Category Archives: Government programs

Update on ‘alpine whaling’ – scientific grazing

Posted on March 19, 2011 by Patricia Rogers

We recently reported on some curious developments in evidence-based policy in the state of Victoria in Australia, where the newly-elected State Government had overturned previous policy to keep cattle out of alpine national parks, arguing there was insufficient evidence to … Continue reading →

Posted in Adequate scope, Appropriate reporting, Government programs | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Whatever happened to evidence-based policy? Episode 1

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Patricia Rogers

I had thought most governments were now largely avowed supporters of evidence-based policy. Some recent examples from Australia have made me wonder what’s going on. Here’s the first of a worrying series. 1. Target 155 This program aimed to get … Continue reading →

Posted in Government programs, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Friday Funny – community engagement and evidence-based policy

Posted on December 3, 2010 by Patricia Rogers & Jane Davidson

Policy that is developed in response to clearly identified needs and through careful processes of community engagement – while being feasible in an adversarial political system and short timeframes?  Time for the Hollowmen to show us how it can be … Continue reading →

Posted in Adequate scope, Appropriate criteria and standards, Appropriate reporting, Civil society engagement, Community programs, Friday Funnies, Government programs, Professional development, Synthesis of findings, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Sincerity in evaluation – highlights and lowlights

Posted on December 3, 2010 by Patricia Rogers

Principles of Genuine Evaluation When we set out to explore the notion of ‘Genuine Evaluation’, we identified 5 important aspects of it: VALUE-BASED -transparent and defensible values (criteria of merit and worth and standards of performance) EMPIRICAL – credible evidence … Continue reading →

Posted in Government programs, Learning from failure | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Punished for productivity – poor use of an average in performance evaluation

Posted on October 28, 2010 by Patricia Rogers

Developing good performance indicators is not easy.  The history of their use is littered with examples of how they can produce a distorted picture of performance and provide dysfunctional incentives.  Burt Perrin’s report to the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation … Continue reading →

Posted in Appropriate inference, Appropriate measurement, Appropriate reporting, Education, Evaluative rubrics, Government programs, Synthesis of findings | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment