governments with a history of prioritizing data-driven practices were more likely to use federal relief funds from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) to deepen their commitment to results-driven governance—with the goal of improving outcomes for residents through effective programs: https://mathematica.org/publications/unlocking-the-power-of-city-data Watch a recording from the January 2024 virtual event hosted by Results for America to discuss the federal government’s progress in using evidence and data to get better results, which featured the release of a new report by Harvard University Professor Christina Ciocca Eller on federal evidence-based policymaking efforts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMYwG6P-1zI Read the 2023 Invest in What Works State Standard of Excellence from Results for America, which showcases 194 efforts across 46 states to build and use evidence and data to improve residents’ lives: https://results4america.org/tools/2023-invest-in-what-works-state-standard-of-excellence/ Explore the ARP Data and Evidence Dashboard from Math
Wed, April 03, 2024
117 | Moody’s Mark Zandi on Being a Voice for Data-Driven Decisions in Public Policy
The latest episode of On the Evidence features Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. On the episode, Zandi speaks with Paul Decker, Mathematica’s president and chief executive officer, about comprehensive immigration reform, artificial intelligence, labor shortages, remote work, the merits of pursuing a nonacademic career in economic research, and how Zandi seeks to influence politically charged policy debates with data and credibility. Zandi is the author of two books related to the Great Recession and hosts the Inside Economics podcast. A video version of the episode as well as a full transcript is available at https://mathematica.org/blogs/mark-zandi-chief-economist-of-moodys-analytics-on-data-driven-decisions-in-public-policy Listen to the Inside Economics podcast that Zandi hosts along with Cris deRitis and Marisa DiNatale for Moody’s Analytics: https://www.moodys.com/web/en/us/about/insights/podcasts/moodys-talks-inside-economics.html Read Paul Decker’s blog about how Mathematica used evidence to guide the company’s approach to reopening in-person offices after the COVID-19 pandemic: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/letting-evidence-guide-decisions-about-reopening-offices Read an op-ed co-authored by Paul Decker for the website RealClearPolicy, which proposes comprehensive immigration reform and other solutions to address current labor shortages: https://www.realclearpolicy.com/articles/2023/04/25/without_immigration_reform_americas_labor_shortage_is_here_to_stay_895672.html
Wed, March 20, 2024
116 | Applying AI to Improve Health Policy Research
The latest episode of On the Evidence features an interview with Mathematica’s Ngan MacDonald about the applications of artificial intelligence (AI) for improving health care through data analytics. MacDonald recently joined Mathematica as the company’s director of health data innovations, where she leads a team of data scientists that help public and private health organizations use their data to deliver meaningful and effective insights. In addition to her role at Mathematica, MacDonald is also the chief of data operations for the Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine at Northwestern University. On the episode, MacDonald discusses the potential benefits of AI in health care, the equity implications of training AI on incomplete health care data, and what AI could mean for Mathematica’s work in data analytics. A full transcript of the interview is available at https://mathematica.org/blogs/improving-health-equity-through-ai-and-data-innovation
Wed, March 06, 2024
115 | Improving the Impact of Social Programs Through Better Evaluation
A new episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast explores the idea that a more comprehensive approach to evaluation, including study of a program’s design and implementation, maximizes a program’s chances of success. The episode draws from a convening in January at Mathematica’s D.C. office at which experts from the federal government, philanthropy, academia, and research organizations discussed insights from the Oxford Handbook on Program Design and Implementation Evaluation, edited by Mathematica’s Anu Rangarajan. The episode features Rangarajan as well as seven other speakers who expand upon the idea that a more comprehensive approach to evaluation could provide more useful information about whether a program is working, and if not, how it could be tweaked to work. The following speakers also appear in the episode: - Michael Woolcock, lead social scientist, Development Research Group, World Bank - Paul Decker, president and chief executive officer, Mathematica - Emilie Bagby, director, international education, Mathematica - Alix Zwane, chief executive officer, Global Innovation Fund - Melissa Chiappetta, senior education advisor, Latin America and the Caribbean, U.S. Agency for International Development - Douglas J. Besharov, professor, University of Maryland School of Public Policy - Michelle Sager, managing director for strategic issues, U.S. Government Accountability Office A transcript of the episode is available at https://mathematica.org/blogs/improving-the-impact-of-social-programs-through-better-evaluation Learn more about Mathematica Global, the new name and identity of Mathematica’s international unit: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/mathematica-global-brings-hindsight-insight-and-foresight Watch the full video recording from the January convening about improving the impact of social programs through a comprehensive approach to design and evaluation: https://www.mathematica.org/events/improving-the-impact-of-social-programs-through-a-comprehensive-approach-to-design-and-evaluation Listen to a previous episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast that features two of the speakers from the January event, Emilie Bagby and Melissa Chiappetta, discussing how the U.S. Agency for International Development and the International Rescue Committee are building on an evidence review from Mathematica to help local education leaders implement effective programs and policies in northern Central America that will reduce local violence and crime: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/developing-education-programs-to-prevent-violence-and-crime-in-latin-america-and-the-caribbean
Wed, February 21, 2024
114 | How Virtual and Group Tutoring Could Address Learning Loss
The COVID-19 pandemic is no longer a public health emergency, but its harmful effects on the U.S. education system still linger. Nationwide standardized test scores show that average student achievement in core subjects, such as math and reading, remains below pre-pandemic levels. Over the past four years, a growing number of schools have used temporary federal pandemic relief funds to implement high-dosage tutoring, an evidence-based strategy shown to increase student learning. Education agencies have less than a year to use their remaining funds, underscoring the need for other effective tutoring approaches that can serve more students at a lower cost. The latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast explores promising evidence from evaluations Mathematica conducted for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation of eight tutoring programs that piloted a variety of tutoring approaches, such as virtual and group tutoring. These programs enrolled diverse groups of students in grades 4 through 10 during the 2021–2022 school year. Our guests for this episode are Brandi Garza of the Corpus Christi Independent School District, Hasan Ali of Air Tutors, and Gregory Chojnacki of Mathematica. A full transcript of the episode is available at mathematica.org/blogs/how-virtual-and-group-tutoring-could-address-learning-loss
Wed, February 07, 2024
113 | An interview with U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Santos
On the five-year anniversary of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast, we’re proud to feature an interview with Robert Santos, the director of the U.S. Census Bureau. Santos, the first Latino and the second person of color to lead the agency, joined Mathematica in January for a wide-ranging conversation that covered the following topics: • changing Latinx/Hispanic population trends in the United States • how people of Latinx/Hispanic heritage can advance in the field of public policy research • how the Census Bureau strives to establish trust with survey respondents through culturally relevant and community-based participatory research methods • how the Census Bureau uses artificial intelligence in its work A full transcript of the episode is available at https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/census-bureau-director-robert-santos-culturally-relevant-methods-in-public-policy-research
Thu, January 25, 2024
112 | Lessons for States Interested in Hospital Global Budgeting
This episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast explores lessons from Maryland, with glimpses from Vermont and Pennsylvania, that could help other states decide whether and how to adopt hospital global budgeting. The guests for this episode are Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, who was the secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene when the state adopted hospital global budgeting; Thomas Mullen, who led a Baltimore-area hospital system when Maryland adopted the new payment model; and Dr. Sule Gerovich, a senior fellow at Mathematica who supported Vermont, Pennsylvania, and Maryland in developing hospital global budgets. Full transcript of the episode is available here: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/what-states-can-learn-from-marylands-experience-with-hospital-global-budgeting Subscribe for future episodes on your podcast player of choice here: mathematica.org/ontheevidence
Thu, January 11, 2024
111 | Homeschooling, Inequities in Disability Policy, and Improving Child Health Through School
Every year, early-career scholars join Mathematica for a summer to work on independent research related to improving public well-being. As prospective applicants prepare to apply by the Feb. 29 deadline for the 2024 Summer Fellowship program, Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast spoke with last year’s fellows (Laurin Bixby, Carla Wellborn, and Luis Carlos Carvajal-Osorio) about what is at stake in the questions they’re investigating, why they’re interested in applied research, and what they found difficult and rewarding about applied public policy research. A full transcript is available at https://mathematica.org/blogs/using-schools-to-improve-child-health-why-black-families-choose-to-homeschool-their-kids-and-what
Wed, December 20, 2023
110 | Our Listeners on the Most Important Developments in Evidence and Well-Being in 2023
For the final episode of 2023, Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast asked friends of the show to send short voice notes about important developments in evidence and well-being this year that will continue to matter in 2024. More than a dozen listeners and former guests responded to our call, highlighting significant milestones in health care, early childhood education, economic opportunity, climate change, disability policy, gender equality, and government agencies’ growing capacity to generate evidence that can improve programs’ effectiveness in the United States and abroad. On the episode, host J.B. Wogan discusses the year-in-review submissions with the show’s producer, Rick Stoddard. Thank you to the following contributors: • Selena Caldera, the AARP Public Policy Institute • Christina Ciocca Eller, Harvard University • Nichole Dunn, Results for America • Jill Constantine, Mathematica • Laurin Bixby, University of Pennsylvania • Jonathan Morse, Mathematica • Alex Olgin, Tradeoffs • Shana Christrup, Bipartisan Policy Center • Erin Taylor, Mathematica • Jeff Bernson, Mathematica • Berta Heybey, Millennium Challenge Corporation • Nancy Murray, Mathematica • Jane Fortson, Mathematica • Shannon Monahan, Mathematica • Bill Nichols, Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity • Jeanne Bellotti, Mathematica • Elinor Higgins, National Academy for State Health Policy A full transcript of the episode, as well as links to all of the research and other resources mentioned on the episode, are available at mathematica.org/ontheevidence.
Wed, December 13, 2023
109, Part 2 | Improving Health Equity by Transforming Public Health Data Systems
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, inconsistent data collection and reporting made it difficult for U.S. public health agencies to respond to the disease's inequitable impacts. Demographic and socioeconomic factors, such as age, race, ethnicity, gender, income, and disability status, were particularly challenging to capture. The same data issues would later impede agencies’ ability to prioritize vaccinations for the people most impacted by the pandemic. Even though COVID-19 is no longer a global public health emergency, the underlying data problems remain. “What’s at stake is saving lives,” says Alonzo Plough, chief science officer and vice president of research, evaluation, and learning at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), who joins us for this episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast. Plough explains, “bad data, lack of timely data, [and] lack of connected data” result in “missing opportunities for early intervention that can save lives.” In this two-part episode, Plough joins George Hobor, Javier Robles, and Anita Chandra, as they discuss the deficits of the U.S. public health data infrastructure, how these deficits affect health equity, and how public health agencies can improve their responses to public health crises by transforming their data systems. - Hobor is a senior program officer at RWJF. - Robles is director of the Center for Disability Sports, Health, and Wellness at Rutgers University and was a member of RWJF’s National Commission to Transform Public Health Data Systems. - Chandra is vice president and director of RAND Social and Economic Well-Being at the RAND Corporation. In part 1, Mathematica’s Deric Joyner speaks with Plough about the motivation behind the Transforming Public Health Data Systems initiative. In part 2, Mathematica’s Dave Roberts moderates a conversation between Hobor, Robles, and Chandra, about insights from the initiative and what changes need to happen next to improve the nation’s public health data infrastructure. Part 1 is available here: https://on.soundcloud.com/iQcZ4 Transcripts for parts 1 and 2 are available here: https://mathematica.org/blogs/improving-health-equity-by-transforming-public-health-data-systems
Wed, December 13, 2023
109, Part 1 | Improving Health Equity by Transforming Public Health Data Systems
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, inconsistent data collection and reporting made it difficult for U.S. public health agencies to respond to the disease's inequitable impacts. Demographic and socioeconomic factors, such as age, race, ethnicity, gender, income, and disability status, were particularly challenging to capture. The same data issues would later impede agencies’ ability to prioritize vaccinations for the people most impacted by the pandemic. Even though COVID-19 is no longer a global public health emergency, the underlying data problems remain. “What’s at stake is saving lives,” says Alonzo Plough, chief science officer and vice president of research, evaluation, and learning at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), who joins us for this episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast. Plough explains, “bad data, lack of timely data, [and] lack of connected data” result in “missing opportunities for early intervention that can save lives.” In this two-part episode, Plough joins George Hobor, Javier Robles, and Anita Chandra, as they discuss the deficits of the U.S. public health data infrastructure, how these deficits affect health equity, and how public health agencies can improve their responses to public health crises by transforming their data systems. - Hobor is a senior program officer at RWJF. - Robles is director of the Center for Disability Sports, Health, and Wellness at Rutgers University and was a member of RWJF’s National Commission to Transform Public Health Data Systems. - Chandra is vice president and director of RAND Social and Economic Well-Being at the RAND Corporation. In part 1, Mathematica’s Deric Joyner speaks with Plough about the motivation behind the Transforming Public Health Data Systems initiative. In part 2, Mathematica’s Dave Roberts moderates a conversation between Hobor, Robles, and Chandra, about insights from the initiative and what changes need to happen next to improve the nation’s public health data infrastructure. Part 2 is available here: https://on.soundcloud.com/ZoipS Transcripts for parts 1 and 2 are available here: https://mathematica.org/blogs/improving-health-equity-by-transforming-public-health-data-systems
Wed, November 29, 2023
108 | How Artificial Intelligence Can Advance Health Equity
In September 2023, Mathematica and Congressman Don Beyer’s office hosted an event on Capitol Hill to discuss artificial intelligence (AI) and its implications for health equity. This episode of On the Evidence features audio from the September event, anchored by Victoria Knight, a health care policy reporter for Axios, who interviewed Congressman Beyer and moderated a subsequent panel with Ellie Graeden, Jen Roberts, Ngan MacDonald, and Deliya Wesley. • Beyer represents the 8th Congressional District of Virginia and is a vice chair of both the bipartisan Congressional AI Caucus and an AI working group recently formed by the New Democrat Coalition. • Graeden is a professor at the Georgetown University Center for Global Health Science and Security. • Roberts is a director of resilient systems at the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, also known as ARPA-H. • MacDonald is the chief of data operations for the Institute for AI in Medicine at Northwestern University. • Wesley is a senior director of health equity at Mathematica. Learn more about how Mathematica’s experts harness vast data, advanced analytics, and deep health care policy experience to help organizations make sense of real-world data in a way that enables exploration and innovation: https://mathematica.org/sp/data-analytics/real-world-data Find a transcript of the episode at mathematica.org/blogs/how-artificial-intelligence-can-advance-health-equity
Wed, November 08, 2023
107 | Elizabeth Linos on Bolstering the Public Sector Workforce and Improving Government Services
The latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast features Elizabeth Linos, the 23rd recipient of the David N. Kershaw Award and Prize. Linos is a public management scholar and behavioral scientist who studies, designs, and tests innovations in how government works. On the episode, Linos talks about what public sector workers and public policy researchers can learn from each other, how she selects research topics that have salience in the policy community, and what she is learning about scaling up and sustaining successful pilot projects in government. A full transcript of the episode is available at mathematica.org/blogs/elizabeth-linos-on-using-evidence-to-bolster-the-public-sector-workforce-and-improve-government
Thu, October 26, 2023
106 | Jennifer Pahlka on Government in the Digital Age
Jennifer Pahlka served as the U.S. deputy chief technology officer under President Barack Obama and founded Code for America, a nonprofit that works to improve government digital services. In her new book, "Recoding America: Why Government is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better," Pahlka takes us beyond the basics to explore why policy implementation goes wrong and what we can do to improve delivery of government services and create better outcomes for the American public. On this episode of On the Evidence, Pahlka and Mathematica's Mike Burns discuss "Recoding America," the nexus of evidence-based policy and delivery-driven policy, and how we can close the gap between policy intentions and real-world outcomes. A full transcript of this episode is available here: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/jennifer-pahlka-on-government-in-the-digital-age Learn more about Pahlka's book, "Recoding America: Why Government is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better": https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250266774/recodingamerica Read Pahlka’s June 2023 op-ed in The Washington Post, “Better government tech starts with people. New Jersey shows how.”: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/06/13/new-jersey-digital-unemployment-insurance/ Read Pahlka’s bio: https://www.recodingamerica.us/
Wed, October 11, 2023
105 | How Colorado Committed to Supporting Teacher Diversity and Why it Matters to Students
Teacher recruitment and retention challenges have increased since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. But even before that, students of diverse backgrounds have historically not seen themselves reflected in the adults in their classrooms and schools. Why does this matter? Students of color do better in school when they have teachers who share similar identities. For example, Black students with at least one Black teacher in grades K-3 are 13 percent more likely to graduate high school and 19 percent more likely to enroll in college than their same-race same-school peers. And all students benefit from diversity of the teacher workforce: teachers of color are positive role models for all students in breaking down negative stereotypes and preparing students to live and work in a multiracial society. This episode focuses on efforts to diversify the teacher workforce and provide supports to teachers from diverse backgrounds in schools. The guests for this episode are Colorado State Representative Jennifer Bacon; Janet Damon, a teacher at Delta High School, in Denver, Colorado; and Steven Malick, a senior researcher at Mathematica. Colorado State Representative Jennifer Bacon is Assistant Majority Leader and represents House District 7, which includes the Denver International Airport and Denver’s far northeast neighborhoods. Representative Bacon serves as Vice Chair of the House Judiciary Committee and a member of the House Education Committee. Representative Bacon is also the Chair of the Black Democratic Legislative Caucus of Colorado. Janet Rene Damon, Ed.S has spent 24 years as a high school teacher, digital librarian, and literacy engagement activist. She is co-founder of Afros and Books, a citywide literacy and nature engagement that offers culturally sustaining programming and book clubs for families in Denver. Janet was awarded the Inaugural Making our Futures Brighter Award from the Black Family Advisory Council in 2022, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award in 2022, and the Library Journal Mover and Shaker Award in 2020. Steven Malick of Mathematica focuses on bridging the gap between research and practice in the K–12 education system. He specializes in working with districts, states, and other organizations to understand and apply evidence in service of improving educator effectiveness and student achievement. His work has helped clients increase the diversity of the teacher workforce, develop social-emotional competencies in children, and accelerate implementation of research-based strategies. A full transcript of this episode is available here: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/how-colorado-committed-to-supporting-teacher-diversity-and-why-it-matters-to-students Watch a webinar from REL Central at Mathematica on research and promising practices to support a diverse teacher workforce: https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/rel/Products/Region/central/Resource/107037
Wed, September 27, 2023
104 | Michael Mann on Taking Action to Address the Climate Crisis
For anyone looking to understand Earth’s climate history and the unfolding climate crisis, Michael Mann has got you covered. Mann is the Presidential Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania and director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media. He has authored numerous books, including The New Climate War and The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars. He was selected by Scientific American as one of the fifty leading visionaries in science and technology in 2002 and was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2020. “Climate doomism” – the idea that it’s too late to act on the climate crisis – is a common refrain that promotes inaction. But in his new book, Our Fragile Moment: How Lessons from Earth's Past Can Help Us Survive the Climate Crisis, Mann argues that we can avoid catastrophe if we take meaningful action to address the crisis. On this episode, Mike Burns, Mathematica senior director of communications and public affairs, speaks with Mann about his new book and preserving “our fragile moment.” Topics addressed include: • Lessons that can–and cannot–be drawn from Earth’s climate history • Why seemingly insignificant temperature changes aren’t so insignificant • The concepts of urgency and agency, and obstacles to climate action • “Shifting baseline syndrome” – the gradual change in expected norms for environmental conditions • Weighing the paleoclimate record with other sources of information about the climate system • Effective communication and messaging strategies around climate science and climate change A full transcript of this episode is available here: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/climate-scientist-michael-mann-on-preserving-our-fragile-moment Learn more about Mann’s new book, Our Fragile Moment: How Lessons from Earth's Past Can Help Us Survive the Climate Crisis: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/michael-e-mann/our-fragile-moment/9781541702899/?lens=publicaffairs Read Mann’s full bio: https://michaelmann.net/content/about
Tue, September 19, 2023
103 | OMB Evidence Team on Evidence-Based Policymaking and Federal Evaluation
From helping lead implementation of the Evidence Act to providing technical assistance on activities and initiatives, the Evidence Team at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is on the frontlines of evidence building and use across the federal government. Led by Diana Epstein (Team Lead), Erica Zielewski (Senior Evidence Analyst), Danielle Berman (Senior Evidence Analyst), and Erika Liliedahl (Senior Evidence Analyst), the OMB Evidence Team spends their days doing “anything and everything to help make sure that government uses the best possible evidence to make decisions.” On this episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast—I speak with Diana, Erica, and Danielle to better understand Evidence Act implementation and federal evaluation, and the role the Evidence Team plays in efforts to improve government-wide effectiveness. Among several topics, the episode covers: • Successes and challenges of the Evidence Act • Evidence Act Title I and OMB’s Evidence Act implementing guidance • The Evidence Team’s role in interagency collaboration • The ongoing culture change around evidence-based decision-making • The Evaluation Officer Council A full transcript of this episode is available here: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/the-omb-evidence-team-on-evidence-based-policymaking-and-federal-evaluation Learn more about the OMB Evidence Team: https://www.evaluation.gov/about/ Read a fact sheet from the Bipartisan Policy Center on the Evidence Act: https://bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/fact-sheet-foundations-for-evidence-based-policymaking-act/ Read OMB’s Evidence Act implementing guidance: https://www.evaluation.gov/2021-09-27-OMB-M-21-27-guidance/ Learn more about the Evaluation Office Council: https://www.evaluation.gov/about-evaluation-officers/
Wed, August 30, 2023
102 | Gayle Smith on the Federal Role in Global Response to Health and Climate Crises
Gayle Smith, CEO of the ONE Campaign, served in many leadership roles in the federal government as a staunch advocate for evidence-based decision making. As Coordinator for Global COVID Response and Health Security at the U.S. Department of State in 2021, Smith led the U.S. effort to end the global pandemic, helping the Biden-Harris Administration map out a response, identify spikes, and target vulnerabilities through monitoring, testing, diagnostics, and other tools. As Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) during the Obama Administration, Smith prioritized a culture of evaluation and learning, emphasizing the importance of focusing on outcomes rather than inputs and using data and evidence to make midcourse corrections on projects and programs. And, as a White House official who played a leading role in the U.S. response to Ebola, Smith saw firsthand the importance of leveraging data to track outbreaks, target treatments, invest resources, and move in real time to maximize impact. On this episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast—one in our occasional Evidence in Government series—Mike Burns, Mathematica senior director of communications and public affairs, spoke with Smith about a range of topics including evaluation at USAID, the U.S. response to Ebola, the intersection of development finance and climate change, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), bilateral and global agencies, and the COVID-19 global health crisis, including its economic impact on women. A full transcript of this episode is available here: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/gayle-smith-on-the-federal-role-in-global-response-to-health-and-climate-crises Read Smith’s remarks from the 2016 Brookings Institution event on the state of evaluation at USAID: https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/20160330_usaid_evaluation_transcript.pdf Read the ONE Campaign’s statement on the appointment of Ajay Banga as president of the World Bank: https://www.one.org/us/press/banga-world-bank/ Read ONE’s statement on the 20th anniversary of the PEPFAR announcement: https://www.one.org/us/press/one-statement-on-20th-anniversary-of-pepfar-announcement/ Read Smith’s POLITICO interview with Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/11/01/linda-thomas-greenfield-gayle-smith-interview-00014844
Wed, August 16, 2023
101 | Using Data to Advance Equitable Outcomes from Pre-K through the Workforce
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated pre-existing inequities that changed how individuals engage with pre-K programs, schools, colleges, employers, and the world at large. Early evidence suggests the pandemic took a toll on student learning, educational attainment, employment, and physical and mental well-being, especially in communities of color and communities experiencing poverty. In recognition of the fact that better data infrastructure will be needed to shift the systems that currently produce inequitable outcomes, a growing number of states are working to modernize statewide longitudinal data systems to understand the experiences and outcomes of individuals seamlessly across pre-K, K–12, postsecondary, and workforce systems. This episode of On the Evidence focuses on efforts to advance equitable outcomes from cradle to career by making data more available and useful to state decision makers. The guests for this episode are Keith White of the Public Education Foundation Chattanooga, Naihobe Gonzalez of Mathematica, Sara Kerr of Results for America, and Ross Tilchin of Results for America. White is the director of research and effectiveness at the PEF Chattanooga, a non-profit that provides training, research, and resources to teachers, principals, and schools in Hamilton County, Tennessee. Gonzalez, a senior researcher at Mathematica, co-authored a recent report funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on the Education-to-Workforce Indicator Framework, which establishes a common set of metrics and data equity principles for assessing and addressing disparities along the pre-K-to-workforce continuum. Kerr is the vice president of education policy implementation for Results for America, where she leads EdResearch for Action, an initiative that fosters a more nuanced and effective application of evidence-based strategies by improving the quality, availability, and use of evidence in education. Tilchin is on the solutions team at Results for America, where he directs the Economic Mobility Catalog, an online resource that helps local government leaders identify and implement evidence-based strategies, from early childhood education to workforce development, that can advance economic mobility in their communities. A full transcript of this episode is available here: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/advancing-equitable-outcomes-from-pre-k-through-the-workforce-by-aligning-state-local-data-systems Explore the Education-to-Workforce Indicator Framework: https://www.educationtoworkforce.org/ Learn more about the Economic Mobility Catalog from Results for America: https://catalog.results4america.org/ Learn more about EdResearch for Action from Results for America and the Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://edresearchforaction.org/ Watch a webinar with Mathematica, Mirror Group, and the Data Quality Campaign about increasing collaboration and alignment across local, state, and national data systems to help address disparities along the
Fri, August 04, 2023
Bonus Content | J.B. Wogan Reflects on 100 Episodes
In this special feature, On the Evidence host J.B. Wogan reflects on the first 100 episodes of the Mathematica podcast, and retraces some of the steps taken in the almost five years since the series launched in early 2019. Learn more, listen, and subscribe: https://mathematica.org/ontheevidence
Wed, August 02, 2023
100 | Robert Shea on the Federal Government’s Progress in Using Evidence
In May 2023, Mathematica hosted a convening on Capitol Hill about embedding evidence in federal decision making, with a focus on the legacy of the nearly five-year-old Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act, also known as the Evidence Act. One of the attendees that day was Robert Shea, an expert on performance improvement in government who served on the bipartisan U.S. Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, a group whose recommendations informed the Evidence Act. Shea is the chief executive officer for GovNavigators, a government management consulting firm, where he hosts a podcast called The GovNavigators Show. His career has also included posts at the White House Office of Management and Budget, the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, and the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight. On this episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast, Shea discusses the improvements he has witnessed since the mid-1990s in the use of data and evidence in federal decision making. “We have seen a sea change in the ability of agencies to understand that they need to articulate what they’re trying to accomplish in terms of outcomes, report that transparently,” Shea says on the episode. “A lot of what we’re talking about today is sort of dig deeper—find out whether it’s what we’re doing that’s contributing to the ultimate outcome rather than some other factor.” This episode is part of an occasional series on the show called Evidence in Government, which explores new developments in the halls of government and the role that evidence can play in decisions that could improve people’s lives. Mike Burns, Mathematica’s senior director of communications and public affairs at Mathematica, conducts the Evidence in Government interviews. SHOW NOTES Listen to The GovNavigators Show, a podcast Shea hosts with Adam Hughes about government management: https://www.govnavigators.com/podcast Watch a recording of the event Mathematica hosted in May 2023 on the Evidence Act: https://www.mathematica.org/events/evidence-at-work-for-the-american-people Learn more about the U.S. Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, which made recommendations ahead of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/omb/management/commission_evidence Read a fact sheet from the Bipartisan Policy Center on the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act: https://bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/fact-sheet-foundations-for-evidence-based-policymaking-act/ Read a press release about the resolution to establish a new commission on evidence-based policymaking: https://kilmer.house.gov/media/press-releases/kilmer-spearheads-legislative-change-with-introduction-of-evidence-based-policymaking-resolution Read the bipartisan resolution to establish a new commission on evidence-based policymaking to further embed the use of data and evidence in federal decision making: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-concurrent-reso
Thu, July 20, 2023
99 | Understanding Why More Eligible Kids Got Free Meals During Pandemic Summers
Leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, only about one in every seven students served by the National School Lunch Program also participated in free summer meals programs provided by the federal Food and Nutrition Service. The low ratio of students accessing meals in the summer compared to the school year has been dubbed the “summer food gap.” Policymakers and anti-hunger advocates have long worried that millions of children from households with low incomes aren’t getting enough to eat when school is out of session, posing risks to children’s health, learning, and overall well-being. This episode of On the Evidence examines what happened during the COVID-19 pandemic when the federal government temporarily waived some of its program rules, giving meal providers much more flexibility in how they fed students during the school year and in the summer months. With the waivers in place, program operators could prioritize convenience for families and avoid the spread of infection. For example, parents or guardians could pick up meals for their children at the curb or a drive-through; they could grab more than one meal at a time; and they could pick up the meals outside of traditional service hours, such as in the early mornings or evenings. The waivers also cleared the way for more summer meals sites to open, which helped establish new sites closer to where some families lived. Recent research from the Food and Nutrition Service and Mathematica shows that in 2020, with temporary program waivers in place because of the pandemic, these federal summer meals programs reached many more children and served many more meals than usual. The podcast examines why access to meals improved in the summer of 2020 and what it could mean for summer meal access now that COVID-19 is no longer a public health emergency, and those temporary waivers have ended. The episode features three guests: Shana Christrup, Lindsay Aguilar, and Veronica Severn. Christrup is the public health director for the Bipartisan Policy Center, which released a report in January 2022 that recommended changes to federal child nutrition programs, including changes that would expand access to meals in the summer. Aguilar is the food services director for the Tucson Unified School District. Severn is a survey researcher at Mathematica who coauthored the recent report on the pandemic-era waivers for child nutrition programs in the spring and summer of 2020. Read the report from the Food and Nutrition Service and Mathematica on child nutrition program operations from March through September 2020: https://smo-study.mathematica.org/ Read the report from the Bipartisan Policy Center on strengthening child nutrition programs: https://bipartisanpolicy.org/report/child-nutrition-programs/ Read Route Fifty’s story on lessons from the pandemic about feeding more children during the summer: https://www.route-fifty.com/health-human-services/2023/06/federal-covid-changes-helped-feed-twice-many-kids-during-summer/3871
Thu, July 06, 2023
98 | Developing Education Programs to Prevent Violence and Crime in Latin America and the Caribbean
This episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast focuses on how research informs funding strategies to tackle an urgent social challenge. A couple of years ago, Mathematica reviewed evidence from across the world on whether education programs can prevent or mitigate violence and crime. USAID commissioned the report to help develop effective strategies for leveraging the education sector to address violence and crime in Latin America and the Caribbean. Although Mathematica’s researchers identified almost two dozen promising programs in the review, they also noted the need for further research. For example, few of the studies show causal impacts or provide evidence from an effective program in Latin America or the Caribbean. To build on findings from Mathematica’s evidence review, USAID and the International Rescue Committee(IRC) partnered to launch an initiative called USAID Research in Education for Transformative Opportunities (RETO), which provides tailored evidence to decision makers in governmental and non-governmental institutions, such as local ministries of education. The initiative seeks to help those education leaders implement effective programs and policies in Northern Central America that will reduce local violence and crime. The guests for this episode are Juan Carlos Rodríguez, Katie Appel, Melissa Chiappetta, and Emilie Bagby. Rodríguez and Appel are the director and deputy director, respectively, for USAID's RETO activity implemented by the IRC and its 12 national partners. Chiappetta is a senior education advisor with the Office of Regional Sustainable Development within USAID's Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean. Bagby is a director at Mathematica, where she oversees our international education research. Find the full transcript here: mathematica.org/blogs/developing-education-programs-to-prevent-violence-and-crime-in-latin-america-and-the-caribbean Read the evidence review by Mathematica for USAID on the effect of education programs on violence, crime, and related outcomes: https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00XGXT.pdf Learn more about RETO: https://www.youthpower.org/usaid-research-education-transformative-opportunities-reto Learn more about IRC’s Airbel Impact Lab: https://airbel.rescue.org/?_ga=2.189623531.1744177215.1687884026-800337516.1664199528 Learn more about Mathematica’s evaluations for USAID’s Latin America and the Caribbean Reads (LAC Reads) initiative, which included the evidence review on education programs to prevent or mitigate violence and crime: https://staginginter.mathematica.net/projects/latin-america-and-the-caribbean-reading-evaluation
Wed, June 21, 2023
97 | Building on the Evidence Act
In late May 2023, Mathematica coordinated with Congressman Derek Kilmer’s office to host a discussion on Capitol Hill about the impact of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act (Evidence Act) and how to further embed the use of data and evidence in federal decision making. This episode of On the Evidence features edited audio from the event with remarks from Kilmer and his House colleague, Rep. William Timmons, in addition to a panel discussion with experts from government, think tanks, research organizations, and academia. Kilmer represents Washington State’s Sixth District and was one of the Evidence Act’s original co-sponsors. He is also the sponsor of a new bipartisan resolution to establish a new commission on evidence-based policymaking that would advise Congress on how to make greater strides in embedding the use of data and evidence in federal agencies but also in Congress itself. Timmons represents South Carolina’s Fourth District and is a co-sponsor of the resolution to establish a new evidence commission. The other speakers included Robert Groves, Nick Hart, Ruth Neild, and Susan Jenkins. Groves is a provost of Georgetown University and served as a member of the previous U.S. Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, whose recommendations informed the Evidence Act. Hart is the president and CEO of Data Foundation and served as policy and research director for the U.S. Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking. Neild is an executive director of education and employment research at Mathematica and previously served as delegated director of the Institute of Education Sciences within the U.S. Department of Education. Jenkins directs the Division of Evidence, Evaluation and Data Policy at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she also serves as an evaluation officer. A full transcript of the episode is available at mathematica.org/blogs/building-on-the-evidence-act-to-increase-the-positive-impact-of-federal-policymaking Learn more about the U.S. Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, which made recommendations ahead of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/omb/management/commission_evidence Read a fact sheet from the Bipartisan Policy Center on the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act: https://bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/fact-sheet-foundations-for-evidence-based-policymaking-act/ Read a press release about the resolution to establish a new commission on evidence-based policymaking: https://kilmer.house.gov/media/press-releases/kilmer-spearheads-legislative-change-with-introduction-of-evidence-based-policymaking-resolution Read the bipartisan resolution to establish a new commission on evidence-based policymaking to further embed the use of data and evidence in federal decision making: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-concurrent-resolution/49/text?s=1&r=1&q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22Evidence+commission%22%5D%7D
Wed, June 07, 2023
96 | Addressing Fragmented Health Care
The fragmentation of outpatient health care drives up the cost of care and worsens the quality of care that patients receive, posing a risk to patients’ health. On this episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast, guests James Lee of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation, Knitasha Washington of ATW Health Solutions, Bob Phillips of the Center for Professionalism and Value in Health Care, and Lori Timmins of Mathematica discuss recent research on the nature of the problem and federal initiatives that have sought to address it. A full transcript of the episode is available at https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/understanding-and-addressing-fragmented-outpatient-health-care Read a press release synthesizing key takeaways from a series of peer-reviewed journal articles on fragmented outpatient care based on studies conducted by Mathematica with support from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: https://www.mathematica.org/news/new-studies-reveal-that-fragmented-care-persists-despite-efforts-to-improve-primary-care-and-care Learn more about how the Innovation Center and Mathematica are advancing understanding of primary care through an evaluation of the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus model: https://www.mathematica.org/projects/evaluating-the-nations-largest-primary-care-delivery-initiative Learn more about an ongoing evaluation by Mathematica for the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation to determine whether medical practices’ participation in the Primary Care First alternative payment model improves quality and reduces costs for Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries: https://www.mathematica.org/projects/evaluation-of-the-primary-care-first-model Read the 2021 report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on implementing high quality primary care: https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25983/implementing-high-quality-primary-care-rebuilding-the-foundation-of-health
Thu, May 25, 2023
95 | The Role of Evidence in Solutions Journalism
The 95th episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast features author Tina Rosenberg discussing the role of data and other evidence in supporting solutions journalism. In 2013, Rosenberg co-founded the Solutions Journalism Network, which challenges journalists to show whether a solution they are covering is effective using available data or qualitative results. The episode explores the nature of solutions journalism and how researchers who evaluate policies and programs can contribute to evidence-based reporting about solutions. A video recording and related transcript from the LinkedIn Live event on May 2, 2023 is available at mathematica.org/blogs/tina-rosenberg-on-the-role-of-evidence-in-solutions-journalism Read the last installment of the Fixes column that Rosenberg and David Bornstein co-wrote for 11 years at The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/11/opinion/fixes-solutions-journalism-lessons.html Learn how to implement the principles of solutions journalism in your work by taking free online courses offered by the Solutions Journalism Network’s Learning Lab: https://learninglab.solutionsjournalism.org/ Explore the Solutions Journalism Network’s Story Tracker, a curated database of rigorous reporting on responses to social problems: https://www.solutionsjournalism.org/storytracker Read about the impact of solutions stories through the Solutions Journalism Network’s Impact Tracker: https://www.solutionsjournalism.org/impact Read a solutions story by Rosenberg about how to triple voter turnout: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/19/opinion/voter-turnout-2020-election.html Read a solutions story by Michael Kimmelman about housing people who were living on the streets of Houston: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/14/headway/houston-homeless-people.html
Wed, May 10, 2023
94 | Christina Ciocca Eller on White House Year of Evidence for Action
Episode 94 of On the Evidence is the second installment in a new occasional series on the show called Evidence in Government, where guests talk about new developments in the halls of government and the role that evidence can or should play in decisions that could improve people’s lives. On this episode, Christina Ciocca Eller talks about a recent push at the White House to accelerate the comingling of research and public policy to improve the lives of the American people. Ciocca Eller is an assistant professor of sociology and social studies at Harvard University who previously served as the assistant director for evidence and policy in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy under the Biden-Harris Administration. In that role, she co-led the White House’s Year of Evidence for Action initiative. Following the one-year anniversary of the Year of Evidence for Action, Ciocca Eller and Mathematica’s Mike Burns discuss what motivated the White House’s intensified focus on data, evidence, and science in the federal government; what the effort achieved; and what’s next in the movement to embed evidence in decision making. A full transcript of the episode is available at mathematica.org/blogs/former-biden-harris-administration-official-christina-ciocca-eller-on-turning-evidence-into-action
Wed, April 26, 2023
93 | Inside Arizona’s Investment in Evidence-Based Foster Care Prevention
On this episode, we discuss the Family First Prevention Services Act in the context of one state’s efforts to build evidence for a parent education program thought to prevent child abuse and neglect. Katherine Guffey, Meg Dygert, and Allon Kalisher discuss a parent education program in Arizona that Mathematica evaluated, the Family First law, and the long-term implications of the law’s provisions around prevention services and evidence of effectiveness. Guffey is the executive consultant to the director of the Arizona Department of Child Safety. Dygert is the senior policy associate for child and family well-being at the American Public Human Services Association. Kalisher is a senior researcher at Mathematica. Find a full transcript of the episode at https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/inside-arizonas-efforts-to-invest-in-evidence-based-foster-care-prevention-services. Read Mathematica’s evaluation of Arizona’s the Nurturing Skills for Families program: https://mathematica.org/publications/impact-evaluation-of-the-nurturing-parenting-program-nurturing-skills-for-families Read a policy brief from the American Public Human Services Association on unlocking the “prevention services” in the Family First Prevention Services Act: https://files.constantcontact.com/391325ca001/09019575-0805-4650-b3c5-4a6c58769a38.pdf Learn more about our live podcast with Tina Rosenberg about the role of evidence in solutions journalism on May 2, 2023 at 2 p.m. ET: https://www.linkedin.com/video/event/urn:li:ugcPost:7049466439790956544/ To submit comments or questions in advance of the LinkedIn Live event, email info@mathematica-mpr.com or call Mathematica's On the Evidence podcast to leave a voicemail at (609) 945-6600.
Wed, April 12, 2023
92 | Evidence-Based Policy in President Biden's 2024 Budget
In the president’s proposed budget for the 2024 fiscal year, the Biden White House outlines a spending plan that would expand health care insurance coverage for more Americans, extend free school meals to more children, and provide financial assistance for child care to more families. The budget includes more than a dozen references to evidence and calls for taking evidence-based or evidence-informed approaches to criminal justice, foster care prevention services, and registered apprenticeship programs. To understand what the president’s budget might mean for the future of evidence-based policymaking, Mathematica’s Mike Burns spoke with Caitlin Emma and Nichole Dunn for the latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast. This episode is part of a new occasional series for the On the Evidence that explores new developments in the halls of government and the role that evidence could play in informing decisions that affect people’s well-being. Find a full transcript of the episode at mathematica.org/ontheevidence. Learn more about our live podcast with Tina Rosenberg about the role of evidence in solutions journalism on May 2, 2023 at 2 p.m. ET: https://www.linkedin.com/events/7049466437156962304/comments/ Submit questions for Rosenberg in advance of the event by emailing info@mathematica-mpr.com. Read Emma’s coverage of President Biden’s budget as a re-election campaign document (https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/09/biden-budget-reelection-campaign-00086452) and a challenge to House Republicans who have called for spending cuts (https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/09/biden-budget-medicare-house-republicans-00086124). Read a summary of key provisions in the president’s budget that support the use of evaluation, data, and evidence to make government more effective: https://www.evaluation.gov/assets/resources/2024 Evidence Chapter in Brief.pdf Explore the American Rescue Plan Data and Evidence Dashboard, developed by Results for America and Mathematica. It shows how state, local, and tribal governments are spending $350 billion in fiscal recovery funds from the American Rescue Plan Act: https://results4america.org/tools/arp-dashboard/ Explore the Results for America's Economic Mobility Catalog, which helps local leaders identify and implement evidence-based strategies to improve economic mobility for their residents: https://results4america.org/page/economic-mobility-catalog/ Learn more about the What Works Nonprofit Fellowship program and the Local Government Fellowship program offered by Results for America: https://results4america.org/our-work/
Thu, March 30, 2023
91 | Solutions for Preventing Heart Attacks, Improving Patient Health, and Reducing Health Spending
Every year, Mathematica publishes dozens of new papers and reports, some of which surface fresh insights about how public agencies and private organizations can be more effective at improving public well-being. For the 91st episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast, we’re launching an occasional series focused on examples of solutions that recent research suggests are effective. All three solutions in this episode involve financial incentives that seek to reduce health care costs while improving the quality of care patients receive. One seeks to reduce the incidence of heart attacks, strokes, or other events related to cardiovascular disease. Another is focused on bringing down the cost of health care and improving patient health by providing primary care services at home. And the last one, again, seeks to keep costs down while improving patient health, but this time by using a unique payment model that provides incentives to hospitals to change the way they do business. Email jwogan@mathematica-mpr.com to provide feedback about our approach to covering solutions on the podcast. A full transcript of this episode is available here: https://mathematica-mpr.com/blogs/solutions-for-preventing-heart-attacks-improving-patient-health-and-reducing-health-spending Read the fourth annual report from Mathematica for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on the evaluation of the Million Hearts Cardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction Model: https://www.mathematica.org/publications/evaluation-of-the-million-hearts-cardiovascular-disease-risk-reduction-model-fourth-annual-report Learn more about the ongoing evaluation of the Million Hearts Cardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction Model: https://www.mathematica.org/projects/million-hearts-cardiovascular-disease-risk-reduction-model Read the seventh annual report from Mathematica for Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation on the evaluation of the Independence at Home Demonstration: https://www.mathematica.org/publications/evaluation-of-the-independence-at-home-demonstration-an-examination-of-year-7-the-first-year Learn more about the ongoing evaluation of the Independence at Home Demonstration: https://www.mathematica.org/projects/evaluation-of-the-independence-at-home-demonstration Read the report from Mathematica for the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation on impacts from the first three years of the Maryland Total Cost of Care Model: https://www.mathematica.org/publications/evaluation-of-the-maryland-total-cost-of-care-model-quantitative-only-report-for-the-models-first Learn more about Mathematica’s ongoing evaluation of the Maryland Total Cost of Care Model for the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation: https://www.mathematica.org/projects/evaluating-accountability-for-statewide-health-cost-and-quality-outcomes-cpc
Wed, March 15, 2023
90 | Supporting Families Through Equity-Infused Program Change
On this episode, guests Tosin Shenbanjo, Julie Sanon, and Allison Holmes discuss a cross-sector partnership in Memphis, Tennessee, that infused equity into a local nonprofit’s two-generation strategy for alleviating poverty and supporting families. Sanon is the chief operating officer at Agape Child & Family Services in Memphis. Holmes is a senior research associate at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Shenbanjo is a researcher at Mathematica. They share lessons from a collaboration between Agape, Casey, and Mathematica to implement equity-infused rapid-cycle learning at Agape, with the goal of improving the effectiveness of the nonprofit’s programs that serve children and families. A full transcript of the episode is available here: https://mathematica.org/blogs/supporting-families-through-equity-infused-program-change Read the guide developed by Mathematica and the Annie E. Casey Foundation to help human services providers continuously improve their programs through equitable, collaborative, and innovative approaches: https://www.mathematica.org/publications/championing-change-a-practitioner-guide-for-leading-inclusive-and-equity-infused-rapid-cycle Learn more about the partnership between Agape Child & Family Services, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Mathematica to implement and refine Agape’s place-based, two-generation programs that support children and their families: https://mathematica.org/projects/support-for-agape-child-and-family-services-2gen-model Read a report from Agape Child & Family Services, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Mathematica about Agape’s experience with adapting two of its 2Gen programs in the face of pandemic-related service disruptions: https://www.mathematica.org/publications/learning-to-adapt-helping-agape-child-and-family-services-use-rapid-cycle-learning-to-drive
Wed, March 01, 2023
89 | Teacher Coaching: A Solution to Learning Loss and Teacher Burnout?
On the latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast, we look at a potential solution to two concerns in K–12 education during the pandemic: student learning loss and teacher burnout. The conversation builds on a national study from Mathematica and the Institute of Education Sciences on a form of individualized, video-based teacher coaching, which improved student achievement. Our guests for this episode include a teacher (Nicole Minor), a teacher coach (Michelle Schmidt), and a Mathematica researcher who studied the impacts of teacher coaching (Jeffrey Max). Find the full transcript here: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/video-based-coaching-offers-potential-solution-to-student-learning-loss-and-teacher-burnout Read a press release summarizing findings from Mathematica’s study for the Institute of Education Sciences about the impacts of teacher coaching on student achievement: https://mathematica.org/news/new-report-finds-student-test-scores-improved-after-teachers-received-individualized-video-based Read the full report from Mathematica and the Institute of Education Sciences on the impacts of teacher coaching on student achievement: https://mathematica.org/publications/study-of-teacher-coaching-based-on-classroom-videos-impacts-on-student-achievement-and-teachers
Wed, February 15, 2023
88 | Helping Job Seekers with Low Incomes During Recessions and Recoveries
The latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast looks at proven ways to help job seekers with low incomes during economic recessions and recoveries. Guests Tyreese Nicolas, Kimberly Clum, and Alex Stanczyk share insights from the Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse, a publicly available website about interventions designed to help job seekers with low incomes. They also discuss what the evidence says about the effectiveness of these interventions. Nicolas served as an assistant director of employment services at the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance for four years and recently became the Deputy Commissioner of Family Access and Engagement in the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care. Clum is a senior social science research analyst with the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation. Stanczyk is a researcher at Mathematica, where she focuses on public policies and programs that serve individuals and families that face social or economic disadvantage. A full transcript of the episode is available here: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/helping-job-seekers-with-low-incomes-during-economic-recessions-and-recoveries Explore the Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse: https://pathwaystowork.acf.hhs.gov/ Read the evidence review from Mathematica and OPRE on what works during economic recessions and recoveries to help workers with low incomes: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/opre/remediated-pathways_recession_brief_revised-jh.pdf
Wed, February 01, 2023
87 | A Conversation with Mathematica’s 2022 Summer Fellows
Every year, early-career scholars join Mathematica for a summer to work on independent research related to improving public well-being. As prospective applicants weigh whether to submit an application by the Feb. 28 deadline for the 2023 Summer Fellowship program, Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast spoke with last year’s fellows (Jennifer Kirk, Katherine Engel, and Adrienne Jones) about their experience working with Mathematica staff, the policy implications of their research, why they’re interested in applied research, and what they plan to do after defending their dissertations. Learn more about the Mathematica Summer Fellowship, which is accepting applications for 2023 fellows through the end of February: https://mathematica.org/career-opportunities/summer-fellowships A full transcript of the conversation is available here: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/using-evidence-to-reduce-racial-disparities-in-bone-health-improve-mental-health-and-support-self Listen to our interviews with the 2021 summer fellows: https://mathematica.org/blogs/a-conversation-with-mathematicas-2021-summer-fellows Listen to our interviews with the 2020 summer fellows: https://mathematica.org/blogs/examining-racial-disparities-in-school-discipline-and-mental-health-care Listen to our interviews with the 2019 summer fellows: https://mathematica.org/blogs/what-the-next-generation-of-policy-researchers-is-studying
Wed, January 18, 2023
86 | The Present & Future of Computational Social Science
Princeton professor Matthew Salganik’s book, Bit by Bit, explores the merging worlds of computer science and social science for timely, policy relevant research in the 21st century. In the book, he shows how traditional research techniques in the social sciences can sometimes be combined with digital tools and big data to generate high-quality evidence on a larger scale, in less time, and at a much lower cost. On the five-year anniversary of his book’s release, Salganik, who is also a member of Mathematica’s Board of Directors, spoke with On the Evidence about the book’s legacy and the evolution of the field of computational social science since he first taught a course on the subject in 2007. A full transcript of the episode is available here: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/princetons-matthew-salganik-discusses-the-evolving-intersection-of-data-and-social-science-ethics Read a free online version of Salganik’s book, Bit by Bit: https://www.bitbybitbook.com/en/1st-ed/preface/ Attend a virtual book talk on February 7, 2023 about Bit by Bit, including a Q&A with the author, hosted by the Washington, D.C. chapter of the American Association for Public Opinion Research: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dc-aapor-book-club-20-bit-by-bit-social-research-in-the-digital-age-tickets-487575530537 Listen to a previous On the Evidence episode about the Howard-Mathematica SICSS, which features Salganik: https://mathematica.org/blogs/inside-an-initiative-to-diversify-the-field-of-computational-social-science Learn more about the Howard-Mathematica SICSS: https://mathematica.org/news/howard-university-and-mathematica-to-host-computational-social-science-summer-institute Watch Salganik give a Tedx talk at Princeton University about the tension between ready-made data (big data) and custom-made data (with which social scientists usually work): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pj95xXHN2g Learn more about Salganik and his appointment in 2018 as a member of Mathematica’s Board of Directors: https://mathematica.org/news/matthew-salganik-appointed-to-mathematicas-board-of-directors
Thu, January 05, 2023
85 | Human Services Agencies Pursue Environmental Justice
On the latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast, guests Michael A. Becketts, Tracy Wareing Evans, Shavana Howard, and Matt Stagner make the case for state and local human services agencies to play a central role in the response to climate change. Becketts is the director of the Fairfax County Department of Family Services; Wareing Evans is the President and Chief Executive Officer at American Public Human Services Association; Howard is an assistant secretary for the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services; and Stagner is a vice president at Mathematica. They explain how the field of human services is uniquely positioned to support communities that will be disproportionately harmed by climate change and they identify ways that social science research and other forms of evidence can help develop solutions to environmental injustice. Additional resources mentioned on the episode, plus a full transcript of the conversation, are available here: mathematica.org/blogs/the-role-of-human-services-in-securing-environmental-justice
Fri, December 16, 2022
84 | Advancing Equity and Addressing the Climate Crisis in 2022, the Year of Evidence for Action
For the final episode of 2022, we continue our annual tradition of inviting guests to reflect on Mathematica’s work with its partners in advancing equity, addressing the climate crisis, improving public well-being, and the role that evidence played in it. This year’s guests are Nancy Murray, Jill Constantine, and Chris Trenholm, who oversee Mathematica’s International, Human Services, and Health business units, respectively. On the episode, they discuss the following topics: • Where they see signs of progress in the use of evidence • The increasingly important role of evidence in understanding and addressing inequities • Reasons to be optimistic about the growing use of evidence in improving people’s lives in 2023 A full transcript of the episode is available here: mathematica.org/blogs/advancing-equity-and-addressing-the-climate-crisis-in-2022-the-year-of-evidence-for-action Mathematica's year-in-review page for 2022 is available here: https://www.mathematica.org/features/from-inquiry-to-insight-in-2022
Thu, December 08, 2022
83, Pt. 2 | Abigail Aiken on Using Research to Inform Abortion, Reproductive Health Policy
The latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast features Abigail Aiken, the 22nd recipient of the David N. Kershaw Award and Prize. In Part 1, as part of her acceptance speech at the Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management’s fall research conference, Aiken shares details about her personal and professional journey as a researcher in the area of evidence-based reproductive health policy. Listen to Part 1 here: https://soundcloud.com/ontheevidence/informing-reproductive-health-policies-with-timely-evidence-episode-83-part-1 A full transcript of the episode is available here: mathematica.org/blogs/abigail-aiken-on-using-research-to-inform-abortion-reproductive-health-policy In Part 2, Aiken talks with On the Evidence host J.B. Wogan about how she ensures that her research informs the policy debate, even on a polarizing topic like abortion. Read the New Yorker profile of Aiken: www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/w…ortion-look-like Learn more about the David N. Kershaw Award and Prize: www.appam.org/about-appam/awards…d-n-kershaw-award/ Listen to an interview with Sanya Carley, winner of the 21st David N. Kershaw Award and Prize: mathematica.org/blogs/understandi…-policy-decisions Listen to an interview with Kirabo Jackson, winner of the 20th David N. Kershaw Award and Prize: mathematica.org/blogs/investing-i…s-in-the-long-run
Thu, December 08, 2022
83, Pt. 1 | Abigail Aiken on Using Research to Inform Abortion, Reproductive Health Policy
The latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast features Abigail Aiken, the 22nd recipient of the David N. Kershaw Award and Prize. In Part 1, as part of her acceptance speech at the Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management’s fall research conference, Aiken shares details about her personal and professional journey as a researcher in the area of evidence-based reproductive health policy. A full transcript of the episode is available here: mathematica.org/blogs/abigail-aiken-on-using-research-to-inform-abortion-reproductive-health-policy In Part 2, Aiken talks with On the Evidence host J.B. Wogan about how she ensures that her research informs the policy debate, even on a polarizing topic like abortion. Listen to Part 2 here: https://soundcloud.com/ontheevidence/informing-reproductive-health-policies-with-timely-evidence-episode-83-part-2 Read the New Yorker profile of Aiken: https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/what-does-an-at-home-abortion-look-like Learn more about the David N. Kershaw Award and Prize: https://www.appam.org/about-appam/awards/david-n-kershaw-award/ Listen to an interview with Sanya Carley, winner of the 21st David N. Kershaw Award and Prize: mathematica.org/blogs/understanding-the-equity-and-justice-dimensions-of-energy-policy-decisions Listen to an interview with Kirabo Jackson, winner of the 20th David N. Kershaw Award and Prize: mathematica.org/blogs/investing-in-education-for-success-in-the-long-run
Wed, November 09, 2022
82 | Confronting the Climate Crisis with Data and Evidence
Climate change represents the single most significant policy challenge in the 21st century. It is a multifaceted and global threat to society that affects a range of concerns, from the environment and food security to health and economic inequality. Recognizing the urgency of the threat, Mathematica recently established a climate change practice to help develop innovative and sustainable solutions that meet ambitious reduction goals for carbon dioxide emissions while helping vulnerable communities become more resilient. On this episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast, Tulika Narayan, the company’s vice president for climate change, talks about how data and evidence can help confront the climate crisis and mitigate its manifold impacts on society. A full transcript of the episode is available here: mathematica.org/blogs/confronting-the-climate-crisis-with-data-and-evidence Register for the webinar on measuring climate resilience: https://www.mathematica.org/events/improving-climate-adaptation-is-measurement-a-barrier Learn more about Mathematica’s interdisciplinary climate change practice: https://mathematica.org/sp/climate-change/climate-action Learn more about Tulika's appointment as Vice President for Climate Change at Mathematica: mathematica.org/news/mathematica-names-tulika-narayan-new-vice-president-for-climate-change
Thu, October 20, 2022
81 | Addressing the Health Risks Posed by Extreme Heat
On this episode of On the Evidence, Don Berwick of the National Academy of Medicine’s Climate Collaborative, Tom DiLiberto of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Aparna Keshaviah of Mathematica explore the risks that climate change and extreme heat pose to human health and how data can help inform solutions. A full transcript of the episode is available here: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/addressing-the-harmful-effects-of-climate-change-on-extreme-heat-and-human-health Learn more about ClimaWATCH, an interactive online tool that can support communities seeking to understand and adapt to the local effects of heat waves on their residents’ health: https://mathematica.org/publications/climawatch-tool Learn more about Mathematica’s interdisciplinary climate change practice: https://mathematica.org/sp/climate-change/climate-action Learn more about the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s work over the past five years with more than 65 communities to map urban heat islands and use data-driven insights to mitigate the harmful and inequitable effects of extreme heat: https://www.noaa.gov/news-release/noaa-and-communities-to-map-heat-inequities-in-14-us-cities-and-counties Learn more about the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Decarbonizing the U.S. Health Sector: https://nam.edu/programs/climate-change-and-human-health/action-collaborative-on-decarbonizing-the-u-s-health-sector/
Wed, October 05, 2022
80 | Lessons from Contact Tracing During the Pandemic
This episode of On the Evidence explores lessons from contact tracing for COVID-19 that should inform current and future efforts to rebuild the public health field, particularly its workforce, after the public health emergency ends. This episode features the following guests: • Elinor Higgins, a policy associate at the National Academy for State Health Policy • Shelley Fiscus, a pediatrician and senior policy consultant at the National Academy for State Health Policy • Rachel Brash, a strategist in the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development who helped oversee the Baltimore Health Corps Initiative • Shan-Tia Danielle, who worked as a contact tracer and led a team of contact tracers for the Washington State COVID-19 Contact-Tracing Partnership • Candace Miller, a principal researcher at Mathematica who directed the Washington State COVID-19 Contact-Tracing Partnership • Shaun Stevenson, an advisory services analyst at Mathematica who supported the Baltimore Health Corps Initiative Episode transcript: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/charting-a-course-for-public-health-based-on-lessons-from-contact-tracing-during-the-pandemic Learn more about the Washington State COVID-19 Contact-Tracing Partnership between the Washington State Department of Health, Mathematica, Comagine Health, and Allegis: https://mathematica.org/news/mathematica-partners-with-comagine-health-allegis-and-washington-state-on-contact-tracing Read Mathematica’s interim (https://mathematica.org/publications/baltimore-health-corps-initiative-a-transitional-jobs-program-to-improve-public-health) and final issue briefs about lessons from Mathematica’s coaching of career navigators who supported more than 300 community health workers under the Baltimore Health Corps Initiative: https://mathematica.org/publications/lessons-learned-from-the-baltimore-health-corps-initiative-a-transitional-jobs-program-to-improve Read an independent evaluation of the Baltimore Health Corps Initiative, prepared by Abt Associates: https://moed.baltimorecity.gov/news/press-releases/2022-08-19-evaluation-baltimore-health-corps-pilot-economic-and-public-health Explore a dashboard developed by Mathematica and the Public Health Foundation to present key demographic characteristics of (1) contact tracing trainees who received training through the TRAIN Learning Network and (2) the communities they serve: https://www.mathematica.org/dataviz/building-community-based-contact-tracing Read a blog explaining the purpose behind the contact-tracing dashboard developed by Mathematica and the Public Health Foundation: https://mathematica.org/blogs/insights-for-building-a-community-based-contact-tracing-workforce Explore an interactive map and table developed by Mathematica and the National Academy for State Health Policy that tracks state approaches to contact tracing for COVID-19: https://www.nashp.org/state-approaches-to-contact-tracing-covid-19/ Explore a Mathematica data visualization showing the importance of demogr
Wed, September 21, 2022
79 | Using Data Transparency to Control Hospital Costs
On this episode of On the Evidence, guests Gloria Sachdev of the Employers’ Forum of Indiana, Maureen Hensley-Quinn of the National Academy for State Health Policy, and Evelyn Li and Guru Rasukonda of Mathematica discuss the value of new online tools for making sense of large sets of hospital cost and pricing data being made available in response to new federal regulations. A full transcript of the episode is available here: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/using-data-transparency-to-control-hospital-costs Explore Sage Transparency, a free online tool developed by the Employers’ Forum of Indiana and Mathematica. The tool draws on data from the RAND 4.0 Hospital Price Transparency Study, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and other health databases to show the real prices that employers pay for health care across the country: https://employerptp.org/sage-transparency/ Explore the Hospital Cost Tool, a dashboard designed by the National Academy for State Health Policy and Mathematica, which helps bridge the information gaps on costs and pricing: http://d3g6lgu1zfs2l4.cloudfront.net/
Wed, June 29, 2022
78 | Addressing the Cash Cliff in Safety Net Programs: Lessons from a National Demonstration
Across many safety net programs, workers with low income and their families face the threat of a sudden and unexpected loss of benefits if their earnings increase too much, sometimes resulting in a net decrease in overall income. Policymakers have long worried that the phenomenon, often described as the cash or benefits cliff, discourages work and reinforces dependence on public assistance. Over the past decade, the Social Security Administration has launched two national demonstrations intended to mitigate this so-called cash cliff effect in the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program. The latest episode of On the Evidence explores the results of those demonstrations and what they mean for future efforts to address program cliffs in the SSDI program and many other safety net programs. Our guests for this episode are John Jones, David Wittenburg, and Diane Beaver. Jones is an economist at the Social Security Administration in the Office of Research, Demonstration, and Employment Support who has overseen several large-scale randomized controlled trials testing potential changes to the SSDI program, including two discussed on this episode: the Promoting Opportunity Demonstration (POD) and the Benefit Offset National Demonstration (BOND). Wittenburg is a senior fellow at Mathematica whose research on interventions to promote employment for people with disabilities includes evaluations of POD and BOND. Beaver is an advisory services analyst at Mathematica who spent more than a decade at a community nonprofit counseling people on how work and other entitlements would affect their Social Security benefits. In that role, she played a part in implementing POD and has firsthand knowledge of what beneficiaries experience as they navigate the patchwork of program rules that govern the amount of government aid people can receive for housing, food, child care, health care, and other needs as their work status changes. Find a full transcript of the episode here: mathematica.org/blogs/why-a-national-demonstration-to-mitigate-the-cash-cliff-in-one-safety-net-program-didnt-increase Read the final evaluation report on POD: https://www.ssa.gov/disabilityresearch/documents/POD_Final_Evaluation_Report.pdf Read the final evaluation report on BOND: https://www.ssa.gov/disabilityresearch/documents/BOND%20Deliv%2024e2%20FER%20Vol%201%2020181018.pdf Find a summary of lessons learned from several decades of demonstrations by the Social Security Administration to test policy ideas in the Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income programs: https://www.ssa.gov/disabilityresearch/demonstrations/lessons.htm Learn more about the Ultimate Demonstration referenced at the tail end of the episode: https://www.ssa.gov/disabilityresearch/documents/Simplification_Demo_TEP_Final_Report_Final%20Remediated.pdf Watch a recorded discussion between Pamela Herd and Sebastian Jilke, professors at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown Universi
Wed, June 08, 2022
77 | Addressing a Primary Care Workforce Crisis
The latest episode of On the Evidence, the Mathematica podcast, explores the primary care workforce crisis, a complex and long-standing problem that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Guests Sue Lin, Luci Leykum, Julie Schilz, and Diane Rittenhouse discuss recent research on the nature of the problem as well as evidence-based solutions for strengthening primary care. Lin is the deputy office director of the Office of Quality Improvement within the Bureau of Primary Health Care at the Health Resources and Services Administration. Leykum is a professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin who was involved in the creation of a report last year from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that looked ways to rebuild primary care. Schilz is a senior director on the Clinical and Quality Partners team at the Primary Care Development Corporation, which recently published a data brief on investing in primary care to achieve better health and equity in the United States. Rittenhouse is a family physician by training and a senior fellow at Mathematica, where she co-authored a report for the California Health Care Foundation that reviewed evidence that could inform health policies aimed at increasing the size and diversity of the primary care workforce in California. A full transcript of the episode is available here: mathematica.org/blogs/addressing-a-workforce-crisis-in-primary-care-made-more-severe-by-the-covid-19-pandemic Have questions for our podcast guests? Julie Schilz and Diane Rittenhouse will be participating in a Twitter chat co-hosted by Mathematica on June 23 from 2 to 3 p.m. ET on challenges and opportunities for the primary care workforce. Use the hashtag #PrimaryCarePolicyChat to find the chat on Twitter. Read the 2021 report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on implementing high quality primary care: https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25983/implementing-high-quality-primary-care-rebuilding-the-foundation-of-health Read Mathematica’s 2021 review of evidence-based strategies for increasing the size and diversity of the primary care workforce in California: https://www.mathematica.org/publications/health-workforce-strategies-for-california-a-review-of-the-evidence Read the Primary Care Development Corporation’s May 2022 data brief on investing in primary care to improve health and equity: https://www.pcdc.org/resources/investing-in-primary-care-the-pathway-to-better-health-and-equity-in-the-united-states/
Wed, May 04, 2022
76 | The Costs of Untreated Maternal Mental Health Conditions
In honor of Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week, Mathematica’s podcast, On the Evidence, explores recent research on the societal costs of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. These disorders—which can include depression, suicidal thoughts, and panic attacks—affect women and birthing people during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Although these disorders are common, they often go undiagnosed and untreated, which can negatively affect the long-term physical, emotional, and developmental health of the birthing parent and child. On this episode, Mathematica’s Kara Zivin, The Commonwealth Fund’s Laurie Zephyrin, and Texans Care for Children’s Adriana Kohler discuss the societal costs of maternal mental health conditions and how fresh evidence on those costs informed a policy change to improve the well-being of birthing people and their children in one state. Find a full transcript of the episode here: mathematica.org/blogs/the-costs-of-untreated-maternal-mental-health-conditions Additional resources: Read the 2021 issue brief from Mathematica and the St. David’s Foundation that estimated the societal costs of untreated maternal mental health conditions in Texas: https://mathematica.org/publications/untreated-maternal-mental-health-conditions-in-texas-costs-to-society-and-to-medicaid Read the 2021 issue brief from Mathematica and The Commonwealth Fund on the high costs of maternal morbidity: https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2021/nov/high-costs-maternal-morbidity-need-investment-maternal-health Read the 2019 issue brief from Mathematica, the California Health Care Foundation, the ZOMA Foundation, and the Perigee Fund on the societal costs of untreated perinatal mood and anxiety disorders in the United States: https://mathematica.org/publications/societal-costs-of-untreated-perinatal-mood-and-anxiety-disorders-in-the-united-states State-level estimates, which Mathematica produced as part of the same research, are also available: California: https://mathematica.org/publications/societal-costs-of-untreated-perinatal-mood-and-anxiety-disorders-in-california Colorado: https://mathematica.org/publications/societal-costs-of-untreated-perinatal-mood-and-anxiety-disorders-in-colorado Washington State: https://mathematica.org/publications/societal-costs-of-untreated-perinatal-mood-and-anxiety-disorders-in-washington Read an op-ed in STAT by Zivin, Zephyrin, and Mathematica’s So O’Neil about the toll of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth: https://www.statnews.com/2021/11/23/staggering-toll-pregnancy-childbirth-related-complications/ Read an op-ed in STAT by Zivin about how her personal experience with suicidal thoughts during pregnancy drove her to conduct research on access to health care for women with mental health and substance use conditions during pregnancy and postpartum: https://www.statnews.com/2021/03/11/meghan-markle-gave-voice-to-the-despair-i-once-felt-during-pregnancy/
Wed, April 27, 2022
75 | Human Services Adapted During the Pandemic. What Will Stick?
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted human services agencies to rethink how they engage with clients and how they address persistent stress and trauma experienced by their own staff. On this episode of On the Evidence, Mathematica’s J.B. Wogan and Diana McCallum discuss how human services agencies have adapted during the pandemic. The episode also includes insights from Kataney Couamin and Andrea Barnum, who work at local agencies providing workforce services, as well as Mathematica’s Jonathan McCay and The Adjacent Possible’s Michelle Derr, who have provided research and evaluation technical assistance to state, tribal, and local agencies that administer the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. Find a full transcript of the episode here: mathematica.org/blogs/pandemic-era-adaptations-in-human-services-could-fill-a-need-even-outside-a-public-health-emergency Read the issue brief about supporting mental wellness for TANF program staff and participants: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/report/supporting-mental-wellness-program-staff-and-participants-strategies-temporary Read the issue brief about pandemic-era innovations for the future of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families programs: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/report/brief-pandemic-era-innovations-future-temporary-assistance-needy-families-programs Read the issue brief about lessons from delivering remote services to job seekers with low incomes during the COVID-19 pandemic: https://pathwaystowork.acf.hhs.gov/pathways_publications/lessons-learned-delivering-remote-services-job-seekers-low-incomes-during Read the issue brief about what works to help job seekers with low incomes during economic recessions and recoveries: https://mathematica.org/publications/what-works-during-economic-recessions-and-recoveries-evidence-from-the-pathways-clearinghouse Read the issue brief about providing coaching and navigation services virtually to promote economic mobility during the pandemic: https://www.mathematica.org/publications/using-coaching-and-navigation-to-promote-economic-mobility-how-might-programs-provide-these-services Read a program snapshot about a nonprofit in South Carolina that used virtual services to continue supporting fathers during the pandemic: https://www.mathematica.org/publications/engaging-fathers-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-and-beyond-program-snapshot
Wed, March 16, 2022
74 | Globalizing Evidence-Based Solutions for an Interdependent World
As the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change demonstrate, in an increasingly interdependent world, communities across the globe face shared challenges and need shared solutions. In the latest episode of On the Evidence, Adam Coyne, Chris Boyd, and Respichius Deogratias Mitti discuss the changing role of data and evidence in supporting decisions to improve well-being in a more interconnected world. Coyne oversaw international research at Mathematica for most of the past two years and currently serves as the company’s chief growth officer. Boyd is the managing director of EDI Global, a data collection and research organization focused on East Africa that became a subsidiary of Mathematica in 2018. Mitti is a country director for EDI Global who lives and works in Tanzania. A transcript of the episode is available at mathematica.org/blogs/the-globalization-of-evidence-informed-decision-making-in-a-more-interdependent-world Learn more about Chris Boyd, the managing director of EDI Global, in a recent Q&A for Mathematica’s blog: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/a-conversation-with-chris-boyd Learn more about Mathematica’s international research in more than 50 countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America: https://mathematica.org/focus-areas/international-research Learn more about Mathematica’s ground-breaking work on studying negative income tax experiments in the United States, which has informed pilot projects in other countries as well as in the U.S. to test the impacts of monthly guaranteed income payments: https://mathematica.org/blogs/idea-that-launched-a-policy-research-revolution
Wed, March 02, 2022
73 | Ensuring Equity as Wastewater Testing for COVID-19 Matures in the United States
Sewage has proven to be a valuable source of real-time SARS-CoV-2 data during the COVID-19 pandemic, giving public officials insights into the health of their community without relying on individuals getting tested. But as wastewater monitoring expands, local officials and their research partners are increasingly interested in how wastewater testing might also advance or hinder equity. On this episode of On the Evidence, guests Dr. Na’Taki Osborne Jelks, Dr. Otakuye Conroy-Ben, and Aparna Keshaviah discuss the challenges of and opportunities for ensuring an equitable approach to wastewater monitoring and the importance of representation from historic Black neighborhoods, Indigenous communities, and rural communities. Jelks, Conroy-Ben, and Keshaviah are involved with the Wastewater Action Group, a national initiative founded and supported by the Rockefeller Foundation’s Pandemic Prevention Institute that seeks to transform wastewater data into public health action. The group includes five grantees that serve tribal nations and four cities: Atlanta, Houston, Louisville, and Tulsa. • Jelks, an assistant professor in environmental and health sciences at Spelman College, is an expert on health equity and community-engaged research approaches for environmental justice in southwest and northwest Atlanta’s African-American neighborhoods. • Conroy-Ben is an assistant professor of environmental engineering at Arizona State University, a member of the Oglala Lakota Nation, and the principal investigator for research and community outreach projects funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health to support tribal nations in combatting coronavirus and improving local resources. • Keshaviah is an applied biostatistician and principal researcher at Mathematica who is a nationally recognized expert in translational wastewater research, has led wastewater-based research in Montana and North Carolina, and is collaborating with the Rockefeller Foundation to develop robust analytics and tools that boost the capacity of public health personnel to use wastewater data. Find a full transcript of the episode here: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/ensuring-equity-as-wastewater-testing-matures-in-the-united-states To learn more about the Wastewater Action Group and the Rockefeller Foundation’s broader wastewater activities, contact Megan Diamond, who leads its international wastewater initiatives: mdiamond@rockfound.org Learn more about the Rockefeller Foundation’s efforts to deliver an equitable and sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic while helping to guard against future pandemics: https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/covid-19-response/ Learn more about Mathematica’s work harnessing evidence on wastewater testing, vaccines, rapid antigen tests, and contact tracing to guide the COVID-19 pandemic response: https://mathematica.org/focus-areas/health/covid-19
Wed, February 16, 2022
72 | Bayesian Methods Could Provide the Key to Answering Which Policies Work Best for Whom
On this episode of On the Evidence, Mathematica’s Mariel Finucane and John Deke join Tim Day of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation to discuss the application of evidence-informed Bayesian methods that not only confirm whether a policy or program works, but for whom. Learn more about Mathematica's work using evidence-based Bayesian methods in applied policy research: https://mathematica.org/features/bayesian-methods Read a brief about using a Bayesian framework for interpreting findings from impact evaluations prepared by Mariel Finucane and John Deke for the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation at the Administration for Children and Families: mathematica.org/publications/moving-beyond-statistical-significance-the-basie-bayesian-interpretation-of-estimates-framework Read a paper co-authored by Mariel Finucane that compares Bayesian methods with the traditional frequentist approach to estimate the effects of a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services demonstration on Medicare spending: mathematica.org/publications/revolutionizing-estimation-and-inference-for-program-evaluation-using-bayesian-methods Read a paper co-authored by Tim Day describing an experiment to provide evidence that would be useful to policymakers and other decision makers through an interactive data visualization dashboard, presenting results from both frequentist and Bayesian analyses: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335169870_Making_Evidence_Actionable_Interactive_Dashboards_Bayes_and_Health_Care_Innovation Read Emily Oster’s newsletter article about why and how she applies Bayes’s Rule to interpret new evidence in the context of existing evidence, including a recent study (https://emilyoster.substack.com/p/does-pre-k-really-hurt-future-test) about the effects of a preschool program in Tennessee on future student test scores: https://emilyoster.substack.com/p/bayes-rule-is-my-faves-rule
Wed, February 02, 2022
71 | The Role of Evidence in Local Spending of Pandemic Fiscal Relief Funds
Last year’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was the largest one-time federal investment in state, local, and Tribal governments in the past century, and it included $350 billion meant for governments to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. State, local, and Tribal governments have wide latitude in how they can spend the money, including the use of evaluation and data management tools that can improve the efficacy of public health and economic assistance programs. On the latest episode of On the Evidence, guests Zachary Markovits, Candace Miller, and Christy McFarland discuss the role that data and evidence are playing in state and local spending of ARPA fiscal relief funds. Markovits is the vice president and local practice lead at Results for America. His organization partnered with Mathematica to create the ARP Data and Evidence Dashboard (https://results4america.org/tools/arp-dashboard/), a free online tool that uses publicly available plans from local governments to analyze trends and assess the extent to which localities use data and evidence to guide how they spend their ARPA coronavirus fiscal relief funds. The dashboard is meant to inform and inspire state, local, and Tribal governments as they spend their coronavirus fiscal relief funds, half of which won’t be available until the spring. Miller is a principal researcher at Mathematica who helped create the ARP Data and Evidence Dashboard with Results for America. She also leads Mathematica’s work with Washington State on contact tracing and has appeared on a previous episode of On the Evidence to discuss the opportunities of and challenges to implementing an equitable approach to contact tracing during the COVID-19 pandemic. McFarland is the research director at the National League of Cities, which has developed the Local Government ARPA Investment Tracker (https://www.nlc.org/resource/local-government-arpa-investment-tracker/) and a local action tracker for COVID-19 (https://www.nlc.org/resource/covid-19-local-action-tracker/). Find a full transcript of the episode here: mathematica.org/blogs/the-role-of-evidence-in-how-local-governments-spend-federal-pandemic-relief-funds Explore the ARP Data and Evidence Dashboard from Mathematica and Results for America: https://results4america.org/tools/arp-dashboard/ Explore the Local Government ARPA Investment Tracker from National League of Cities, Brookings Metro, and the National Association of Counties: https://www.nlc.org/resource/local-government-arpa-investment-tracker/ Read a blog by Zachary Markovits about how the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund in the American Rescue Plan Act encourages state, local, and Tribal governments to invest in solutions with evidence of effectiveness: https://results4america.medium.com/5-ways-governments-can-make-the-american-rescue-plan-work-for-all-526c8cda2537 Explore the Local Action Tracker from the National League of Cities, which collects and shares municipal responses to COVID-
Wed, January 19, 2022
70 | Preventing Cardiovascular Disease and Promoting Equity in Higher Ed
On this episode of On the Evidence, Temitope Ojo and Katlyn Lee Milless discuss their experience with the Mathematica Summer Fellowship in 2021. Ojo is a doctoral candidate at the NYU School of Global Public Health. Her research focuses on implementation science as well as the prevention and management of cardiovascular disease and other non-communicable diseases in a global setting. Milless is a doctoral candidate in basic and applied social psychology at the Graduate Center of The City University of New York. Her research takes a psychological approach to understanding how to promote gender and racial equity in education spaces, particularly among college students in STEM—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. On the episode, Ojo and Milless discuss their career paths, why they’re interested in applied research, and what they plan to do after completing their dissertations. Find a full transcript of the episode here: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/a-conversation-with-mathematicas-2021-summer-fellows Mathematica is currently accepting applications for its 2022 Summer Fellowship program through the end of February. Find more information about the fellowship here: https://www.mathematica.org/career-opportunities/summer-fellowships
Wed, January 05, 2022
69 | Understanding the Equity and Justice Dimensions of Energy Policy Decisions
In her research, Sanya Carley examines the effects of energy policies, including their equity and justice implications. In a new episode of On the Evidence, Carley discusses her increased interest in understanding the human element of energy policy decisions: Who makes policy decisions, who benefits from those decisions, and who does not. Carley is a professor at the Paul O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University, where she directs the Master of Public Affairs (MPA) Program and O'Neill Online MPA Program. In the fall of 2021, she was selected to be the 21st recipient of the David N. Kershaw Award and Prize, which recognizes professionals younger than 40 who have made distinguished contributions to the field of public policy. In the episode, Carley discusses the origin story of her interest in energy policy, why she became interested in the equity and justice dimensions of energy policy, and how she ensures that her research influences decision makers. A full transcript of the episode is available here: mathematica.org/blogs/understanding-the-equity-and-justice-dimensions-of-energy-policy-decisions Follow Carley on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/carleysanya Listen to her new podcast, Just Energy, here: https://spoti.fi/3so2FXF Read her scholarship here: https://bit.ly/3HlLPP5 Learn more about Mathematica's work on climate change here: https://mathematica.org/sp/climate-change/climate-action Listen to our interview with Adam Coyne about Mathematica's recent work around climate action here: https://bit.ly/3msxxDZ
Thu, December 16, 2021
68 | Reflecting on Evidence and Insights in 2021 and the Year Ahead
Between a pandemic, an uneven economic recovery, ongoing concerns about societal inequities, and increasingly troubling signs of climate change’s impacts, decision makers in 2021 faced an acute need for timely and reliable evidence about what works to address a range of health and social challenges. In this episode of On the Evidence, Mathematica’s Adam Coyne, Jill Constantine, and Chris Trenholm reflect on the role that evidence played in responding to pressing challenges in the past year and preview how evidence may help address problems in the year ahead. Coyne, Constantine, and Trenholm are the general managers of Mathematica’s International, Human Services, and Health business units, respectively. The episode features short interviews with each of them as they discuss some of Mathematica’s most significant work from the past year. Each interview includes a preview of projects, initiatives, and likely themes for 2022. This episode is being released in conjunction with Mathematica’s year-in-review feature page, Inquiry to Insight, which includes a curated summary of impactful, evidence-based work by Mathematica and its partners in 2021: mathematica.org/features/from-inquiry-to-insight-in-2021 The interview with Adam Coyne begins at 2:00. The interview with Jill Constantine begins at 18:22. The interview with Chris Trenholm begins at 42:08. A full transcript of the episode is available here: mathematica.org/blogs/reflecting-on-evidence-and-insights-in-2021-and-the-year-ahead
Wed, December 01, 2021
67 | Advancing Racial Equity in Fatherhood Programs
The latest episode of On the Evidence focuses on the ways that racism and inequity within human services programs affect fathers and families, and how adopting a more inclusive father engagement strategy can benefit children, fathers, and their families. Today, federal and state governments, as well as foundations and nonprofits, are emphasizing the importance of understanding the role of racism in American institutions and policies. In partnership with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Mathematica has been gathering information on what works in engaging fathers across a wide range of human services programs, with the goal of helping fathers and families thrive. On this episode, guests Alan-Michael Graves, Leonard Burton, Shaneen Moore, Jerry Tello, and Armando Yañez discuss how human services programs have historically treated fathers, particularly fathers of color, and strategies for improving the racial equity of these programs as it relates to father engagement. Graves is the senior director of teaching, capacity building, and systems change with the Good+Foundation, a national nonprofit that works to dismantle multi-generational poverty. Burton is a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Social Policy, a national nonprofit policy organization that connects community action, public system reform, and policy change to create a fair and just society. Moore is the director of the Child Support Division within the Children and Family Services administration of the Minnesota Department of Human Services. Tello is the founder of and director of training and capacity building at the Compadres Network, a national nonprofit that provides a voice for racial equity, healing, training, technical assistance, and systems change. Yañez is a research analyst at Mathematica. Find a full transcript of the episode here: mathematica.org/blogs/advancing-racial-equity-in-fatherhood-programs Learn more about the partnership between ASPE and Mathematica to identify the strategies human services programs use to engage fathers: https://aspe.hhs.gov/father-engagement
Tue, November 23, 2021
66 | Removing Barriers to Child Care for Parents in Education and Training Programs
In the United States, education and training programs are available to help adults with low incomes secure better jobs and earn higher wages. But, of an estimated 21 million parents with low incomes nationwide, only about 1 in 10 participated in such programs. One reason the participation rate isn’t higher? Inadequate supply of affordable and convenient child care options. The lack of child is a major barrier for parents with low incomes who want to engage in training, acquire new skills, increase their earnings, and advance their careers. In 2016 the U.S. Department of Labor launched a five-year federal grant program called the Strengthening Working Families Initiative (SWFI) to remove barriers to child care for parents with low incomes who wanted to participate in education and training programs. SWFI provided 13 grantees in 12 states with up to $4 million each. The grantees were a mix of nonprofits, local workforce development boards, institutions of higher learning, and municipalities. As part of the initiative, Mathematica provided technical assistance to SWFI grantees to assist them with identifying areas for improvement, co-creating solutions, and assessing progress. The latest episode of On the Evidence explores lessons from SWFI that can inform federal policies and programs, as well as cross-sector community partnerships at the local level that help parents participate in education and training by removing barriers to child care. This episode features the following guests: • Robin Fernkas, the deputy administrator for the Office of Workforce Investment at the U.S. Department of Labor • Shalonda Jackson, a working mom in Mississippi who completed a pre-apprenticeship training program and found a job in the shipbuilding industry afterward • Carol Burnett, the executive director of Moore Community House, a SWFI grantee in Mississippi that provides workforce training to women as well as early childhood education • Ruth Mazara, a program manager at Moore Community House • Nick Schultz, the executive director of the Pacific Gateway Workforce Innovation Network, a public agency in Long Beach, California, that received a SWFI grant • Sandra Dafiaghor, who directs OAI Chicago Southland, a workforce development agency that received a SWFI grant • David Moore, who directed the SwiftStart program for Total Action for Progress, a workforce development agency in Virginia that received a SWFI grant • Nickie Fung, a researcher at Mathematica who provided technical assistance to SWFI grantees Find a full transcript of the episode here: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/removing-barriers-to-child-care-for-parents-in-education-and-training-programs Learn more about Mathematica's work on SWFI here: mathematica.org/projects/strengthening-working-families-initiatives
Thu, November 04, 2021
65 | Learning from Foundations' Push to Advance Equity through Evidence
Although researchers play an important role in making progress on equitable research, they are one part of a broader ecosystem of people and organizations who make research possible and use research findings to change policies, programs, and practices to improve people’s lives. On this episode of On the Evidence, we focus on the role of funders, particularly those in the philanthropic sector, as early proponents and adopters of culturally responsive and equitable research in social programs. Our guests for this episode are Mindelyn Anderson and Kimberlin Butler. Anderson is a sociologist who has studied social inequality and stratification, race and migration, education and social mobility, and health. She is the founder and principal of Mirror Group, a consulting firm that brings collaborative, participatory, utilization-focused evaluation and capacity building to communities and learning organizations, including foundations. Butler is the senior director of foundation engagement at Mathematica. Since joining Mathematica in 2019, Kimberlin has helped lead the company to incorporate equity in all aspects of Mathematica’s work. She also works with foundations that are setting the agenda on embedding equity in research in areas like food security, early care and education, and economic mobility. During the conversation, Anderson and Butler talk about their career paths, how they became interested in culturally responsive and equitable research, the role philanthropy plays in centering equity in research, and how research organizations can avoid common pitfalls as they seek to incorporate equity in their work. Find a full transcript of the episode here: mathematica.org/blogs/how-and-why-foundations-push-to-advance-equity-through-evidence
Wed, October 27, 2021
64 | Lessons from a National Health Initiative that Helps Address Social Needs
On this episode of On the Evidence, we focus on a national initiative aimed at addressing social needs like housing or food insecurity that affect a person's health. Specifically, we discuss a screening tool for health-related social needs. The screening tool stems from the Accountable Health Communities Model, a nationwide initiative funded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center. Mathematica developed, on CMS’s behalf, a guide to help health care providers administer the screening tool. Our guests for this episode are Natalia Barolín from CMS; Maureen Kirkwood and Rafael Castañon of Health Net of West Michigan, a bridge organization participating in the Accountable Health Communities Model; Rachel Kogan of Mathematica who helped write the screening tool guide; and Lee-Lee Ellis, a health researcher formerly at Mathematica who facilitated peer learning among organizations that used the screening tool as part of their participation in the Accountable Health Communities Model. Learn more about the screening tool and guide here: http://mathematica.org/news/new-guide-helps-providers-address-health-related-social-needs Find a full transcript of the episode here: mathematica.org/blogs/lessons-from-a-national-health-initiative-that-helps-address-social-needs
Wed, October 13, 2021
63 | Inside an Initiative to Diversify the Field of Computational Social Science
On this episode of On the Evidence, we focus on a creative initiative designed to build a more diverse pipeline of researchers who use methods and tools from data science and social science. Earlier this year, Howard University and Mathematica sponsored a free, two-week training for graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and beginning faculty in the fields of data science and social science. The training was part of a broader instructional program held at 20 sites across the globe called the Summer Institutes in Computational Social Science (SICSS). The Howard-Mathematica SICSS was unique in that it was the first site to be hosted by a historically Black college or university (Howard) and the first to focus on anti-Black racism and inequity. This episode will include the following guests: • Nicole Jenkins, an assistant professor at Howard University in the Department of Sociology and Criminology whose ethnographic research focuses on studying the experiences of Black women in institutions • Jeremy Prim, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of California, Davis whose research focuses on race, policing, exclusionary discipline, and educational outcomes • Felix Owusu, a Ph.D. candidate in public policy at Harvard whose dissertation research centers on racial disparities in the criminal legal system • Naniette Coleman, founder and lead organizer of the SICSS-Howard/Mathematica and a Ph.D. candidate in the Sociology Department at the University of California, Berkeley • Matt Salganik, a professor of sociology at Princeton University who is a member of Mathematica’s Board of Directors and the author of Bit by Bit: Social Research in the Digital Age • Akira Bell, a senior vice president and the chief information officer at Mathematica • Wayne A.I. Frederick, president of Howard University and a surgical oncologist whose medical research focuses on narrowing racial, ethnic, and gender disparities in cancer-care outcomes • Paul Decker, president and chief executive officer of Mathematica Read an op-ed in The Hechinger Report by Wayne A.I. Frederick and Paul Decker, the presidents of Howard University and Mathematica, respectively, about the need to increase diversity in research and analytics: https://hechingerreport.org/opinion-a-lack-of-diversity-in-research-and-analytics-is-not-just-unethical-it-is-dangerous/ Read more about the launch of the SICSS-Howard/Mathematica: https://mathematica.org/events/howard-university-mathematica-computational-social-science-institute-on-countering-anti-black-racism A full transcript of the episode is available here: mathematica.org/blogs/inside-an-initiative-to-diversify-the-field-of-computational-social-science
Wed, September 22, 2021
62 | Improving the College and Career Readiness of High School Students with Disabilities
On this episode of On the Evidence, we focus on a demonstration in Vermont evaluated by Mathematica intended to help high school students with disabilities transition to college and the workforce. In 2016, the Rehabilitation Services Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Education, awarded grants to state vocational rehabilitation agencies to build on the body of knowledge about what works to help young people transition from high school to adulthood. States had to identify and demonstrate evidence-based practices for providing work-based learning experiences in integrated settings. Mathematica evaluated the resulting demonstration in Vermont called Linking Learning to Careers. On this episode, guests from Mathematica and Vermont's Division of Vocational Rehabilitation reflect on successes and challenges in implementing the demonstration as well as lessons for other states interested in trying a similar program for transition-age youth with disabilities. Our guests for this episode are Rich Tulikangas, Emma Page, Diane Torres, and Purvi Sevak. • Tulikangas is the director of Linking Learning to Careers for the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. • Page is a youth employment specialist in Addison County, Vermont. She works with high school students and young adults, helping them progress along their career paths. • Torres is a senior transition counselor for the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and the career consultant for Linking Learning to Careers in Bennington, Vermont. • Sevak is a principal researcher at Mathematica who studies disability, health, and employment policy. She led the impact evaluation of the Linking Learning to Careers demonstration. This episode was made possible through funding from the Vermont Division of Vocational Rehabilitation under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. A full transcript of the episode, as well as a video recording of the episode with closed captioning, are available here: mathematica.org/blogs/improving-college-and-career-readiness-of-high-school-students-with-disabilities Read Mathematica’s reports on the implementation and impacts of Vermont’s Linking Learning to Careers demonstration: http://mathematica.org/projects/evaluation-of-the-vermont-linking-learning-to-careers-model
Wed, September 08, 2021
61 | Anita Summers on a Pioneering Career in Economics and Public Policy Research
Our guest for this episode of On the Evidence is Anita Summers, a former member of Mathematica's Board of Directors and a pioneer in the fields of economics and public policy research. Summer's career includes research posts with the National Bureau of Economic Research, Standard Oil, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. During her time at the Federal Reserve, she developed expertise in urban economic development and education. Summers has held a variety of academic appointments, including as a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where she started the first public policy department in a business school. From 1993 through 2019, Summers was also a member of Mathematica’s board of directors, serving as board chair for most of that time. On the latest episode of On the Evidence, Summers shares what it was like to embark on a career in economics as a woman in the 1940s, the sexism she encountered, how she navigated those challenges, and the role her family played in her career choices. As an early practitioner of using data and statistical analysis to inform contemporary policy debates, she also weighs in on how the field of evidence-based policy has changed and what lies ahead for the profession. Find a full transcript of the episode here: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/reflections-on-a-pioneering-career-in-economics-and-public-policy-research Read Summers’s article from 1973 on equity in school financing for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Business Review: https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/business-review-federal-reserve-bank-philadelphia-5580/march-1973-557534/equity-school-financing-523404 Read Summers’s article from 1975 on measuring the effect of school resources on learning for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Business Review: https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/business-review-federal-reserve-bank-philadelphia-5580/february-1975-557556/school-resources-help-learning-efficiency-equity-philadelphia-public-schools-523479
Tue, August 17, 2021
60 | Lessons from a Successful Medicare Program Integrity Demonstration
Almost seven years ago, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched an initiative to test a possible solution to improper use of ambulance rides, long cited as a major source of waste and abuse in the Medicare program. The idea was pretty simple: Require companies that provide patients with repetitive, scheduled, non-emergent ambulance transport (RSNAT) for certain types of health care, such as dialysis or cancer treatments, to get prior authorization from CMS before providing service and submitting a claim for payment. Mathematica evaluated impacts of the initiative, which was implemented in the District of Columbia and eight states. Because non-emergency ambulance service use is rare in the Medicare program, the study focused on Medicare beneficiaries who are most likely to use RSNAT services—those with end-stage renal disease and/or severe pressure ulcers. Those two groups account for about 85 percent of Medicare RSNAT claims, so any change in use and spending would be most detectable among those patients. The most recent Mathematica evaluation found that, as a result of prior authorization, RSNAT costs declined by over 70 percent since the initiative started. Importantly, spending less on RSNAT services resulted in a decrease in overall Medicare fee-for-service spending of more than 2 percent, equal to about $1 billion since the initiative started. All of this occurred without any evidence of a decline in access to care or the quality of care beneficiaries received. Late last year, CMS announced that it would expand the use of prior authorization for RSNAT services nationwide. On this episode of On the Evidence, guests Amy Cinquegrani of CMS and Andrew Asher of Mathematica discuss lessons that could inform the national rollout as well as novel approaches for using data analytics to further reduce improper health care use and payments. Cinquegrani directs the Division of Payment Methods and Strategies at the Center for Program Integrity within CMS. Asher is a senior fellow at Mathematica, where he focuses on using data to help health care payers strengthen the integrity of their programs, realize cost savings, monitor programs, and improve program outcomes. Find a full transcript of the episode here: mathematica.org/blogs/lessons-from-a-successful-medicare-program-integrity-demonstration-soon-to-expand-nationwide Read a short fact sheet summarizing findings from the evaluation of the Medicare Prior Authorization Model for Repetitive Scheduled Non-Emergent Ambulance Transport: https://innovation.cms.gov/data-and-reports/2021/rsnat-finlevalrpt-fg Read the CMS announcement that the Medicare Prior Authorization Model for RSNAT would expand nationwide: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-expand-successful-ambulance-program-integrity-payment-model-nationwide
Wed, August 11, 2021
59 | Lessons from Southwest Detroit's Efforts to Support Informal Child Care
Five years ago, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, in partnership with the Kresge Foundation, launched Hope Starts Here, a community-focused, citywide initiative aimed at ensuring that all children in Detroit are prepared for kindergarten by increasing access to high quality early care and education. As part of the citywide initiative, Mathematica, with financial support from the Kellogg Foundation, worked to implement promising strategies to enhance the quality of informal child care, which is defined as unlicensed care provided by family, friends, and neighbors. Outside of care provided by a parent, informal child care is the most common form of care for infants and toddlers in the United States. The project focused on providing resources and support informal providers in southwest Detroit, one of 10 neighborhoods in the city where the number of children who need early care and education vastly exceeds the number of available, licensed slots. Even when a licensed slot is available, families may still prefer informal care because they believe the providers are more trustworthy, provide more culturally consistent care, and offer more affordable and convenient care. On the latest episode of On the Evidence, people involved in the effort to support informal child care in southwest Detroit reflect on the experience. Given how many families in United States rely on this form of care, insights on how to strengthen the quality of care and education offered by informal providers could help make the overall child care and early education system stronger and more equitable across the country. Guests for the episode are: • Linda Jackson, an informal care provider • Violeta Ramirez, an informal care provider • AleshaNicole, a teaching artist at Living Arts, a neighborhood nonprofit that provides arts education programs to engage and inspire youth, families, and teachers • Amanda Holiday, an early childhood specialist at Congress of Communities, a resident-led organizing and advocacy agency working for change in the areas of public safety and education • Eileen Storer Smith, a program officer at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation • Cleo Jacobs Johnson, a senior researcher at Mathematica Read the issue brief from Mathematica on supporting informal child care providers in southwest Detroit: http://mathematica.org/news/insights-from-a-community-collaborative-to-improve-informal-child-care-in-detroit Read a blog by Mathematica’s Mynti Hossain, Nazihah Siddiqui, and Cleo Jacobs Johnson about why supporting informal child care providers is key to advancing equity: mathematica.org/blogs/supporting-informal-child-care-providers-is-key-to-advancing-equity
Wed, June 23, 2021
58 | Learning from an Early Childhood Nonprofit that Serves Fathers
All over the country, federally funded Head Start programs promote the school readiness of young children ages birth through five from families with low incomes. These programs provide early education and a range of comprehensive services at no cost to the family. Although Head Start programs have historically empowered parents to be involved in their children’s learning and development, it’s been more common for mothers to be the focus of those efforts. Realizing the important role that fathers play in their children’s development and the family’s well-being, Head Start is increasingly working to engage fathers in program services. This episode of On the Evidence focuses on Bright Beginnings, a nonprofit in Washington, DC, that provides both center-based and home-based Head Start programming for children and families. It is notable for its robust set of services and supports that are designed to help families by helping fathers. The guests for this episode are Danielle DeLisle, a research analyst at Mathematica, and two employees at Bright Beginnings, Anthony Sessoms and Ryan Pratt. Sessoms oversees the nonprofit’s fatherhood initiative. Pratt is a maintenance technician at Bright Beginnings and a father who has participated in its fatherhood programming. This episode was made possible with support from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This episode returns to a topic On the Evidence has explored before: fathers’ engagement in human services programs. Fathers play an important role in their children’s development, and most fathers want to be involved with their children’s lives. However, many government and nonprofit programs were originally designed to serve women and children, and excluded fathers in the process. That’s starting to change. More government agencies, nonprofits, and researchers are exploring strategies that embrace fathers’ desire to be involved with their children. ASPE has partnered with Mathematica to study strategies for including and engaging fathers in social service programming. The ultimate goal is to better support the well-being of families. The episode has two parts: a long-form conversation about Bright Beginnings with Sessoms and Pratt, followed by a brief discussion with DeLisle about related research from Mathematica and ASPE. Learn more about the partnership between ASPE and Mathematica to identify the strategies human services programs use to engage fathers: https://aspe.hhs.gov/father-engagement Listen to a previous episode of On the Evidence about how fatherhood programs pivoted to keep engaging fathers during the COVID-19 pandemic: http://mathematica.org/blogs/how-fatherhood-programs-supported-dads-during-the-pandemic A transcript of the episode is available here: http://mathematica.org/blogs/new-insights-from-an-early-childhood-nonprofit-that-supports-fathers Help us improve the show. Please take our listener sur
Wed, May 12, 2021
57| Your Contact Tracing Workforce Can Drive Equity and Mitigate Infectious Disease Risks
Contact tracing is an important public health tool for containing the spread of disease, including COVID-19. But contact tracers are effective only if they can persuade people to answer questions about recent whereabouts and who else might have been exposed. Contact tracers are more likely to be successful in their outreach if they and the people they are contacting have similar backgrounds. Currently, no one collects and reports information on the composition of the COVID-19 workforce in communities across the country, making it difficult to know whether the workforce could be more effective with focused recruitment strategies. However, a partnership between Mathematica and the Public Health Foundation sheds some light on who is engaged in contact tracing during the pandemic and how their backgrounds compare with the backgrounds of people in their local communities. On this episode of On the Evidence, guests Ilya Plotkin and Jia Pu discuss an interactive dashboard that uses a large and unique national data set to visualize demographic data of COVID-19 contact tracing trainees and the communities they serve. • Plotkin is the director of the TRAIN Learning Network, a service of the Public Health Foundation that provides a clearinghouse of learning opportunities, including free training on contact tracing, for health professionals. Although it is not the only source of training on contact tracing, it is one of the largest. As of early April 2021, more than 40,000 people participated in its training on COVID-19 contact tracing. • Pu is a health researcher at Mathematica who led the development of the dashboard based on data from the TRAIN Learning Network and other sources. During the podcast, Plotkin and Pu share how their personal backgrounds as part of Russian and Chinese immigrant communities in the U.S. motivated them to develop a resource for culturally sensitive, equitable, and effective contact tracing during the pandemic. They discuss potential applications of the dashboard and important limitations of the data. They also explain why contact tracing, as a tool for controlling and preventing disease spread, will only grow in importance as more people are vaccinated, infections decline, and more parts of the economy, such as schools and offices, reopen. Find a transcript of the conversation here: https://bit.ly/3w1LGKP Read a blog post by Ilya and Jia that provides further context about the COVID-19 contact tracing workforce dashboard: https://bit.ly/2Q3IEpY Explore the COVID-19 contact tracing workforce dashboard: https://bit.ly/3tB2DtK Email CTINFO@mathematica-mpr.com if you would like your information about the contact tracing workforce to be included in the dashboard. 9XncXvdUP3gYNrav9j5B
Wed, April 28, 2021
56 | How Fatherhood Programs Supported Dads During the Pandemic
In partnership with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Mathematica has been gathering information on what works in engaging fathers across a wide range of human services programs, with the goal of helping fathers and families thrive. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many of the typical ways organizations support fathers and their families, but it has also provided motivation to be creative, to adapt, and to experiment with digital services that have certain advantages in helping fathers meet their goals over traditional in-person services. On this episode of On the Evidence, guests John Ward, Sean Wilson, Richard Barr, Kirk Berry, and Rebekah Selekman discuss COVID-19’s implications for delivering fatherhood engagement services during and after the pandemic. • Ward is a father who shares experience working with a local nonprofit, Father to Father, in Charleston, SC. • Wilson is an intervention specialist at Father to Father who worked with Ward. • Barr is the vice president of strategic and organizational development at the South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families, a statewide nonprofit that operates six local fatherhood organizations, including Father to Father. • Berry is an expert on responsible fatherhood programs at Public Strategies, a public policy research and consulting firm. • Selekman is a researcher at Mathematica leading the KEEP Fathers Engaged project with ASPE. Find a full transcript of the episode here: https://bit.ly/3aNxOvp Learn more about the partnership between ASPE and Mathematica to identify strategies used to engage fathers across human service programming: https://aspe.hhs.gov/father-engagement Some of the clips from this episode come from a webinar hosted by the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA). We thank APHSA for allowing us to use clips from its Third Thursday Virtual Mini-Series, which is available here: https://www.aphsathirdthursday.com/ Help us improve the show. Please take our listener survey at tinyurl.com/ontheevidence Upon completion of the survey, you will be given the option to provide an email address that will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a $50 e-gift card.
Wed, April 21, 2021
55 | A Conversation about Diversity, Equity, and Justice
On this episode of On the Evidence, guests Patricia A. King, LaVerne H. Council, and Akira Bell discuss diversity in evidence-based public policy and how it relates to issues of inclusion and justice. They are all members of Mathematica's Board of Directors who recently helped develop the company's aspirational vision that by 2035, "Mathematica is shaping an equitable and just world in which evidence drives decisions for global impact." They bring unique perspectives as Black women who are leaders in the fields of law, medicine, and technology. Patricia is a professor emerita at Georgetown Law. LaVerne is a founder and the chief executive officer of Emerald One, which works with mission-driven leaders and organizations to create and execute business and technology strategies that enact positive change. Akira is a senior vice president and the chief information officer at Mathematica. Find a full transcript of the episode here: https://bit.ly/3dXAZmc Find LaVerne's podcast, Brilliant in 20 here: https://bit.ly/3tvrfFe Find Akira's blog on ensuring that data security, privacy, and ethics are at the heart of the digital transformation occurring at Mathematica and other evidence-building organizations: https://bit.ly/3e81hB5 Read an interview with Pat about the 25th anniversary of the Belmont Report here: https://bit.ly/3uOgTAC Read an interview with Pat about her career as a civil rights leader here: https://bit.ly/3tp5Hu0 Help us improve the show. Please take our listener survey at tinyurl.com/ontheevidence Upon completion of the survey, participants can choose to enter a drawing for a chance to win a $50 e-gift card.
Wed, March 31, 2021
54 | The Value and Feasibility of COVID-19 Testing in K-12 Schools
In late March, the Biden administration announced that it was investing $10 billion to ramp up COVID-19 screening testing to help schools reopen. The expansion of screening tests in schools follows a February report from Mathematica that drew lessons from the experiences of six pilot sites that implemented COVID-19 testing in schools. These pilot programs—in Central Falls, Rhode Island; Los Angeles, California; Tulsa, Oklahoma; New Orleans, Louisiana; Louisville, Kentucky; and Washington, DC—were conducted with support from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, and Johns Hopkins University. The report provided insights about the acceptability, feasibility, and effectiveness of adding a testing program to schools’ existing COVID-19 related plans. For this episode of On the Evidence, guests Jennifer Harper, Sarah Hanck, and Divya Vohra discuss findings from the Mathematica report, impacts of the report so far, more recent lessons based on Tulsa’s experience implementing testing, and what leaders in schools and communities across the country need to know about using antigen testing as a screening tool. Harper is the project manager for COVID antigen testing in schools in Tulsa. Hanck is a senior advisor at the Rockefeller Foundation for strategy and impact who has provided guidance and support to Mathematica as it gathered evidence about antigen testing in the six pilot sites. Vohra is a senior researcher at Mathematica who coauthored the report on the pilots. Read Mathematica's report on the partnership between six pilot sites and the Rockefeller Foundation to implement COVID-19 rapid antigen tests in schools: mathematica.org/news/research-supported-by-the-rockefeller-foundation-strengthens-the-evidence-base-for-reopening-k-12 Help us improve the show. Please take our listener survey at tinyurl.com/ontheevidence Upon completion of the survey, you will be given the option to provide an email address that will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a $50 e-gift card.
Wed, March 10, 2021
53 | Using Evidence to Guide Employment Assistance Strategies during and after the Pandemic
March 2021 marks the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization officially declaring the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. The disease we’ve come to know as COVID-19 has now infected more than 28 million Americans and led to at least half a million deaths in the United States. COVID-19 has also incurred serious damage to the nation’s economy. In February, the number of unemployed persons was 10 million, up from 5.7 million a year earlier. On this episode of On the Evidence, guests George Putnam, Dana Rotz, and Naihobe Gonzalez discuss the current distressed economy and evidence-based ideas about how to help workers who have been negatively affected by the pandemic. • Putnam, the labor market information director at the Illinois Department of Employment Security, helps the Midwest Collaborative, a consortium of nine states that share current administrative data across sectors and state lines to develop insights to support reemployment and economic recovery efforts. • Rotz is a senior researcher at Mathematica who leads a team at Mathematica that is producing short summaries of research related to pressing employment issues during the pandemic. • Gonzalez is also a senior researcher at Mathematica who coauthored a recent report for the U.S. Department of Education on findings from two experiments that allowed the use of Pell Grants to help displaced workers earn credentials that might quickly improve a person’s job prospects. To find a written transcript of the episode and to learn more about the data and research discussed on this episode, visit mathematica.org/commentary/using-evidence-to-guide-employment-assistance-strategies-during-and-after-the-pandemic. Help us improve the show. Please take our listener survey at tinyurl.com/ontheevidence Upon completion of the survey, you will be given the option to provide an email address that will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a $50 e-gift card.
Wed, February 24, 2021
52 | Supporting Economic Mobility Through Coaching and Navigation
Nearly a year after COVID-19 took root in the United States, Americans are still dealing with the pandemic’s economic fallout. In January 2021, more than 10 million Americans were unemployed, up from roughly 5.8 million a year earlier. On this episode of On the Evidence, four guests discuss an increasingly popular approach for helping people find jobs and achieve other, related goals that provide economic security, such as getting a GED, buying a car, and improving a credit score. The approach combines two related services called coaching and navigation. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation partnered with Mathematica to better understand what coaching and navigation look like in practice, how the approaches are helping people through remote services during the pandemic, how they can be used to address racial and social inequities, and what evidence currently exists about their efficacy. In addition to hosting a virtual convening and producing a series of issue briefs on the topic, Mathematica invited the following experts involved with coaching and navigation to share their experiences on this episode of On the Evidence: - Ty Wright, a community engagement coordinator at AppleTree Early Learning Public Charter School, who has benefited from coaching and navigation - Lucy Smart, the program coordinator of parent engagement for LIFT-DC, who also provides coaching services - Brian Marroquin, a senior program director for LIFT, a national nonprofit that provides coaching and navigation services in four cities - Sheena McConnell, a senior fellow at Mathematica who studies employment programs that help vulnerable families Read about current knowledge on the effectiveness of coaching and navigation in facilitating economic mobility: https://bit.ly/37IZgc9 Help us improve the show. Please take our listener survey. Find it at the link below: tinyurl.com/ontheevidence Upon completion of the survey, you will be given the option to provide an email address that will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a $50 e-gift card.
Wed, January 27, 2021
51 | Modeling the Spread of COVID-19 on College Campuses
On this episode of On the Evidence, guests Ravi Goyal and Natasha Martin share lessons from using an agent-based model to predict the spread of COVID-19 in a university setting. Goyal is a senior statistician at Mathematica who has an expertise in epidemic modeling. Martin is an infectious disease economic modeler and an associate professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health at the University of California San Diego. They recently collaborated on a project that estimated the potential impact of masking, social distancing, and regular testing on the spread of COVID-19 at UC San Diego. Learn more about the COVID-19 agent-based modeling partnership between UC San Diego and Mathematica here: https://bit.ly/3sLL4bp Explore the web tool Goyal and Martin discuss on the podcast here: https://bit.ly/39UMXtz Read more about the agent-based model and results in a recent article published in the journal, Clinical Infectious Diseases here: https://bit.ly/3r9TqYX Learn more about Mathematica's partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Education, which used agent-based modeling to inform K-12 school leaders about the relative risks of different operating and closure strategies here: https://bit.ly/3pct8EF Learn more about Mathematica's work on using wastewater testing to detect early trends in COVID-19 infections here: https://bit.ly/3iM5zAa For an up-to-date overview on Mathematica's involvement in the COVID-19 response, visit our landing page on COVID-19: https://bit.ly/3pmp8By
Wed, January 13, 2021
50 | Reflecting on 2020, Previewing 2021
Between a pandemic, an economic recession, and heightened awareness about social injustice, 2020 presented no shortage of urgent health and social challenges that required immediate responses based on emerging data and research. In this episode of On the Evidence, Mathematica’s Adam Coyne, Jill Constantine, and Chris Trenholm reflect on how Mathematica and its partners rose to meet those challenges. Coyne, Constantine, and Trenholm are the general managers of Mathematica’s international, human services, and health business units, respectively. The episode features short interviews with each of them as they share some of Mathematica’s most memorable work from the past year. Each interview includes a preview of projects, initiatives, and likely themes in 2021. We have a full list of resources mentioned on the episode on the Mathematica blog: https://bit.ly/3oIJxQV
Wed, December 09, 2020
49 | A One-Stop Shop for Information about State Approaches to COVID-19 Contact Tracing
In early spring, states were scrambling to learn from one another how to scale up contact tracing for COVID-19. Staff at Mathematica and the National Academy of State Health Policy (NASHP) recognized that states needed a single place to find accurate, up-to-date publicly available information about the decisions that other states were making in response to the pandemic. To help states as they develop and refine their approaches to contact tracing, NASHP and Mathematica partnered to create and maintain a central repository that reflects publicly available information about how states approach this work. NASHP hosts an interactive map and table with detailed information about states’ approaches to COVID-19 contact tracing. It is the single most comprehensive resource for documenting the variation in states’ approaches to contact tracing for COVID-19 and updated on a regular basis. Mathematica hosts a supplementary web tool that provides contextual information about each state’s population based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, which can inform contact tracing strategies. For this episode of On the Evidence, Mathematica's Holly Matulewicz and Sule Gerovich as well as NASHP's Jill Rosenthal and Elinor Higgins discuss the origin story of the data visualizations, what they're learning from the tools, and how the tools might be updated or improved going forward. Watch the original video chat, where the guests demonstrate how to use the web tools, here: https://bit.ly/37PzhPv See the interactive map and table hosted by NASHP here: https://bit.ly/2JS7czh See the companion page with an interactive map and charts showing data from the U.S. Census Bureau hosted by Mathematica here: https://bit.ly/3m60Uc9
Wed, November 25, 2020
48 | Maternal Health Care in India during and after the Pandemic
For more than two decades, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation supported evidence-based programs in India that promote reproductive health and rights. As the foundation phased out its grantmaking related to population and reproductive health, it partnered with Mathematica to conduct a cumulative review of its efforts to improve maternal health in India. The foundation’s maternal health quality of care strategy in India sought to improve the trajectory of health for women, children, and their families. Although the country had already made considerable progress in expanding access to maternal health services and, in the process, driving down the national maternal mortality ratio, the foundation and its grantees sought to improve the quality of these services, which is seen as a contributing factor in the pregnancy-related deaths that still occur today. Because the Mathematica report was published in late February, it summarizes the state of maternal health in India up to, but not including, the COVID-19 pandemic. On this episode of On the Evidence, six guests discuss insights from the report and provide perspectives on how the pandemic has changed the supply and demand for maternal health services. The following guests appear in the episode: - Dipa Nag Chowdhury, who served as the deputy director of the MacArthur Foundation’s India office - So O’Neil, a Mathematica senior researcher and the lead author of the cumulative review of the MacArthur Foundation’s efforts to improve the quality of maternal health care in India - Sharad Iyengar, a pediatrician and the chief executive of Action Research & Training for Health - Renu Khanna, a co-founder of the SAHAJ-Society for Health Alternatives - Vinoj Manning, chief executive officer at the Ipas Development Foundation - Aparajita Gogoi, executive director of the Centre for Catalyzing Change Find the report discussed in this episode here: https://bit.ly/3nUoolT Find bonus interviews below: Vinoj Manning: https://bit.ly/3l6GDmg Renu Khanna: https://bit.ly/39ffJ9z Sharad Iyengar: https://bit.ly/2UZfnvF Aparajita Gogoi: https://bit.ly/2V2kbAw
Wed, November 11, 2020
47 | Investing in Education for Success in the Long Run
In his research, Kirabo Jackson, an economist at Northwestern University, has explored the causal relationship between school spending and student outcomes. His work has also shed light on the role that teachers and schools play in helping students acquire skills and succeed in the long run. Jackson is the 20th winner of the David N. Kershaw Award and Prize, established to recognize young professionals under the age of 40 who have made distinguished contributions to the field of public policy. David Kershaw, for whom the award is named, was a founder and the first president of Mathematica. In the spring of 1979, he helped guide the establishment of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) and Mathematica’s principal role within it, before his death from cancer later that year at the age of 37. The award in his memory was created in 1983 and has since been jointly administered by Mathematica and APPAM. The award is presented every other year at the APPAM Fall Research Conference in November. In this episode of On the Evidence, Jackson discusses his research on education spending and on measuring the effects of teachers and schools on students’ long-term success.
Wed, October 28, 2020
46 | On the Need to Build and Diversify the Teacher Pipeline
For about a decade, the national supply of teachers has steadily declined, a trend that is expected to continue even as the demand for new teachers is projected to increase. Not only do schools and school districts need enough teachers, but they want to recruit and retain effective teachers. Because evidence suggests that students of color benefit academically from having a teacher who shares their racial or ethnic identity, increasing the number of effective teachers likely means, among other things, that schools will need to increase the number Black, Latinx, and other teachers of color. For this episode of On the Evidence, guests Sharif El-Mekki and Jill Constantine talk about the current challenges with recruiting and retaining teachers, especially Black male teachers, and what evidence-based practices may help. El-Mekki is a former teacher and principal in Philadelphia and currently the chief executive officer of the Center for Black Educator Development, a nonprofit focused on increasing the number of Black educators in preK–12 education. He also writes an education blog called Philly's 7th Ward (https://phillys7thward.org/) and is a co-host of The 8 Black Hands Podcast (https://apple.co/37LK3YM). Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/selmekki. Constantine is a senior vice president at Mathematica and an expert on teacher training and quality. Follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/jconjazz. Interested in digging into some of the latest research on retaining a diverse and effective teacher workforce? The Regional Educational Laboratory Mid-Atlantic released a new study in October 2020 focused on the School District of Philadelphia: https://bit.ly/2HFGDMC
Wed, October 14, 2020
45 | How to Reopen Schools Safely and With Minimal Disruptions
In mid-September, researchers from Mathematica partnered with the Pennsylvania Department of Education to run 400,000 simulations intended to inform school operating and closure strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The simulations predict the level of spread of COVID-19 infection in schools, taking into account a range of factors. These factors include school type and size, the community infection rate, school mask policies and other precautions, in-person opening strategies, and potential school responses to detected infections. For this episode of On the Evidence, guests Adam Schott and Brian Gill discuss the results and implications of these simulations. Schott is the special assistant to the secretary at the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Gill is a senior fellow at Mathematica and one of the researchers who coauthored the report about the simulations. Find a short summary of the top-line findings here: https://bit.ly/318rVEh Read the full report discussed in this episode here: https://bit.ly/351QMuy Check out a blog post explaining how school and community leaders could use the report to estimate the potential risks in their specific situation, based on the community infection rate; school type; school size; and the school’s operating, quarantining, and closure strategies: https://bit.ly/2SWBykV
Wed, October 07, 2020
44 | Lessons from COVID-19 Impacts on Connecticut's Long-Term Care Facilities
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected people in long-term care settings, who only make up about 1 percent of the U.S. population but represented more than 40 percent of all COVID-19 deaths in the United States in September. In Connecticut, that disproportionate impact was even more severe: as of July 30, about 72 percent of the state’s COVID-19-related deaths were among long-term care residents. On this episode of On the Evidence, guests Patricia Rowan and Debra Lipson of Mathematica discuss their independent assessment of COVID-19’s impacts on nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Connecticut. Their final report, which published on Sept. 30, includes findings on why the pandemic was so devastating in the state’s long-term care facilities earlier in the year. It also recommends steps that the state and the long-term care industry can take to prepare for a potential second wave of COVID-19 infections and for future infectious disease outbreaks. Although Mathematica conducted the assessment for the state of Connecticut, the report’s recommendations are intended to provide evidence-based guidance to policymakers in every state. Find the final report and a short summary of the report's main findings here: https://bit.ly/3iEuiov
Wed, September 16, 2020
43 | Blending Performance Measurement and Program Evaluation in Government
Although performance measurement and program evaluation are both ostensibly about assessing the effectiveness of government, they have historically meant different things in terms of what gets assessed and who does the assessing. Performance measurement is more commonly associated with ongoing monitoring and reporting of program accomplishments and is typically conducted by program or agency staff. Program evaluation, on the other hand, is more commonly associated with periodic or ad hoc studies conducted by experts outside of an agency or program. But are those distinctions still relevant today? That’s one of the questions journalists Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene discuss in their new book, The Promises and Pitfalls of Performance-Informed Management. In this episode of On the Evidence, Barrett and Greene talk about how state and local governments use performance measurement and program evaluation to inform management decisions, providing contemporary case studies along with historical context about how the field has evolved over the past three decades. The episode covers the following topics: - The integration of different but related disciplines of performance auditing, performance measurement, and program evaluation (19:42–22:23) - The increasing availability of data and its effect on performance-informed management (22:26–26:40) - Changes over time in how states value, understand, and use data in decision making (28:40–30:15) - What the book might have covered about the two major stories of 2020—the COVID-19 pandemic and concern over persistent racism in the United States—if it had been published a few months later (30:14–37:05) Other resources that we discuss on the episode are available here: https://bit.ly/35UYGbx Barrett and Greene's full Q&A with Mathematica's Chief Executive Officer Paul Decker is available here: https://bit.ly/3kliU1S
Wed, September 02, 2020
42 | Early Lessons for Effective and Equitable Contact Tracing
As states and counties grapple with containing the spread of COVID-19, they have learned that the virus places novel demands on contact tracing efforts. Early experiences from states with contact tracing programs suggest that a successful contact tracing program needs to account for the economic circumstances of people infected, as well as their families; it needs to account for the emotional and psychological ramifications of learning you and your loved ones are at risk of infection; it also needs to account for contextual and community factors, such as trust in government, household members' immigration status, language, and culture, that could be barriers to reaching the very populations most at-risk of contracting the disease. On this episode of On the Evidence, four guests discuss emerging lessons from states and localities on conducting effective and equitable contact tracing for COVID-19. This episode is an abridged and edited version of a webinar hosted by Mathematica on Aug. 21. The guests are: • Sandra Hernández, president and chief executive officer, California Health Care Foundation • Candace Miller, senior researcher, Mathematica • Elizabeth Odell, director of medical operations, La Clínica de La Raza, Inc. • Marina Pravdic, manager, communications, policy and advocacy, The Rockefeller Foundation The wide-ranging discussion covers the following topics: • how contact tracing for COVID-19 is different from past contact tracing efforts for other infectious diseases; • how a jurisdiction should measure the operational effectiveness of a contact tracing program; • what states and localities are doing to incorporate equity into their contact tracing programs; and • what role philanthropy can play in supporting contact tracing.
Wed, August 19, 2020
41 | Examining Racial Disparities in School Discipline and Mental Health Care
Sarah Lieff wants to know if the Medicaid expansion, which made mental health services more affordable to low-income Americans in many states, resulted in greater access and improved quality of mental health treatment for those who need it. Rachel Perera is interested in the effects of investigations for civil rights violations related to racial discrimination in school discipline. Both Lieff and Perera are continuing their doctoral research as Mathematica summer fellows. For this episode of On the Evidence, Lieff and Perera discuss the questions they’re pursuing for the fellowship, what they find appealing about applied research, and how the field they’re entering can help reduce racial disparities in both mental health care and education.
Wed, July 29, 2020
40 | Two Lifelong Friends Explore Their Shared Past and Racial Differences
In early June, as communities across the country organized protests against racism in all its forms, Mathematica released a statement denouncing social injustice and affirming that black lives matter. This episode provides insight behind why Mathematica's CEO wanted to make that statement. It's also about how the events in late May and early June prompted two lifelong friends to talk about race in ways they hadn’t before. The guests for this episode are Paul Decker and Chris Williams. Decker is the president and CEO of Mathematica. Williams is the founder of OnPacePlus and the chief of ophthalmology at Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Paul is white. Chris is Black. They grew up together in Jacksonville, Illinois. For this episode, Decker and Williams are interviewing each other.
Wed, July 15, 2020
39 | A Better Pathway for Transition-Age Youth with Disabilities
This episode focuses on young people between the ages of 14 and 24 who have disabilities and must navigate a complex bureaucracy to access benefits and support services. Our guests are Dave Wittenburg and Kim Kaiser. Wittenburg, who is the disability area director at Mathematica, has an expertise in interventions to promote employment for people with disabilities, particularly interventions that serve youth as they transition into adulthood. Kaiser is an autism advocate, a certified peer support specialist, and the parent of a teenage son on the spectrum. She is also a parent advisor for the nonprofit, Families Together in New York State, and a program director for the Color of Autism, a foundation committed to serving African Americans who are affected by Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Wed, July 01, 2020
38 | Health Policy Research, Racism, and a Pandemic
Before March 2020, a search for the keyword “coronavirus” would have turned up zero results on Mathematica’s website. Now the word and its sibling, COVID-19, appear in more than two dozen pages about contact tracing, wastewater testing, disease modeling, workforce planning, and more. Owing to the wide-ranging effects of the novel coronavirus, Mathematica’s experts have sprung into action to understand its implications for primary care, child protective services, behavioral health, remote learning in K-12 education, surging unemployment among workers with disabilities, and food insecurity among children who no longer have access to daily school meals. Although the pandemic is touching almost every conceivable area of public wellbeing, it started as a public health threat and has galvanized Mathematica’s nearly 600 health care and policy experts, researchers, technologists, data scientists, clinicians, survey experts, and program design and management experts to apply their skills and creativity in responding to the crisis. For this episode of On the Evidence, Chris Trenholm, the managing director of health at Mathematica, discusses the impacts of COVID-19 on public health, what the pandemic reveals about the social determinants of health and racial disparities in health care, and how Mathematica’s partners in government, philanthropy, and the private-sector are developing new tools and strategies in light of the pandemic.
Fri, June 19, 2020
37 | Addressing Structural Racism in Policy Research
In early 2019, the Urban Institute published a brief about addressing structural racism through research and policy analysis. The paper summarizes lessons, promising practices, and recommendations previously discussed in a roundtable with 23 research groups. At the time of publication, the paper’s authors did not know that communities across the country would soon be organizing protests against structural racism in the wake of a recent string of high-profile incidents in which people of color were killed by law enforcement, occurring during a pandemic that disproportionately harms Black and Latinx Americans. Nevertheless, the brief might find new readers in the policy research field who—amid heightened awareness brought about by recent acts of social injustice—have committed to addressing structural racism and are looking for concrete steps they can take. The paper discusses the relationship between institutional choices made by organizations that conduct public policy research and the research these organizations produce. The guests for this episode are Kilolo Kijakazi and Cleo Jacobs Johnson. Kijakazi coauthored the Urban Institute brief and works with her organization to help it become more diverse in its staffing, the content of its work, and the audience it reaches. Kijakazi also conducts research and policy analysis on structural racism, the racial wealth gap, and economic security—including retirement security. Jacobs Johnson, a senior researcher at Mathematica who specializes in education, early childhood, and family support, served as Mathematica’s acting chief diversity officer for a year. A version of this episode with closed captioning is available on Mathematica's YouTube page here: http://ow.ly/uwU850Aconr Find the Urban brief about confronting structural racism in research and policy analysis here: http://ow.ly/jyqv50Acpv8
Thu, June 11, 2020
36 | Telehealth Transformation Under COVID-19 and the Implications for Equitable Care
In March, the COVID-19 pandemic forced organizations in the United States to adopt virtual and remote work wherever possible. This was especially true in health care, with hospitals and physician practices needing to clear their waiting rooms and minimize the risk of infections for patients and providers. As a result, Congress and the federal government removed many of the regulatory barriers—at least temporarily—that prevented patients from receiving care through video chats and phone calls. The latest episode of On the Evidence features a discussion about the rise of telehealth as an alternative to in-person care during the pandemic. Our guests for this episode are Mathematica’s Llew Brown and Diane Rittenhouse as well as Mei Wa Kwong of the Center for Connected Health Policy. In this episode, we discuss the rapid regulatory, policy, and implementation changes taking place in telehealth, what research has found about the effects of using telehealth, and what the rise of telehealth might mean for health care even after the pandemic. In particular, we focus on the role telehealth could play in supporting primary care, which has taken a severe financial hit since the pandemic began in the United States, and how telehealth could reduce or exacerbate existing health care disparities. A version of this episode with closed captioning is available on Mathematica's YouTube page here: http://ow.ly/aKga50AcotU
Wed, May 20, 2020
Early Lessons from COVID-19 Contact Tracing in Massachusetts
As Americans continue to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s clear that one key ingredient in managing the spread of the novel coronavirus is contact tracing, a longstanding disease control measure employed by state and local health department personnel. In response to COVID-19, states and localities are rapidly deploying contact-tracing programs. But the scale and complexity of these efforts make launching an effective contact-tracing program a complicated undertaking. This episode of On the Evidence features Candace Miller, a senior international researcher at Mathematica who is working with the COVID-19 Community Tracing Collaborative in Massachusetts. Miller shares early lessons from her experience with COVID-19 contact-tracing. A Q&A blog based on the conversation is available here: http://ow.ly/cXON50zLvOJ Miller penned recommendations on contact tracing for COVID-19 here: http://ow.ly/jq3B50zLvVf
Wed, May 13, 2020
35 | Oakland’s Life Coaching Strategy to Address Youth Violence
On this episode of On the Evidence, we discuss life coaching, a violence reduction strategy being used by the city of Oakland, California, to help young people who have been involved with the juvenile justice system. Mathematica studied youth life coaching as part of a larger evaluation of Oakland Unite, a city initiative that supports community-based violence prevention programs. We interviewed the following guests: Peter Kim, manager of Oakland Unite Naihobe Gonzalez, senior researcher at Mathematica Kentrell Killens, a former life coach with Oakland Unite Anayeli Vega Gonzalez, a participant in the life coaching program Another life coach participant who preferred not to share his name Learn more about Mathematica's evaluation of Oakland Unite here: http://ow.ly/vfdn50zFmQ7 Read a blog based on this episode here: http://ow.ly/6nm150zEW9b
Wed, April 29, 2020
34 | Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Era of COVID-19
It’s increasingly clear that although the novel 2019 coronavirus does not discriminate in who it infects, it does harm some groups of people more than others. The emerging evidence suggests that people who are Black, are 65 and older, or have certain conditions, such as diabetes or hypertension, are more likely to become severely ill from COVID-19. But income and occupation also play a role. The current pandemic has exposed inequities in society where, for example, segments of the workforce do not have health insurance, paid sick leave, the ability to work from home, or the ability to apply for unemployment benefits. For some, sheltering in place means a stressful, long-term inconvenience; for others, it means putting yourself at greater risk of domestic violence, or maybe choosing between losing paychecks or showing up in-person for jobs that put you and our loved ones at greater risk of being infected. The guest for this episode of On the Evidence is Ralanda Nelson, who leads diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at Mathematica. Nelson started her job in March, two weeks into Mathematica’s company-wide shift to working from home. In the interview, we discuss what it’s like to start a new job while sheltering in place; Nelson’s career path to her current role; and how the pandemic is spotlighting problems related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Wed, April 08, 2020
33 | Culturally Responsive Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic
As schools close in order to contain the spread of COVID-19, some students are in a better position to continue learning from home than others. Even when students aren’t grappling with the fallout of a pandemic, they face disparities in their educational experiences and opportunities due to their differences in family income, differences in racial, ethnic, or other important demographic characteristics, and differences in access to technology. Some state and local education leaders are proactively adopting culturally responsive practices to dismantle social and institutional barriers that inhibit student success. For this episode of On the Evidence, a principal and an education researcher share insights from research and the field on implementing culturally responsive practices. Our guests are: • George Guy, Jr., who has spent more than 20 years in education and currently serves as the principal of Rosa International Middle School in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Guy has also helped lead efforts to identify and employ culturally responsive practices in his district and beyond, and; • Steven Malick, an education researcher at Mathematica who spent nearly a decade as a middle school math teacher and a coach of new teachers; For more information on improving educational equity through culturally responsive practices in schools, check out this free four-part webinar series conducted by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Educational Laboratory at Mathematica: https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/2055500/23F4AF51F3BEF736E0DE4C689CBFD066/606716 Want a quick primer on using culturally responsive practices in education? The Mid-Atlantic Regional Educational Laboratory at Mathematica has a four-page fact sheet: https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/midatlantic/app/pdf/RELMA_Culturally_responsive_pedagogy_fact_sheet.pdf
Wed, March 25, 2020
32 | Can Algorithms Be Fair, Transparent, and Protect Children?
As technology improves organizations’ ability to collect, manage, and analyze data, it’s becoming easier to inform public policy decisions today in a range of areas, from health care to criminal justice, based on estimated risks in the future. On this episode of On the Evidence, I talk with three researchers who work with child welfare agencies in the United States to use algorithms—or, what they call predictive risk models—to inform decisions by case managers and their supervisors. My guests are Rhema Vaithianathan, Emily Putnam-Hornstein, and Beth Weigensberg. Vaithianathan is a professor of economics and director of the Centre for Social Data Analytics in the School of Social Sciences and Public Policy at Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand, and a professor of social data and analytics at the Institute for Social Science Research at the University of Queensland, Australia. Putnam-Hornstein is an associate professor of social work at the University of Southern California and the director of the Children’s Data Network. Weigensberg is a senior researcher at Mathematica. Vaithianathan and Putnam-Hornstein have already worked with Allegheny County in Pennsylvania to implement a predictive risk model that uses hundreds of data elements to help the people screening calls about child abuse and neglect better assess the risk associated with each case of potential maltreatment. Now they are working with two more counties in Colorado to pilot a similar predictive risk model. Last year, they initiated a partnership with Mathematica to replicate and scale-up their work by offering the same kind of assistance to states and counties around the country. Find more information about Mathematica’s partnership with the Centre for Social Data Analytics and the Children’s Data Network here: https://www.mathematica.org/our-publications-and-findings/publications/predictive-risk-modeling-for-child-protection Find The New York Times Magazine article about Allegheny County's use of algorithms in child welfare here: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/02/magazine/can-an-algorithm-tell-when-kids-are-in-danger.html Find the publications page for the the Centre for Social Data Analytics here: https://csda.aut.ac.nz/research/recent-publications Find the results of an independent evaluation of the Allegheny County predictive risk model here: https://www.alleghenycountyanalytics.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Impact-Evaluation-from-16-ACDHS-26_PredictiveRisk_Package_050119_FINAL-6.pdf
Wed, March 11, 2020
31 | Building the Pipeline of Black Women in Economics
On this episode of On the Evidence, we check in with Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman and Fanta Traore a year after the group they co-founded, the Sadie Collective, held its inaugural conference about, for, and by black women in economics and related fields. Find more information about the Sadie Collective here: https://www.sadiecollective.org/
Wed, February 26, 2020
30 | Customized Employment for Workers with Disabilities
Since the early 2000s, federal policy has encouraged customized employment strategies to help people with significant disabilities secure paid jobs. Through customized employment, the relationship between the job seeker and employer is personalized so that the needs of both are met through negotiation of the worker’s job duties and flexible work arrangements. About eight years ago, the nonprofit SourceAmerica launched a new program called Pathways to Careers that combined several types of customized employment strategies, such as an assessment of program participants’ strengths (called Discovery), paid internships and work experiences, and post-employment career support. Pathways started with a pilot site in Clearfield, Utah, and expanded to four other sites in Massachusetts; Michigan; Virginia; and Ogden, Utah. Mathematica is conducting an evaluation of Pathways, which will be the focus of a webinar that Mathematica is hosting on March 11. On this episode of On the Evidence, Shane Kanady, the vice president of workforce development at SourceAmerica, and Noelle Denny-Brown, a senior researcher at Mathematica, discuss findings from Mathematica’s evaluation as well as what’s next for the Pathways program. A Q&A blog based on the interview is available here: http://ow.ly/uLcF50ywDm2 Register for the webinar on Pathways on March 11, 2020 here: http://ow.ly/b7Dt50ywDjQ Find more information about Mathematica’s research on the Pathways-to-Careers program here: http://ow.ly/pwpy50ywDgr
Wed, February 12, 2020
29 | Communicating About Your Policy Research
Today’s episode is about sharing and explaining policy research. After putting in the hours to collect the data, analyze the findings, and report on your results, how do you ensure that people outside of academia learn what you’ve found and understand why it matters? My guests for this episode are economists Jennifer Doleac and Kosali Simon, who recently participated on a panel about interpreting and translating the relevance of policy research at a research conference hosted by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. Jennifer is an associate professor of economics at Texas A&M University, the director of the Justice Tech Lab, and the host of the Probable Causation podcast (https://www.probablecausation.com/). She is on Twitter at https://twitter.com/jenniferdoleac. Kosali is a professor at the Paul H. O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University Bloomington as well as the associate vice provost for health sciences at Indiana University Bloomington. She is also on Twitter at https://twitter.com/KosaliSimon. Find an abridged and edited Q&A blog based on a transcript of this conversation at: https://mathematica-mpr.com/commentary/tips-for-boosting-the-reach-and-impact-of-policy-research
Wed, January 29, 2020
28 | What the Next Generation of Policy Researchers Is Studying
Every summer, Mathematica welcomes a handful of doctoral students to spend 12 weeks at one of our nine office locations, working on an independent research project that intersects with one or more of Mathematica's focus areas. On this episode of On the Evidence, we feature six short interviews with the 2019 summer fellows about the research questions they pursued and what they have learned so far. In most cases, the fellows are joined by a mentor from Mathematica. Find more information about Mathematica's summer fellowship program here: https://www.mathematica.org/career-opportunities/summer-fellowships What factors influence individuals' long-term care decisions? Guests: Selena Caldera, a doctoral student at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, and Julia Baller, a senior researcher at Mathematica (1:45 - 11:32) If Medicaid is more generous in reimbursing for home and community based services, does it encourage more beneficiaries with disabilities to live in their homes, rather than in a nursing facility? Guests: Sijiu Wang, a doctoral student at Health Services Research and Policy program in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Rochester, and Bob Schmitz, a senior fellow at Mathematica who retired at the end of 2019 (11:43 - 26:50) Did New York City's "fair student funding" reform lead to better outcomes for students with disabilities? Guests: Sana Fatima, a doctoral student in public policy at NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and Mariesa Herrmann, a senior researcher at Mathematica, (26:55 - 36:55) How does reducing the cost of participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program affect takeup of the program and ultimately impact infant health? Guests: Leah Shiferaw, a doctoral student in economics at the University of California, Berkeley, and Nan Maxwell, a senior researcher at Mathematica who retired at the end of 2019 (36:59 - 46:21) How can policy improve the quality of care that children receive in early childhood education and care programs? Guest: Katie Gonzalez, a doctoral student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (46:26 - 1:02:31) How does Medicaid Managed Care impact hospitalization rates among people who are enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid? Guests: Rebecca Gorges, a doctoral student at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, and Andrea Wysocki, a senior researcher at Mathematica (1:02:36 - 1:17:44)
Wed, January 08, 2020
27 | Child Food Insecurity and Home Delivered Food Boxes
The federal government funds a variety of national nutrition programs to combat hunger among children and families, and yet roughly 37 million Americans were food insecure in 2018, and 6 million of them were children, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). In some parts of the country, food insecurity is made worse by a lack of accessible and affordable options. That is, if you live in a rural area with limited public transportation and no major supermarkets nearby, you may rely on smaller retailers with limited produce, higher prices, and lower quality food compared with a larger store that is farther away. On this episode of On the Evidence, we talk about a demonstration supported by a federal grant that used home-delivered boxes packed with fruit, vegetables, and other shelf-stable foods selected by registered dieticians to address food insecurity among children in Chickasaw Nation territory in rural Oklahoma. Our guest is Phil Gleason, a senior fellow at Mathematica, who helped evaluate the demonstration for the Food and Nutrition Service at the USDA. Phil and I spoke in Denver shortly before he presented findings from the evaluation at a 2019 fall research conference hosted by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, better known by the acronym, APPAM. The full report that Phil and his Mathematica colleagues submitted to the USDA is available here: https://www.mathematica.org/our-publications-and-findings/publications/evaluation-of-demonstration-projects-to-end-childhood-hunger-edech-the-chickasaw-nation Read an abridged and edited Q&A blog based on our conversation here: mathematica-mpr.com/commentary/home-delivered-food-boxes-reduced-food-insecurity-among-adults-but-not-children
Fri, December 20, 2019
26 | What If the U.S. Mandated Paid Family Leave?
One of the ways that the United States is an outlier among high-income industrialized nations is that it does not have a national paid family leave program. Some U.S. states and cities, however, have enacted paid family leave, and more are on track to do so in the next few years. For this episode of On the Evidence, we speak with Jeff Hayes, the program director of job quality and income security at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research and a scholar in residence at American University. Jeff recently presented findings about what would happen if the U.S. implemented a paid family leave law based on some recent policy proposals. This episode is part of a series we recorded in Denver during the fall research conference hosted by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, better known by the acronym, APPAM. Find more information on the paper Jeff presented at the conference, as well as other papers discussed in the same panel session, here: https://appam.confex.com/appam/2019/webprogram/Session13031.html
Wed, December 18, 2019
25 | Soda Taxes in U.S. Cities
Since 2015, a handful of U.S. cities have begun taxing soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages. With funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, economists from Mathematica, the University of Iowa, and Cornell University studied the impacts of those taxes on purchases, consumption, prices, and product availability. The project was the first to publish results on changes in children's consumption in U.S. cities with a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. It was also the first to publish results on impacts from Oakland's beverage tax. For this episode of On the Evidence, we spoke with Dave Jones, an associate director in the health unit at Mathematica, and Dave Frisvold, an associate professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Iowa, about the project's findings on sweetened beverage taxes in Philadelphia, Oakland, Seattle, and San Francisco. More information about their study is available here: https://www.mathematica.org/news/effects-of-sweetened-beverage-taxes-in-philadelphia-and-oakland-fewer-beverage-purchases This interview was one of a series conducted in support of the 2019 fall research conference hosted by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM). (Jones and Frisvold presented papers related to the beverage tax project at the conference.) Find other interviews related to APPAM's fall research conference here: https://www.mathematica.org/commentary/icymi-on-the-evidence-takes-on-appam
Wed, December 11, 2019
24 | Low Cost Experiments in Local Government
On this episode of On the Evidence, we talk about using behavioral nudges and low-cost experiments in local government. Our guests are Brendan Babb, the chief innovation officer and innovation team director for the municipality of Anchorage, Alaska, and Emily Cardon, head of research for the Behavioral Insights Team (BIT) in North America. To learn more about the case studies referenced in this episode, check out BIT's publications page (https://www.bi.team/our-work/publications/) and blog (https://www.bi.team/our-work/blog/). Cardon also mentions a forthcoming paper on reducing burnout among 911 dispatchers, which has since published. Find it here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336830004_Belonging_Affirmation_Reduces_Employee_Burnout_and_Resignations_in_Front_Line_Workers This episode is part of a series produced by Mathematica in support of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) and its fall research conference. More episodes affiliated with APPAM's fall research conference can be found here: https://www.mathematica.org/commentary/icymi-on-the-evidence-takes-on-appam
Mon, November 25, 2019
23 | Indigenous Communities and Policy Research
On this episode of On the Evidence, we talk about policy research by, about, and for indigenous communities. Our guests are Cheryl Ellenwood, a PhD candidate in the School of Government and Public Policy at the University of Arizona, and Laura Evans, an associate professor at the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Policy and Governance. We discuss efforts to build a community of policy researchers focused on issues important to indigenous communities, the need for more and better data on indigenous populations (collected in respectful ways), and the application of decolonization methodologies in policy research. This episode is part of a series produced by Mathematica in support of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) and its fall research conference. Summaries of the indigenous policy scholarship discussed at the conference are available here: https://appam.confex.com/appam/2019/webprogram/Session13239.html
Thu, November 21, 2019
22 | Nudging Students to Enroll in College
A growing body of research have found that small-scale behavioral nudge campaigns can get students to complete complex tasks, such as refiling for federal financial aid to attend college. But researchers don't yet know enough about why certain nudges have worked in the past or whether they would still work on a larger scale. On this episode of On the Evidence, we talk with Jenna Kramer, an associate policy researcher at RAND Corporation, and Kelly Ochs Rosinger, an assistant professor in the Department of Education Policy Studies at The Pennsylvania State University, about efforts to use large-scale nudges to increase college and financial aid applications, increase college enrollment, and bolster college students' persistence in completing college. This episode is part of a series produced by Mathematica in support of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) and its fall research conference. Kramer and Rosinger participated in an APPAM panel about scaling nudge interventions in post-secondary education. A summary of the panel as well as links to papers discussed in the session is available here: https://appam.confex.com/appam/2019/webprogram/Session12922.html To keep up with Kramer and Rosinger's work, follow them on Twitter. Kramer is @j_w_kramer and Rosinger is @kelly_rosinger.
Tue, November 19, 2019
21 | Policy Labs: Research for State and Local Government
State and local governments often lack the capacity to clean, manage, and analyze administrative data that could be useful for achieving political and policy objectives. Some places have established policy labs to leverage researchers' skills to identify trends in the data, evaluate programs, and provide insights for improving public policies. On this episode of On the Evidence, we talk about the policy lab model with Kristin Klopfenstein, director of the Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab, and Melissa Wavelet, a senior fellow at MDRC and the former director of the Office of Performance and Strategic Outcomes at the Colorado Department of Human Services. This episode is part of a series produced by Mathematica in support of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) and its fall research conference. Klopfenstein and Wavelett participated in an APPAM panel about policy labs. More information about the lab is available at: https://coloradolab.org/ More information about Wavelett and her current work at MDRC is available at: https://www.mdrc.org/about/melissa-wavelet
Sat, November 09, 2019
20 | Opioid Use by Disability Insurance Applicants
Since 2007, the Social Security Administration has collected data on medication use among applicants for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). The administration can then use the medication data to identify opioid use among SSDI applicants. But the data set is so large and the data themselves are unstructured, with the majority of applicants reporting drug names in open-ended text fields, so the agency couldn't use the information to inform policy and programs. On this episode of On the Evidence, we talk with April Yanyuan Wu, a researcher at Mathematica, who used supervised machine learning to uncover new insights based on those data, including an estimate on the prevalence of opioid use among SSDI applicants. This episode is part of a series produced by Mathematica in support of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) and its fall research conference. More information about April's research on opioids and SSDI applicants is available here: https://www.mathematica.org/our-publications-and-findings/publications/trends-in-opioid-use-among-social-security-disability-insurance-applicants
Fri, November 08, 2019
19 | Paid Leave and Labor Force Detachment
Paid leave can help mothers return to work in the year that a child is born, but what about the next few years? On this episode of On the Evidence, we talk about the effects of paid leave on maternal labor force detachment up to four years after a child is born with Kelly Jones, an assistant professor in the Department of Economics at American University and a senior research economist at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. This episode is part of a series produced by Mathematica in support of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) and its fall research conference. Find more about Jones' research, as well as other paid leave research presented at the 2019 APPAM conference, here: https://appam.confex.com/appam/2019/webprogram/Session13294.html In the interview, Jones also mentions a second paper she was presenting at the conference on how abortion access affects educational outcomes. A summary of that paper is available here: https://appam.confex.com/appam/2019/webprogram/Paper31293.html
Wed, November 06, 2019
18 | Engaging Diverse Perspectives in Policy Research
For this episode of On the Evidence, my guests are Maria Cancian, the president-elect of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) and the dean of the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, and Matt Stagner, the current president of APPAM and a vice president at Mathematica. We talk about the theme of APPAM's fall research conference in Denver, which is “Rising to the Challenge: Engaging Diverse Perspectives on Issues and Evidence.”
Wed, October 30, 2019
17 | Embracing the Emotional Aspects of Policy Research
As social scientists set out to investigate public policy questions, it is vital that they take into account the history of issues and the way people’s emotions will shape interpretations and responses to research findings. That’s the message that Mathematica’s Matt Stagner hopes to convey in his presidential address at a fall research conference hosted by the Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management (APPAM) in Denver. On the Evidence interviewed Stagner about his upcoming address, his work on child welfare, and his reflections on the field of public policy research. This interview is part of a series of episodes produced by Mathematica in support of the APPAM conference in November. A Q&A blog featuring highlights from the conversation is also available on the Mathematica website: https://.mathematica-mpr.com/commentary/embracing-the-emotional-aspects-of-public-policy-research
Fri, October 04, 2019
16 | A Progress Report on States' Use of Data and Evidence
The nonprofit Results for America publishes an annual progress report documenting best and promising practices in how state governments use data and evidences in budget, policy, and management decisions to achieve better outcomes for their residents. On this week's episode of On the Evidence, we talk with Jed Herrmann, vice president of state and federal policy implementation at Results for America, about the latest Invest in What Works State Standard of Excellence, released on Friday, Oct. 4. Find the 2019 State Standard of Excellence here: 2019state.results4america.org
Wed, September 25, 2019
15 | The Relationship Between Changing Work Schedules, Child Care, and Child Well-Being
Our economy has always had jobs that fit outside the conventional 9 to 5, Monday to Friday, schedule, but with the rise of telework, on-demand scheduling apps, "irregular work," and the Gig Economy, more workers not only find themselves earning their paychecks in the early morning, at night or on weekends; but their hours may change on a frequent basis. Finding safe and high quality child care that accommodates non-standard or changing work schedules is a familiar challenge for many workers, but a relatively new area of public policy research. On this week's episode of On the Evidence, we talk about a report that looks at the complicated relationships between changing work schedules, the availability of child care for those schedules, and child well-being. My guests are the co-authors of that report, Angela Rachidi and Rus Sykes, who conducted research on behalf of Mathematica and the American Public Human Services Association, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. An abridged and edited Q&A blog based on the conversation is available here: https://mathematica-mpr.com/commentary/the-complex-relationship-between-changing-work-schedules-child-care-and-child-well-being
Wed, September 11, 2019
14 | How Can We Help Workers with Medical Conditions Stay Employed?
Each year, more than two million workers leave the labor force, at least temporarily, because of an injury or illness that prevents them from working. Their absence from work takes a toll on the workers and their families, their employers, and the government programs they often rely on for income and other supports. Some research suggests that if government programs could identify and assist workers early, the employees would be more likely to stay at work or return to work after a short absence. On this week’s episode of On the Evidence, we take a deep dive into the topic of interventions for workers who have begun to miss work because of an injury or illness and are at risk of prolonged or even permanent exit from the labor force. Specifically, we discuss the need for providing assistance early—within the first several weeks of missing work—before the employee’s absence from work has become normalized. Our guests include: • Annette Bourbonniere, a research associate at the University of Rhode Island’s department of environmental and natural resource economics, who also owns a consulting business that helps companies hire, accommodate, and retain employees with disabilities. • Jennifer Christian, the cofounder, president, and chief medical officer of the Webility Corporation, a firm focused on speeding the recuperation of ill and injured employees and supporting the continued employability of those who are aging, chronically ill, or functionally impaired. Dr. Christian is also a physician who is board certified in occupational medicine. • Yoni Ben-Shalom, a labor economist and senior researcher at Mathematica who specializes in policies and programs related to the employment and income of people with disabilities. Read an abridged version of the conversation in the edited Q&A here: https://mathematica-mpr.com/commentary/how-can-we-help-workers-with-medical-conditions-stay-employed
Wed, August 14, 2019
13 | What Doctors Need to Fulfill the Promise of Electronic Health Records
A decade ago, the federal government pushed for the widespread adoption of electronic medical records. Now those records are here and they're ubiquitous, but the transition hasn't been smooth. On this week's episode of On the Evidence, we talk with two of Mathematica's in-house experts on electronic health records, Genna Cohen and Llew Brown. We discuss what the research says about challenges in adopting electronic health records, as well as what to do about them. Find an edited Q&A blog featuring highlights from the conversation here: https://www.mathematica-mpr.com/commentary/what-doctors-need-to-fulfill-the-promise-of-electronic-health-records
Wed, July 31, 2019
12 | "Forever Chemicals" in Drinking Water and Their Potential Effects on Health
Forever chemicals, a nickname for polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) known for their durability, are a class of chemicals that sometimes appear in tap water but aren’t widely understood or subject to much federal regulation. What we do know is that these substances appear in items we encounter on a daily basis, such as Scotchgard and dental floss, and have been linked to a number of health problems. Recent research also suggests that these chemicals are becoming more common in tap water. On this week's episode of On the Evidence, we speak with Cindy Hu, a data scientist at Mathematica, who studies how humans are exposed to and affected by this class of emerging contaminants in drinking water. We discuss the prevalence of these chemicals in our drinking water, as well as their health implications and ways to address them through public policy.
Wed, July 17, 2019
11 | Siloed, Incomplete and Neglected: The Trouble with State Administrative Data
At a time when private companies can mine online user data for new, sophisticated insights about their customers, public-sector agencies — particularly those charged with serving clients with low incomes and some of the most urgent needs — are struggling to keep up with their own data practices. Although public agencies collect reams of valuable information that could be used to improve residents’ health and well-being, they rarely have the ability to study, interpret, and use the data the same way many companies can. About six years ago, the federal government funded a study to understand what is holding back state agencies in health and human services when it comes to collecting reliable data and using them to both improve the performance of agencies and the welfare of residents. On this week's episode of On the Evidence, our guest is Beth Weigensberg, a senior researcher at Mathematica who helped conduct the research for that federal study and co-authored an article based on the study's findings that recently won an award from the Public Administration Review, a top-rated, peer-reviewed academic journal about government. We’ll talk about the article, but also about what’s changed in the field since that research and where state agencies might go next in terms of handling and using administrative data. We also have a condensed Q&A version of the conversation available here: https://mathematica-mpr.com/commentary/siloed-incomplete-and-neglected-the-trouble-with-state-administrative-data-and-what-to-do-about-it
Wed, June 19, 2019
10 | Federal Efforts to Overhaul the Way We Pay for Primary Care, Explained
Earlier this year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it would invite medical practices to voluntarily participate in new payment models for primary care in the Medicare program. The initiative is called Primary Cares, and its goals are to reduce Medicare spending and improve both the quality of and access to primary care for Medicare beneficiaries—especially for those with complex, chronic conditions and serious illness. CMS officials believe that the new payment models could affect as many as 11 million Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries and an estimated one in four primary care practitioners. In light of that announcement, I invited three primary care experts from Mathematica to explain the latest push by CMS to change primary care through new payment models. My guests are Jeffrey Ballou, Eugene Rich, and Julie Schilz, who have the combined experience and expertise of a health economist, a general internist, a medical practice leader, a registered nurse, and a former senior executive at a national health insurance company. We also have a condensed Q&A version of the conversation available here: https://www.mathematica-mpr.com/commentary/federal-efforts-to-overhaul-the-way-we-pay-for-primary-care-explained
Wed, June 05, 2019
9 | It Shouldn’t Read Like a Crime Novel: Trying to Summarize Police Research
For researchers to influence policy, their work must ultimately reach people making or implementing policy, and yet a gap often exists between the two communities. Rebecca Neusteter witnessed this gap when she was the director of research, policy, and planning at the New York Police Department (NYPD). Peer-reviewed journals often published articles about policing—and even policing in New York City—but her office did not have subscriptions to those journals and lacked easy, affordable access to the articles. What was available—typically abstracts written for fellow researchers—too often wasn’t useful to people in the department. It seemed to Neusteter like a missed opportunity for relevant research to inform practitioners. Ultimately, that led her to publish a brief, nontechnical digest of recent police-related research that conveyed important takeaways to readers who were hungry for information to help them do their jobs better, but who lacked the time to find and read the full articles. After Neusteter launched the research digest at the NYPD, she brought the idea with her to the Vera Institute of Justice, a think tank based in New York City, when she became the director of its policing program. Since January 2018, the Institute has published quarterly volumes of the Emerging Issues in American Policing Digest, which covers the latest research on a range of pressing topics in criminal justice, including the effects of body-worn cameras and the relationship between crime clearance rates and the revenue collected by municipal police departments through fees, fines, and forfeitures. On this week’s episode of On the Evidence, I discuss with Neusteter what she has learned so far about translating, packaging and sharing the latest research on policing. We also have a condensed Q&A version of the conversation available here: https://www.mathematica-mpr.com/commentary/it-shouldnt-read-like-a-crime-novel-lessons-from-a-project-to-summarize-useful-research-for-police The digest itself is available here: https://www.vera.org/publications/emerging-issues-in-american-policing-digest
Wed, May 22, 2019
8 | To Help Philadelphia’s Workforce, This Nonprofit Had to Take a Look at Itself First
A few years ago, staff at Philadelphia Works, the city’s Workforce Development Board, decided that they wanted an outsider’s perspective to assess their workforce system and to assist them with more effectively helping residents. They partnered with Mathematica to study and address issues keeping them from providing the most effective services in the most efficient way possible. In this episode of On the Evidence, we take a look at early efforts to redesign and streamline the daily operations of the city’s workforce system, starting with a cash assistance program for work-ready adults called the Employment, Advancement and Retention Network (EARN). Our guests include two of the nonprofit’s staff members, Patricia Blumenauer, director of workforce operations, and Eric Morton, a program representative, as well as Annalisa Mastri, a senior researcher at Mathematica. We also have a condensed Q&A version of the conversation available here: https://mathematica-mpr.com/commentary/to-help-philadelphias-workforce-this-nonprofit-had-to-take-a-look-at-itself-first
Wed, May 08, 2019
7 | Boston Invites Community to Set a 'Civic' Research Agenda
The Boston Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics, a research and development lab for city hall, develops new and creative ways to provide better services for the city’s residents. About a year ago, the office published the first volume of its Civic Research Agenda. In some respects, the document follows the trend of federal agencies publishing learning or evidence-building agendas. But Boston’s Civic Research Agenda doesn’t look like a formal government document: it’s colorful, with large font, photos, and cartoon-like illustrations. The authors also use personal pronouns to make it clear that Boston’s “new urban mechanics” want to have a conversation with you, the reader. The language is strategic: they want to welcome you in as a participant in deciding what local public policy issues to address, what questions to ask about them, and how to answer them. In this episode of On the Evidence, we discuss the Civic Research Agenda’s one year anniversary with three members of the New Urban Mechanics team: Nigel Jacob, the office’s co-chair and cofounder; Sabrina Dorsainvil, the office’s director of civic design; and Kim Lucas, the office’s civic research director. We also have a condensed Q&A version of the conversation available here: https://www.mathematica-mpr.com/commentary/boston-invites-community-to-set-a-civic-research-agenda
Wed, April 24, 2019
6 | What Do We Know About Patients with High Costs and High Needs?
In this week’s episode of On the Evidence, we discuss a major question surrounding health care reform: What do we do about the small share of patients who represent a much larger share of overall health care use and costs? For this conversation, I brought in three guests from Mathematica’s deep bench of health care experts—Purvi Sevak, Ann O’Malley, and Dana Jean-Baptiste, who have each studied high-need, high-use patients and efforts to improve their care. We also have a condensed Q&A version of the conversation available here: https://www.mathematica-mpr.com/commentary/podcast-on-patients-with-high-costs-and-high-needs
Tue, April 09, 2019
5 | The Case for Increasing the Number of Black Women in Economics
Black women are underrepresented in the field of economics, and for those who enter the profession, being one of a few can be lonely. On this episode of On the Evidence, host J.B. Wogan talks with Anna Opoku-Agyeman and Fanta Traore about the Sadie Collective, a group they helped form, which seeks to increase the number of black women in economics and is named after the first African American to earn a PhD in economics.
Wed, March 27, 2019
4 | Do Suspensions Affect Student Outcomes?
Almost seven years ago, the School District of Philadelphia revised its student discipline policy, instructing schools not to suspend students for certain types of nonviolent behavior, such as failing to follow classroom rules or making obscene gestures. To examine what happened after the school district made the change, Mathematica’s Johanna Lacoe teamed up with Matthew Steinberg, an education researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. What they found provides the strongest evidence to date that when students are suspended, their academic performance declines after the suspension. On this episode of On the Evidence, Lacoe discusses her school suspension research in Philadelphia and what it might mean for the future of school discipline. We also have a condensed Q&A version of the conversation available here: https://www.mathematica-mpr.com/commentary/do-suspensions-affect-student-outcomes
Tue, March 12, 2019
3 | A How-to Guide on Using Evidence in City Policymaking
A growing number of cities are interested in using data and research in decision making. Kat Klosek, director of applied research at the Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University, talks about a free step-by-step guide she wrote for policymakers who want to incorporate data and evidence in their work. We also have a condensed Q&A version of the conversation available here: https://www.mathematica-mpr.com/commentary/how-to-guide-on-using-evidence-in-city-policymaking jW4lpAx21boIXPWVghbh
Tue, February 26, 2019
2 | How a County Engaged More Clients in Employment Assistance
Across Colorado, county agencies struggle to get residents on public assistance to attend work orientation sessions that are required for receiving benefits. Adams County staff studied the problem, piloted a solution and assessed the results. Jon McCay, part of Mathematica’s evidence-based technical assistance team, explains the process Adams County staff used to improve client engagement. We also have a condensed Q&A version of the conversation available here: https://www.mathematica-mpr.com/commentary/how-a-county-agency-engaged-more-clients-in-its-employment-assistance-program
Mon, February 11, 2019
1 | What If More Local Governments Invested in Outcomes?
On this episode of On the Evidence, Andrew Kleine, the former budget director of Baltimore City, talks about his new book, “City on the Line,” his account of what happened when Baltimore adopted an evidence-based approach to its budget process. Mathematica’s J.B. Wogan and Matt Stagner interviewed Kleine for the episode. Topics discussed on the episode: Outcome Budgeting, Logic Model Budgeting, Pay-for-Success Financing, and Collective Impact. We also have a condensed Q&A version of the conversation available here: https://www.mathematica-mpr.com/commentary/what-if-more-local-governments-invested-in-outcomes
Wed, February 06, 2019
Mathematica Launches New Podcast: On the Evidence
The show will investigate and promote the use of data and evidence to address social challenges through conversations with pioneers in their fields. Find condensed Q&As based on each episode here: https://www.mathematica-mpr.com/on-the-evidence-podcast
Tue, August 28, 2018
White Paper Discussion of the Week
White Paper Discussion of the Week by MATHEMATICA
Mon, March 26, 2018
A Meta-Analysis of 15 Within-Study-Comparisons | JPAM Featured Article
Chaplin et al. (2017) tests the efficacy of regression discontinuity (RD) by comparing RD causal estimates at the treatment cutoff to those from Randomized Control Trials (RCTs) that are also estimated at this same cutoff. The study identifies 15 previously completed within-study-comparisons (WSCs) that explicitly examined this issue by assuming the RCT results are unbiased and then comparing them to RD results. The differences between these results can be thought of as estimates of bias due to use of the RD method. The authors address the internal validity of RD by using the average estimated bias across all 15 WSCs. The study also addresses concerns about external validity by using meta-analystic methods to examine variation in estimated bias across studies. Existing theory predicts no difference between RD and RCT estimates on average, but difficulties with the implementation and analysis of RD in particular can lead to the possibility of deviations from theoretical expectations.
Wed, March 07, 2018
Program Evaluation <3's Technology
Mark Lafferty and Dan Friend describe Mathematica's work evaluating social programs across the country, and discuss the tools we use to perform these high-quality evaluations at scale including Mathematica's RAPTER© system.
Tue, January 30, 2018
Mel Podcast
Mel Podcast by MATHEMATICA
Mon, December 04, 2017
Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning for International Development Programs
Experts from Mathematica, USAID, and the Rockefeller Foundation discuss how data and evidence can be used to drive decision making.
Thu, November 30, 2017
The Negative Income Tax Experiments
The Negative Income Tax Experiments Presented by Chuck Metcalf, Retired Mathematica President and Chief Executive Officer
Thu, May 25, 2017
Tools for Evidence Podcast Takes a Closer Look at RCT-YES and the RCE Coach
In the podcast, Associate Director Alex Resch and Senior Fellow Peter Schochet discuss and explain some key differences between RCT-YES and the RCE Coach . They discuss which tool is best matched to educators with varying levels of experience conducting evaluations, who might use these tools and how.
Tue, March 07, 2017
How Does the Doctor-Patient Relationship Affect Decision Making?
In a new article for the Journal of Comparative Effectiveness Research, experts from Mathematica Policy Research reveal why some patients might reject physician recommendations even if they are grounded in good evidence. Listen to Mathematica researchers Cara Stepanczuk and Nyna Williams discuss this issue in this episode of the “Policy in Perspective” podcast.
Wed, February 22, 2017
Innovations in care coordination and supports for people with disabilities
In this episode of Mathematica’s “Policy in Perspective” podcast, listen to Mathematica Senior Fellows, James Verdier and Carol Irvin, discuss policy challenges and innovations in providing coordinated care and community supports to people with disabilities and frail older adults. This work supports the contributions of Mathematica’s Center for Studying Disability Policy to the evidence on today’s most critical issues in disability policy.
Tue, November 29, 2016
How Behavioral Insights Can Help Policymakers Improve Programs
Mathematica researcher, Irma Perez-Johnson, shares her experience using behavioral insights to improve public programs.
Mon, November 14, 2016
Divorce and Women’s Retirement
Mathematica Senior Researcher Dana Rotz discusses a new study of how changes in marriage and divorce in the United States have affected employment and retirement for women.
Thu, November 03, 2016
Who Has More Effective Teachers?
Mathematica senior researchers Eric Isenberg and Jeffrey Max discuss their findings from a new study that addresses a key question in education policy: do low-income students have equal access to effective teachers?
Mon, September 26, 2016
America’s Investment in Health IT
In recognition of National Health IT Week, Mathematica Senior Fellow Emerita Marsha Gold and Senior Researcher Yael Harris explore the rollout and implementation of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, a major federal initiative to support the development and use of electronic health information technology to help reform care delivery and, ultimately, improve health outcomes.
Tue, April 12, 2016
Reporting on Pathways to Health Coverage
More Americans now have access to publicly subsidized health coverage through expansions in Medicaid, the federal insurance marketplace, and state health insurance exchanges. But how much do we know about who is enrolling, how they are enrolling, and when? This podcast describes California’s experience reporting on the ways in which people obtain health insurance, offering lessons for other states that are launching comparable reporting efforts.
Sun, March 27, 2016
The Changing Role of Public Health in a Post-ACA Era
In conjunction with National Public Health Week, Mathematica Senior Vice President and Director of Health Research Christopher Trenholm and Senior Fellow Judy Bigby discuss the changing role of public health programs in an era of health care reform.
Thu, March 10, 2016
Delivering Good Data in Developing Countries
Mathematica Senior Researcher Kristen Velyvis and Senior Fellow Sarah Hughes discuss the challenges of collecting high quality data from resource-poor environments. They describe specific examples of potential data collection barriers and suggest approaches that can help mitigate these challenges at each stage of the survey process.
Mon, February 22, 2016
Helping Accountable Care Organizations Learn from One Another
Researchers Sonya Streeter and Craig Schneider discuss Mathematica’s key role in a major effort in U.S. health care reform—the development of accountable care organizations, which are networks of providers designed to deliver more efficient, higher quality care for Medicare beneficiaries.
Thu, February 04, 2016
Improving Health Care for Children: Lessons from the States
Mathematica Senior Fellow Henry Ireys and senior researchers Grace Anglin and Joe Zickafoose describe the CHIPRA Quality Demonstration Grant Program—the largest federal effort in the past decade to improve health care for children—and the lessons it offers for states and others that have a stake in providing quality care for children.
Sun, October 04, 2015
Does the PARCC Test Succeed in Predicting College Outcomes?
A Mathematica report shows that students’ scores on the existing high school assessment in Massachusetts predict college performance as well as scores on a new test that was recently developed by a consortium of states to align with Common Core standards. Mathematic education policy experts Brian Gill and Ira Nichols-Barrer discuss the national implications of these findings.
Thu, September 24, 2015
The Future of Family Caregiving
Mathematica Senior Fellow Debra Lipson examines the political and economic forces that have shaped policymaking on family caregiving over the past two decades and identifies key areas for potential progress.

On the Evidence

136 | How a Fintech Company Helps Workers in Africa Access Credit and Savings with Smartphones

135 | It’s the Evidence, Stupid: GAO’s Report on Evidence-Based Policymaking and What Comes Next

134 | Modernizing State Public Health Data Policies and Practices

133 | Boosting the Use of Social Policy Research

132 | Embedding Data and Innovation Across California State Government

131 | How Expanded Tax Credits Benefited Family Well-Being

130 | The Evidence-Based Benefits of Employee Ownership

129 | How Evaluation Can Support Housing Justice and Community Change

128 | How Better Data Interoperability Can Improve Care Delivered To Patients

127 | Ensuring Evidence Use in Public Policy with Brookings Institution Pres. Cecilia Rouse

126 | How AmeriCorps Uses Data to Support Communities Through National Service and Volunteerism

125 | 20 Years of Evidence-Based Poverty Reduction from the Millennium Challenge Corporation

124 | AcademyHealth’s New CEO on AI, Climate Change, and Other Topics of Health Services Research

123 | Validating Natural Climate Solutions with Better Data

122 | Reflecting on Juneteenth and Our Collective Equity Journey

121 | NORC and Mathematica CEOs on the Future of Data and Evidence

120 | Improving Health through Responsible Use of AI

119 | Max Stier on Using Data to Improve the Federal Government

118 | Moving from Evidence Generation to Evidence Use in President Biden's 2025 Budget

117 | Moody’s Mark Zandi on Being a Voice for Data-Driven Decisions in Public Policy

116 | Applying AI to Improve Health Policy Research

115 | Improving the Impact of Social Programs Through Better Evaluation

114 | How Virtual and Group Tutoring Could Address Learning Loss

113 | An interview with U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Santos

112 | Lessons for States Interested in Hospital Global Budgeting

111 | Homeschooling, Inequities in Disability Policy, and Improving Child Health Through School

110 | Our Listeners on the Most Important Developments in Evidence and Well-Being in 2023

109, Part 2 | Improving Health Equity by Transforming Public Health Data Systems

109, Part 1 | Improving Health Equity by Transforming Public Health Data Systems

108 | How Artificial Intelligence Can Advance Health Equity

107 | Elizabeth Linos on Bolstering the Public Sector Workforce and Improving Government Services

106 | Jennifer Pahlka on Government in the Digital Age

105 | How Colorado Committed to Supporting Teacher Diversity and Why it Matters to Students

104 | Michael Mann on Taking Action to Address the Climate Crisis

103 | OMB Evidence Team on Evidence-Based Policymaking and Federal Evaluation

102 | Gayle Smith on the Federal Role in Global Response to Health and Climate Crises

101 | Using Data to Advance Equitable Outcomes from Pre-K through the Workforce

Bonus Content | J.B. Wogan Reflects on 100 Episodes

100 | Robert Shea on the Federal Government’s Progress in Using Evidence

99 | Understanding Why More Eligible Kids Got Free Meals During Pandemic Summers

98 | Developing Education Programs to Prevent Violence and Crime in Latin America and the Caribbean

97 | Building on the Evidence Act

96 | Addressing Fragmented Health Care

95 | The Role of Evidence in Solutions Journalism

94 | Christina Ciocca Eller on White House Year of Evidence for Action

93 | Inside Arizona’s Investment in Evidence-Based Foster Care Prevention

92 | Evidence-Based Policy in President Biden's 2024 Budget

91 | Solutions for Preventing Heart Attacks, Improving Patient Health, and Reducing Health Spending

90 | Supporting Families Through Equity-Infused Program Change

89 | Teacher Coaching: A Solution to Learning Loss and Teacher Burnout?

88 | Helping Job Seekers with Low Incomes During Recessions and Recoveries

87 | A Conversation with Mathematica’s 2022 Summer Fellows

86 | The Present & Future of Computational Social Science

85 | Human Services Agencies Pursue Environmental Justice

84 | Advancing Equity and Addressing the Climate Crisis in 2022, the Year of Evidence for Action

83, Pt. 2 | Abigail Aiken on Using Research to Inform Abortion, Reproductive Health Policy

83, Pt. 1 | Abigail Aiken on Using Research to Inform Abortion, Reproductive Health Policy

82 | Confronting the Climate Crisis with Data and Evidence

81 | Addressing the Health Risks Posed by Extreme Heat

80 | Lessons from Contact Tracing During the Pandemic

79 | Using Data Transparency to Control Hospital Costs

78 | Addressing the Cash Cliff in Safety Net Programs: Lessons from a National Demonstration

77 | Addressing a Primary Care Workforce Crisis

76 | The Costs of Untreated Maternal Mental Health Conditions

75 | Human Services Adapted During the Pandemic. What Will Stick?

74 | Globalizing Evidence-Based Solutions for an Interdependent World

73 | Ensuring Equity as Wastewater Testing for COVID-19 Matures in the United States

72 | Bayesian Methods Could Provide the Key to Answering Which Policies Work Best for Whom

71 | The Role of Evidence in Local Spending of Pandemic Fiscal Relief Funds

70 | Preventing Cardiovascular Disease and Promoting Equity in Higher Ed

69 | Understanding the Equity and Justice Dimensions of Energy Policy Decisions

68 | Reflecting on Evidence and Insights in 2021 and the Year Ahead

67 | Advancing Racial Equity in Fatherhood Programs

66 | Removing Barriers to Child Care for Parents in Education and Training Programs

65 | Learning from Foundations' Push to Advance Equity through Evidence

64 | Lessons from a National Health Initiative that Helps Address Social Needs

63 | Inside an Initiative to Diversify the Field of Computational Social Science

62 | Improving the College and Career Readiness of High School Students with Disabilities

61 | Anita Summers on a Pioneering Career in Economics and Public Policy Research