Evidence-Building	Plans	and	Activities:	

Evidence	Act	Title	I	

Diana	Epstein,	Evidence	Team	Lead	

OMB	Evidence	Team	

September	2020
Phased	Implementation	Approach

2

Learning Agendas, 

Personnel, & Planning

Open Data Access 

& Management 

Data Access 

for Statistical 

Purposes

Program 

Evaluation 

Ongoing 

Implementation 

& Reporting

Phase 1: 

Learning Agendas, 

Personnel, & Planning

o Learning Agendas 

o Chief Data Officers 

o Evaluation Officers 

o Statistical Officials 

o Agency Data Governance 

Boards 

o Chief Data Officer 

Council 

o Evaluation Officer 

Council 

o Interagency Council on 

Statistical Policy 

o Agency Evaluation Plans 

o Capacity Assessments 

o Open Data Plans 

o Make Data Open by 

Default 

o Comprehensive Data 

Inventory 

o Federal Data 

Catalogue 

o Repository of Tools 

and Best Practices 

Phase 2: 

Open Data Access 

& Management

o Make Agency Data 

Assets Available to 

Statistical Units 

o Expand Users’ Secure 

Access to Data Assets 

through Statistical Units 

o Allow Recognition of 

New Statistical Units 

o Standardize Application 

Process for Accessing 

Data Assets 

o Codify Statistical Unit 

Responsibilities

o Program Evaluation 

Standards and Best 

Practices 

o Program Evaluation 

Skills and 

Competencies (with 

OPM)

Phase 4: Program 

Evaluation

Phase 3: 

Data Access for 

Statistical Purposes

Ongoing 

Implementation & 

Reporting 

o Budget Cycles 

o Information Resource 

Management Plans 

o Performance Plans 

o Strategic Plans 

o Federal Data Strategy Annual 

Action Plans 

o Open Data Biennial Report 

o Statistical Programs Annual 

Report 

o Regulatory Planning 

o Information Collection Review 
Title	I:	Federal	Evidence-Building	Activities

• Evaluation	Officers,	Statistical	Officials,	and	Councils	

• Learning	Agenda	(Evidence-Building	Plan)	

• Annual	Evaluation	Plan	

• Capacity	Assessment		

• Program	Evaluation	Standards	and	Competencies	

• Advisory	Committee	on	Data	for	Evidence-Building

3
Laying	the	Foundation	for	Evidence-Building

• Evidence-based	policymaking	requires	systematic	planning	

• Start	by	identifying	priority	questions	to	address	

• Learning	Agenda	

• Strategize	approaches	to	obtaining	answers	

• Leadership	and	collaboration	of	senior	officials

• Data	governance

• Annual	Evaluation	Plan	

• Assess	capacity	and	needs	

• Capacity	Assessment

• Elevate	program	evaluation	to	build	evidence	

• Evaluation	standards,	competencies,	and	policies

4
Leadership	and	Collaboration

• Evidence	Act	establishes	three	new	senior-level	positions:	

• Evaluation	Officer	(EO)	with	authority	and	responsibility	for	leadership	

on	evaluation	and	learning	agenda	activities	(CFO	Act	agencies	only)

• Chief	Data	Officer	(CDO)	with	authority	and	responsibility	for	data	

governance	and	lifecycle	information	management

• Statistical	Official	(SO)	with	authority	and	responsibility	to	advise	on	

statistical	policy,	techniques,	and	procedures	(CFO	Act	agencies)

• Emphasis	on	collaboration	and	coordination	across	positions	

• Corresponding	Councils	for	each	group	of	officials

5
Learning	Agenda

• Systematic	plan	for	identifying	and	addressing	priority	questions	

relevant	to	the	programs,	policies,	and	regulations	of	the	agency	

• Should	be	iterative,	flexible,	transparent,	and	tailored	to	meet	the	

agency’s	needs	

• Promotes	deliberate	and	strategic	planning	of	evidence-building	

activities		

• Systematic	way	to	identify	the	data	agencies	intend	to	collect,	use,	or	

acquire

• Requires	agencies	to	engage	a	range	of	stakeholders

• Supports	greater	transparency	and	accountability	for	agencies’	

evidence-building	efforts	

6
Evidence	Planning	

• Annual	Evaluation	Plan	

• Includes	all	“significant”	evaluations	that	the	agency	intends	to	

undertake	in	a	given	fiscal	year	

• Consistent	with	the	Learning	Agenda

• Actionable	plan	that	must	be	updated	annually

• Capacity	Assessment	

• Assessment	of	the	statistics,	evaluation,	research	and	analysis	

capabilities	of	an	agency

• Opportunity	for	agencies	to	assess	the	extent	to	which	current	

capacity	meets	their	evidence	needs

• Mechanism	to	assess	evidence	capacity	across	Federal	Government

7
Program	Evaluation	Standards	and	Practices	

• Evidence	Act	established	statutory	system	for	evaluation,	

complementary	to	statistics	and	performance	

• OMB	M-20-12,	Phase	4	Implementation	of	the	Foundations	for

Evidence-Based	Policymaking	Act	of	2018:	Program	Evaluation	

Standards	and	Practices		

• Provides	a	common	set	of	standards	for	high-quality	evaluation	

across	government	

• Provides	a	framework	of	practices	for	agencies	to	build	and	

improve	evaluation	infrastructure

8
Program	Evaluation	Standards

• Relevance	and	Utility	 	

• Rigor	

• Independence	and	Objectivity	

• Transparency		

• Ethics

9
Program	Evaluation	Practices

1. Build	and	Maintain	Evaluation	Capacity	

2. Use	Expert	Consultation	Effectively	

3. Establish,	Implement,	and	Widely	Disseminate	an	Agency	Evaluation	Policy	

4. Pre-Specify	Evaluation	Design	and	Methods	

5. Engage	Key	Stakeholders	Meaningfully	

6. Plan	Dissemination	Strategically	

7. Take	Steps	to	Ensure	Ethical	Treatment	of	Participants	

8. Foster	and	Steward	Data	Management	for	Evaluation	

9. Make	Evaluation	Data	Available	for	Secondary	Use	

10. Establish	and	Uphold	Policies	and	Procedures	to	Protect	Independence	and	

Objectivity

10
Intended	Use	of	Standards	and	Practices	

• Strengthen	or	build	evaluation	capacity		

• Implement	Evidence	Act	requirements,	including	agency	

evaluation	policy	

• Carry	out	all	evaluation	functions	and	activities,	including	at	the	

enterprise	level	and	within	sub-agencies,	operational	divisions,	

and	bureaus	

• Hire	and	retain	qualified	evaluation	staff

11
Title	I	Implementation

• OMB	M-19-23	issued	in	July	2019	

• OMB	M-20-12	issued	in	March	2020	

• Designated	Officials	named	

• Councils	meet	regularly	

• Interim	Learning	Agendas,	first	annual	Evaluation	Plans,	and	Interim	

Capacity	Assessments	submitted	

• Development	of	full	Learning	Agendas	and	Capacity	Assessments	in	

progress	(part	of	next	Strategic	Plans)	

• Advisory	Committee	on	Data	for	Evidence-Building	formed	

• Program	Evaluation	Skills	and	Competencies	with	OPM	(in	progress)	

12
Contact	Information:	

depstein@omb.eop.gov

13