April, 2016

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City of Humboldt Open House Brings Priority Based Budget to Public

PBB Center for Priority Based Budgeting

"Priority based budgeting will better allow the city to support its long-term strategic goals based on community values." This article originally written by Becky Zimmer from the Humboldt Journal. The public had their chance to ask questions on April 5th at the public budget meeting at the Uniplex. City Manager, Roy Hardy, made the presentation to a small crowd on what the 2016 budget is going to look like in terms of tax increases and social programs.

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Using intensive, individualized math tutoring to boost academic outcomes of disadvantaged youth: An interview with Jonathan Guryan, Professor, Northwestern University – Episode #121

Andy Feldman's Gov Innovator podcast

Improving schooling outcomes of disadvantaged youth is a top policy priority in the United States, but few interventions have produced convincing evidence that they can improve those outcomes, especially for adolescent youth — the age at which socially costly outcomes occur, such as high school dropout. As a result, it may be conventional wisdom that, by adolescence, it is too late and too costly to improve academic outcomes of children in poverty.

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Liberating data for public value: The case of Data.gov

Data.gov

Dear Open Data Enthusiasts, Below is an abstract of “Liberating data for public value: The case of Data.gov,” International Journal of Information Management (2016). Abstract Public agencies around the globe are liberating their data. Drawing on a case of Data.gov, … Continued. The post Liberating data for public value: The case of Data.gov appeared first on Data.gov.

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Lessons from the nation’s first Social Impact Bond, aimed at reducing recidivism among adolescent offenders at Rikers Island: An interview with Gordon Berlin, President, MDRC – Episode #120

Andy Feldman's Gov Innovator podcast

A Social Impact Bond (SIB) uses private funds – from philanthropy or other investors — to pay for a social, educational, or health programs. Importantly, the government only repays investors, plus a return, if pre-specified results are achieved. A new report by Gordon Berlin , the president of the nonprofit social policy research firm MDRC ( @MDRC_News ), reflects on the experience of SIB (also called pay for success) projects to date, including the nation’s first SIB at Rikers Island jail

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Holiday Safety Tips for Municipal Operations

The holiday season brings joy and celebration, but it also introduces unique challenges for municipal operations. From ensuring safe snow removal and managing icy sidewalks to organizing festive events and addressing increased community needs, municipalities play a critical role in keeping residents safe and operations running smoothly. This eBook provides actionable safety tips to help your team navigate the holiday season effectively, protect staff and citizens, and ensure compliance with safe

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How the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Dept. of Education is helping the education field to learn and do what works: An interview with Russ Whitehurst, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution – Episode #119

Andy Feldman's Gov Innovator podcast

Over the last 15 years, the field of education has become considerably more evidence focused, including a growing number of high-quality studies about how to help students succeed in school. An important catalyst has been the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). It is the independent, non-partisan statistics, research, and evaluation arm of the U.S.

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Three strategies to promote relevance in program evaluations so that findings are useful to policymakers and practitioners: An interview with Evan Weissman, Senior Associate, MDRC – Episode #117

Andy Feldman's Gov Innovator podcast

In program evaluation, using the most rigorous methods possible is essential for producing credible research findings. But beyond the goal of rigor, relevance is important too. In particular, the more that evaluations are able to address specific research or implementation questions that are of interest to practitioners and policymakers, the more likely that the findings will actually get used.