About the Study
In 2023, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) funded contractor American Institutes for Research (AIR), and their partners Abt Associates and Social Policy Research Associates, to conduct the Evidence to Action (E2A) at DOL: Portfolio Project & Process Study. This portfolio project builds on existing studies, evaluation technical assistance, communications, capacity building, and related efforts to grow the culture of evidence at DOL. It will help ensure DOL agencies and their partners have better access to and can more readily use reliable research and evaluation evidence to inform their policymaking, program development, and other evidence-based continuous improvement efforts. The project will do this by implementing new E2A approaches and projects that meet short-, medium-, and longer-term goals; conducting related journey mapping and other knowledge development activities; coordinating with related ongoing projects across CEO, particularly in the employment and training portfolio; and conducting other evidence translation, syntheses, and related dissemination. Implementation activities under the E2A Portfolio Project will be captured in a process and customer experience study to bring transparency to and facilitate learning about the range of evaluation technical assistance provided under the project.
- Evidence-Informed Strategies to Improve Recruitment and Retention of Apprenticeship One Pager (One Pager, November 2023)
- Evidence-Informed Strategies to Improve Recruitment and Retention of Apprenticeship Snapshot (Evidence Snapshot, November 2023)
- E2A Tool Kit: Tips for Developing Great Evidence to Action (E2A) Products (Toolkit, October 2023)
Research questions across the portfolio project will include, but are not limited to, the questions below:
- What does the literature say about when, how, and in what formats research and evaluation literature and data analyses are most likely to be used in decision-making? What are potentially promising accessible approaches for using such evidence?
- How and under what conditions are research and evaluation reports and other data analyses and evidence more likely to be used in DOL policy and program decision-making?
- What evidence are DOL agencies currently using to meet their needs? What formats are preferred?
- When, where, how, and under what conditions are research and evaluation reports and other data analyses and evidence more likely to be used in DOL policy and program decision-making?
- How might CEO support or improve the uptake of evidence use in decision-making at DOL? Or among other partners and audiences beyond DOL, such as the workforce system and its customers?
- How might we better understand and measure the customer experience around the use of rigorous research and evaluation evidence for decision-making?
Project Duration: 60 Months
Contract End Date: April 2028
Contractor: American Institutes for Research, Abt Associates and Social Policy Research Associates
For More Information: ChiefEvaluationOffice@dol.gov
The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy. CEO’s research development process includes extensive technical review at the design, data collection and analysis stage, including: external contractor review and OMB review and approval of data collection methods and instruments per the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), Institutional Review Board (IRB) review to ensure studies adhere to the highest ethical standards, review by academic peers (e.g., Technical Working Groups), and inputs from relevant DOL agency and program officials and CEO technical staff. Final reports undergo an additional independent expert technical review and a review for Section 508 compliance prior to publication. The resulting reports represent findings from this independent research and do not represent DOL positions or policies.