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May 18, 2026New Directions for Evaluation0 citations

Evaluating 50 Years of U.S. Evaluation Policy: A New Framework

A Critical Perspective on 50 Years of Evaluation Policy: Imagining a Framework for Better, Cheaper, Faster, Usable Evaluation

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Authors

NHNicholas R. Hart

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Overview

Critical evaluation policy analysis identifies failures and proposes a strategic framework for improvement.

Key Points

  • This article critiques national evaluation policy in the U.S. over the past fifty years, identifying key failures and suggesting improvements.
  • Analyzed six structural failures in evaluation policy design using Lee Cronbach's 95 theses as a framework.
  • Leveraged author experience from leading the U.S. Commission on Evidence‐Based Policymaking and negotiating the Evidence Act.
  • Proposed five adjustments for a future-oriented evaluation policy framework.
  • Identified main evaluation policy failures: political underestimation, lack of strategic prioritization, and poor infrastructure for knowledge translation.
  • Argued that evaluation policy focuses more on researchers' preferences than on decision-makers' needs.
  • Proposed five key adjustments for a better evaluation framework: acknowledgment of politics, strategic prioritization, internal capacity building, and alignment of cost, timeline, and quality.
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Cite This Study

Nicholas R. Hart (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a0aaccf5ba8ef6d83b7023ehttps://doi.org/10.1002/ev.70026
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