The Policy Lab

FOR STAFF LEARNING PURPOSES ONLY!

Let’s learn together.

Why We’re Here

The Policy Lab brings together experts from government, universities, and community organizations to collaborate on research tailored to inform decisions about how to improve policies and programs across the state.

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Events

In response to the coronavirus, we have suspended our in-person events

To learn more about the response to Covid-19, check out our episode of 30,000 Leagues featuring Dr. Philip Chan, an infectious disease expert who's part of the coronavirus response team in Rhode Island, and our latest episode with Dr. James McDonald about Rhode Island's framework for re-opening the state.

Applied research can be remarkably difficult, as theories often fail to work in practice. We need scientists shoulder-to-shoulder with practitioners in those moments, co-designing fresh ideas and iteratively experimenting to optimize solutions. The Policy Lab is a place and group of people dedicated to this work. Think NASA or Bell Labs, but for public policy.

David Yokum, Director

Theory of Change

It is common nowadays to agree that policy should be evidence-based. But how to deliver on that rhetoric in practice is harder. We need not only the highest quality scientific methods, but also a pragmatic mindset geared toward designing learning agendas that can concretely inform decision-making within the bureaucratic and political trenches.

We look to improve policy outcomes through three interconnected areas:

Generating evidence to fill knowledge gaps

Integrating that evidence into planning, budget, procurement, and performance management processes

Building coalitions across government, universities, and community organizations to support evidence-based policy

While many approaches to this work focus on one or two areas at a time, building a culture of evidence-based policymaking requires us to pursue all three simultaneously. We need a substantial amount of stakeholder engagement throughout the entire research process — from carefully listening to and observing what questions most need answering, to helping partners troubleshoot any unanticipated implementation issues based on the generated answers.

The partnership is also a vehicle for increasing staff training and capacity by way of onsite trainings and courses, fellowships, speaker and event series, curating a statewide integrated data system, and other activities to foster a community of practice around the work.