Announcing Evidence to Practice at MDRC
Working Together for More Effective Programs and Better Outcomes
Evidence to Practice brings together 50 years of evidence building and data-driven technical assistance (TA) at MDRC. We have always partnered with organizations and agencies to advance their goals, drawing on rigorous evidence, deep experience in the field, and creative collaboration. Now we are launching a newly comprehensive and innovative approach to TA, so that effective service strategies reach more people and improve lives.
The Evidence to Practice Way
MDRC’s TA approach responds to the needs of organizations and builds their ability to use data effectively and offer services guided by evidence. Drawing on 50 years of on-the-ground experience and a deep understanding of what works, we help organizations build new evidence, use existing evidence, and harness data to advance their goals.
Our Approach to Technical Assistance
| We partner with organizations to provide evidence-driven, tailored, and collaborative technical assistance. | |
|---|---|
| Informed by Data and Evidence | Approaches informed by data and evidence are at the core of our work. The technical assistance we offer promises not just to support more effective programs but to build approaches that can be sustained and brought to a large and broad scale. |
| Grounded in Empathy and Humility | We come to our work with a core set of values that are grounded in empathy, curiosity, and humility, beginning all engagements ready to listen and learn first. |
| Flexible and Goal-Oriented | We respond with a tailored approach that meets our partners where they are and addresses the goals and priorities that matter most for the moment. |
| Centering Participant Needs | We recognize that participants’ needs and priorities come first and that they are experts in their own lives. |
| Elevating Staff Experiences | We acknowledge that the programs we partner with know their work and communities best, and we value their expertise. |
The Four Facets of Technical Assistance We Offer:
Using data
We help partners to understand and use their own data to support their clients best.
For example, we:
- Help programs develop online systems to track data on services, participant outcomes, or both, so they can identify opportunities and determine whether more intensive services are warranted.
- Help programs identify questions related to their most pressing needs and analyze the data they collect on their services and clients’ outcomes to answer those questions.
Innovating and expanding services
We help partners to adapt existing—or create and launch new—evidence-backed programs and services.
For example, we:
- Help organizations develop plans for implementing evidence-based approaches and then expanding them to other localities.
- Help organizations to identify or adapt a new program model, set goals for implementing the model, train staff members to implement the model, and then track how well the model was implemented.
Assessing impact
We help partners to prepare for an evaluation where they can learn how their programs and services make a difference.
For example, we:
- Work with programs to refine their logic models, identifying with them the central features of their programs, their desired client outcomes, and the appropriate metrics and data sources to measure those outcomes, so they are ready to engage in rigorous research.
- Work with programs during impact studies to help them learn to use data to track their recruitment efforts and level of client enrollment.
Diagnosing and addressing challenges
We help partners to identify and solve challenges that get in the way of strong services.
For example, we:
- Work with organizations in iterative learning cycles, in which they train staff members in some program improvement, collect data on the implementation of the approach, and then reflect on the data collected to determine the next steps.
- Work with organizations to identify specific issues related to program completion, using program data, customer journey mapping, and interviews, and then codesigning and testing solutions to address the issue.
We are proud that MDRC’s approach, always grounded in data and evidence, is not “one size fits all.” We work with organizations hand in hand, showing up with passion and commitment. Together with our partners, we capitalize on the breadth and depth of our experiences while drawing on MDRC’s track record of rigorous evidence and deep programmatic expertise, innovating to build relevant solutions.
Spotlight examples of these four types of technical assistance are forthcoming.
Interested in partnering with MDRC to assess, expand, and improve your organization’s work? Email E2P@mdrc.org.