Virtual

Friday, January 31, 2020 2:00 PM ~ 3:00 PM ET

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently invited states to join consortia to evaluate Reemployment Eligibility Services and Assessment (RESEA) interventions.  In this session, presenters will answer questions about how states may form evaluation consortia and pool their samples to evaluate the same intervention.

 

Description

Evaluation consortia offer states an option for addressing challenges related to both evaluation budget and sample size needs.  Conducting high quality impact evaluations will likely require specialized expertise from independent evaluators.  The consortia allow for economies of scale that help states’ 10 percent evaluation allocations have a further reach.

In addition, the sample sizes required for high quality impact evaluations of many interventions of interest are large.  By forming consortia among states, it may be possible to address research questions that are not possible given the relative sizes of their individual state caseloads.  Consortia may also have access to more intensive evaluation technical assistance to support their evaluations.  In the first part of the session, representatives from DOL will discuss the opportunity to receive customized technical assistance for forming consortia.  Following this discussion, DOL and Abt Associates representatives will answer questions previously submitted by state Unemployment Insurance agency staff, and states in attendance will be able to ask further questions and obtain responses from the Moderators and Presenters.

Moderator(s)

Megan Lizik, Senior Evaluation Specialist and Project Officer for RESEA Evaluation, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Chief Evaluation Office

 

Presenter(s)

Lawrence Burns, Reemployment Coordinator, Office of Unemployment Insurance, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration

Andrew Clarkwest, Ph.D, Senior Associate, Abt Associates, Inc.

Zachary Epstein, Associates, Abt Associates, Inc.

Siobhan Mills De la Rosa,  Associate/Scientist, Abt Associates, Inc.