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ECONOMIC REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

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Box 5-4: Improving Information to Drive Evidence-Based Policies<br />

Building an evidence base to determine what works and what<br />

does not work has been a cornerstone of this Administration’s education<br />

policy. Educational leaders, Federal and State policymakers, and<br />

researchers are increasingly interested in questions of institutional<br />

outcomes to better share and adopt best practices, steward taxpayer<br />

dollars, and determine how resources can be more efficiently allocated<br />

to benefit students. Efforts to improve data quality and facilitate research<br />

and innovation have also helped educators to learn both from their own<br />

experiences and from others and to ensure that resources are spent on<br />

the most effective practices.<br />

In higher education, the Administration has encouraged greater<br />

innovation and a stronger evidence base around effective strategies<br />

to promote college access and success through 42 First in the World<br />

(FITW) grants. These grants support the development, replication,<br />

and dissemination of innovative and evidence-based interventions at<br />

institutions of higher learning across the Nation. Although the program<br />

has since been de-funded by Congress, the grants already made to<br />

institutions target adult learners, working students, part-time students,<br />

students from low-income backgrounds, students of color, students<br />

with disabilities, first-generation students, and other students at risk<br />

of not persisting in or completing college. In addition, through the<br />

Experimental Sites Initiative, the Administration has tested innovative<br />

practices in the delivery of Federal student aid dollars and has used the<br />

resulting evidence to inform higher education policies. Some of these<br />

experiments include, on a limited basis, making Pell Grants available to<br />

low-income high school students that dually enroll in college programs<br />

and to eligible incarcerated individuals.<br />

Through investments in the Recovery Act, the Administration was<br />

also able to advance the use of data through three critical investments:<br />

Investing in Innovation Fund (i3); Race to the Top; and the Statewide<br />

Longitudinal Data Systems grant program. With similar goals as FITW<br />

but targeted at the K-12 level, the i3 program was designed to fund school<br />

districts and nonprofits developing and scaling innovative and evidencebased<br />

strategies that address challenges in K-12 classrooms, particularly<br />

those serving disadvantaged students. Since its establishment in 2009,<br />

more than $1.3 billion of grant money has been invested in 157 projects.<br />

Additionally, the Administration’s Race to the Top program provided<br />

support to states implementing data system improvements in four<br />

areas, including the use of data systems and technology to inform and<br />

enhance instruction. Recent research has shown that better integration<br />

of data in the classroom can help teachers tailor instruction according<br />

336 | Chapter 5

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