U.S. Department of the Treasury

Interim Evaluation Policy

Background. The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-435, “Evidence 

Act”) requires that agencies publish an evaluation policy. This policy will apply to all evaluation activities within

Treasury, including those led by bureaus and Departmental Offices. This document is Treasury’s Interim 

Evaluation Policy and includes the guiding principles and quality standards that should be followed when 

conducting evaluation activities within the Department. 

Guiding Principles.

• Rigor: Evaluations conducted by Treasury will be based on verifiable data and information that meets

rigorous standards, such as those used by professional evaluation organizations. This standard extends to the 

effective management of qualitative and quantitative data, and significant evaluations should include 

consultation with the Evaluation Officer, the Statistical Official, the Chief Data Officer, and other relevant 

officials. 

• Relevance and Utility: The Evaluation Officer and those conducting or leading program evaluations should

select evaluation activities that align with program priorities and maximize influence on priority outcomes. 

Evaluations should inform program or strategic decisions by providing evidence that will help the agency

better achieve strategic objectives, core mission, and/or operational excellence. Further, the relevance and 

utility of completed evaluations should be assessed when practicable to inform future decision-making. 

• Transparency: Evaluations should appropriately engage policymakers, program managers, and the public. The 

objectives, definitions of success, evaluation findings, and evaluation methods should be communicated to 

key stakeholders in contextually appropriate ways throughout the evaluation lifecycle (from selection to 

design to findings). 

• Independence: Evaluations will be overseen by staff or leadership with appropriate evaluation training and 

expertise to make decisions about and approve evaluation design and methods. The Evaluation Officer will 

be empowered to protect the independence and objectivity of all evaluation activity. Evaluations will be 

conducted in a manner that engages stakeholders while preserving the real and perceived independence of the 

Evaluation Officer and those conducting the evaluations. 

• Ethics: Evaluations will safeguard the dignity, rights, safety, and privacy of the participants and other 

stakeholders and affected entities, and adhere to Federal Data Strategy Data Ethics Guidelines and other 

relevant requirements and professional standards.

Quality Standards.

• Evaluation teams have appropriate methodological and subject matter expertise

• A written evaluation design is completed that:

o Clearly defines objectives and aligns objectives to program, office, bureau, or Treasury priorities

o Outlines key questions, methods, and data collection and analysis plans

o Identifies and assesses roles of key stakeholders, partners, and target audiences

• Prior to beginning an evaluation, evaluators conduct a preliminary assessment of data availability and quality, 

methodological deficits, and expected results

• Evaluation findings are presented in the following manner:

o Findings are concise, written in plain language, and supported by quantitative data 

o Findings are presented alongside the initial written design 

o Evaluators address replicability of data collection and analysis methods to the maximum extent 

possible

o Findings are disseminated in contextually appropriate ways to policymakers, regulators, and the 

public 

• Post-evaluation action plans include an assessment of the evaluation process, findings, lessons learned, a set 

of possible explanations for counterintuitive findings, and a list of actionable items to inform management 

decisions