Statement from AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine on the Final Report of the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking

November 14, 2017

The American Educational Research Association (AERA) praises the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking and its final report, The Promise of Evidence-Based Policymaking, detailing legislative priorities and regulatory recommendations for evidence building and data management in the federal government. We support the continued bipartisan effort to move legislation forward in taking up the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act in this session of Congress.

The Commission’s report and initial legislative actions to implement the recommendations are a big step forward for advancing evidence-based policymaking while continuing to enhance privacy protections, data access and use, and transparency for the public. The strategies described in this report offer a bipartisan approach to improving how government staff, the external research community, foundations, nonprofits, the private sector, and the public interact to ensure that government delivers on its promises.

We thank the commissioners and their staff for developing the report after more than a year of receiving public input from stakeholders and studying best practices. In addition, thank you, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), for coming together to spearhead this bipartisan effort. Congress should embrace this report for making clear the importance and feasibility of building programs and implementing policies based on sound and responsible science.

AERA looks forward to working with legislators and stakeholders as legislation is crafted to enhance the use of data and evidence in serving the public good.