As we approach the end of a tumultuous year and look toward a new year and a new administration, we believe a next generation of evidence – a data and evidence ecosystem that is more equitable and actionable – will allow us to build back stronger. Despite progress made under both the Bush and Obama administrations to promote the use of evidence, practitioners, communities, funders, and policymakers are not systematically generating and using the evidence necessary to better serve disadvantaged communities.

To advance to this new generation of evidence, we see several opportunities for the Biden administration, along with practitioners, funders, and researchers, to improve our collective approach: we must place practitioners at the center of evidence building, embrace an R&D approach, strengthen the evidence-building infrastructure, adopt broader definitions of evidence, increase funding for critical evidence capacity, and address equity with evidence.

1. Put Practitioners at the Center of Evidence Building 
To achieve better, faster, and more equitable outcomes for communities, we must put the problems and realities of practitioners – those providing and producing evidence on programs and services – at the center of research.

2. Embrace an R&D Approach 
In order to spur innovation and continuous improvement in the social and education sectors, a disciplined process for learning, testing, and improving – an ‘R&D approach’ – must become standard and supported practice. The data and evidence capacity of the social and education sectors is woefully underdeveloped when compared to its academic, research, or for-profit counterparts.

3. Adopt Broader Definitions of Evidence 
We have relied too heavily on frameworks and definitions that are overly narrow and don’t promote continuous evidence building, but rather contribute to a “thumbs up or thumbs down” or “one and done” mentality. We have falsely equated rigor with RCTs alone, and paid too little attention to the equally important evidence building at the earlier stages. And we generate evidence that is not always relevant, timely, or financially viable.

4. Increase Funding for Critical Evidence Capacity
The next generation of public and private funding will be critical to improve evidence building and use. Funders often ask for evidence of outcomes but often do not understand – or pay for – the capacity necessary for that work.

5. Address Equity with Evidence
Data and evidence are powerful tools for advancing equitable outcomes. Data can shine a light on communities that are often overlooked or neglected. However, like most systems in our country, the current evidence ecosystem is not equitable. Organizations and practitioners that serve marginalized communities are not empowered or equipped to build and drive their evidence agenda, deciding what type of learning questions to pursue and when.

Read the full article about the next generation of evidence by Tamar Bauer and Kelly Fitzsimmons at Project Evident.