Resources

The 2018 Invest in What Works State Standard of Excellence sets a national standard—a “north
star”—for how state governments can consistently and effectively use data and evidence in budget,
policy, and management decisions to achieve better outcomes for their residents.

• Results for America identified 88 leading and promising data-driven and evidence-based practices, policies, programs, and systems in effect in April 2018 in 30 states across the country.
• Five states are recognized as leading the way with their data-driven and evidence-based examples: Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon, Tennessee, and Washington.
• The State Standard of Excellence consists of 15 criteria: Strategic Goals, Performance Management / Continuous Improvement, Data Leadership, Data Policies / Agreements, Data Use, Evaluation Leadership, Evaluation Policies, Evaluation Resources, Outcome Data, Evidence Definition and Program Inventory, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Use of Evidence in Grant Programs, Innovation, Contracting for Outcomes, and Repurpose for Results.