Work

Since 2015, the Office of Evaluation Sciences has completed more than 50 projects with more than a dozen agencies.

These projects reflect the work of the OES team and dedicated civil servants across the federal government.

Year Completed
- All
- 2015
- 2016
- 2017
- 2018
Domain
- All
- Communications
- Economic Opportunity
- Education
- Government Efficiency
- Government Operations
- Health
- Justice
- Retirement Security
Agency Collaborator
- All
- Agriculture
- Census
- Defense
- Education
- General Services Administration
- Health and Human Services
- Housing and Urban Development
- Justice
- Office of Personnel Management
- Small Business Administration
- Social Security Administration
- Treasury
- US Global Change Research Program
- United States Agency for International Development
- Veterans Affairs

Decreasing Energy Costs in Federally Assisted Housing

Analysis Plan Registration

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Matching Government Surplus Property with Interested Buyers

Customized emails reduced no-bids and increased overall revenue on gsaauctions.gov.

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Encouraging Uptake of the Recommended Vaccine Sequence for Seniors in Louisiana

Analysis Plan Registration

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Increasing Veteran Health Care Benefits Enrollment

Emails to transitioning servicemembers about VA health care benefits did not affect enrollment.

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Increasing AHS Response Rates

A second advance letter does not significantly improve outcomes.

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Increasing SSI Uptake Among Newly-Eligible Population

Analysis Plan Registration

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Increasing ART Adherence and Retention in Care for HIV Positive Women in Ethiopia

Analysis Plan Registration

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Increasing FAFSA Renewal Rates

Reminder emails sent to current students led to an increase of approximately 250,000 FAFSA submissions.

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Increasing IPTp Uptake in Nigeria

Analysis Plan Registration

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Increasing Pre- and Post-Natal Care Uptake Among Medicaid-Eligible Mothers

Analysis Plan Registration

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Encouraging Action Among Students At Risk to Withdraw

Reminding students to reapply for financial aid or begin loan repayment decreased postsecondary enrollment by one percentage point.

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Increasing Voluntary Submission of Demographics Information with USAJOBS Applications

The combination of default settings and simplified language increases voluntary submission of demographics information by 19%.

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Prompting Decisions on Retirement Saving

Encouraging higher TSP contribution rates during new employee orientation showed no detectable effect on the likelihood of contributing 5% or more.

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Improving Capacity of Federal Managers through Project Management

A 16-week training course for Federal Supervisors shows potential to improve organizational culture and performance.

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Encouraging Microloan Applications from Women-Owned Farms

A single direct mailer had no statistically reliable effect on the likelihood that female farmers who received it would apply for microloans.

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Increasing Military Patient Use of Secure Messaging through Email Reminders

Emails sent after an appointment-based intervention had no statistically reliable impact on patient registration for secure messaging.

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Increasing Military Patient Use of Secure Messaging through Personal Appeal and Assistance

Provider encouragement and on-the-spot assistance increased patient registrations for secure messaging.

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Improving Re-entry to Reduce Recidivism

Empowering the re-entry population to thrive in their communities by developing a handbook that articulates concrete steps.

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Increasing TSP Enrollment Rates through Active Choice

Presenting TSP enrollment as an active choice during in-processing increased enrollment by 6-7%.

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Increasing Newsletter Subscription Rates of Active Duty Servicemembers

Clear communications emphasizing active choice increase subscription rates.

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Encouraging Engagement of Military Caregivers

Emails to caregivers of ill or wounded servicemembers increased awareness of available benefits.

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Increasing FAFSA Completion by HUD-Assisted Youth

Sending letters to HUD-assisted youth had no significant effect on FAFSA completion rates.

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Increasing Enrollment in the Small Business Administration's Learning Center

Simplifying a registrationform increased learning course completion and data collection.

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Improving Voter Participation in Local USDA Elections

Sending redesigned ballot materials to eligible farmers increased voter participation by 2.9%.

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Decreasing Non-responses to NSLP Income Verification Requests

Simplifying the income verification letter for National School Lunch Program recipients increased response rate by 2.1%.

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National School Lunch Program Eligibility Verification

Timely communication with beneficiaries has mixed effects on response rates.

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Increasing Public Understanding of Climate Change Indicators

Simplifying visual graphics increases comprehension of climate change indicators.

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Increasing Tax Filing Among Lower-Income Individuals

Sending postcards effectively increased uptake of Earned Income Tax Credit among eligible population.

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Increasing Health Insurance Enrollment Among Uninsured Americans

Modified emails encourage open rates about health insurance enrollment.

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Encouraging Medicare Beneficiaries to Self-Identify as ACO Patients

Sending a letter to Medicare beneficiaries increased voluntary alignment to Accountable Care Organizations.

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Increasing Patient Use of Health IT

Revising patient instructions following appointments led to 9.98% increase in online health portal activation.

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Facilitating Individual Action to Build Stronger Community-Police Relationships

Materials enable citizens to facilitate conversations and action planning around better community policing.

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Increasing Student Loan Rehabilitation Rates for Defaulted Borrowers

Emphasizing the negative consequences of loan default increases entry into loan rehabilitation programs.

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Increasing IDR Re-certification Among Student Borrowers

Including required payment amount increased IDR recertification by 33.9%.

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Increasing IDR Applications Among Eligible Student Loan Borrowers - Scale Up

Email scale-up resulted in more than 6,000 borrowers signing up for income driven repayment plans.

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Increasing IDR Applications Among Eligible Student Loan Borrowers through Targeted Messages

Emails increase application submissions for income driven repayment plans.

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Increasing Access to PSLF Benefits Among Eligible Population

Emails increased Public Service Loan Forgiveness form submissions three-fold without increasing the error rate.

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Increasing Military Retiree Reactivation of Online MyPay Accounts

Emails increased myPay account reactivation by military retirees.

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Reducing Summer Melt

Eight personalized text messages to low-income students resulted in a nearly 9% increase in college enrollment.

Reducing Self-reporting Errors by IFF Form Users

Moving the signature box resulted in an extra $1.59 million paid to government by vendors.

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Industrial Funding Fee Reports Update

A confirmation prompt reduced financial self-reporting errors initially, but the effect did not persist in subsequent periods.

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Increasing Post-Grace Period Loan Payments by Student Borrowers

Emails sent to student loan borrowers at risk of default increased payments.

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Increasing Satisfaction Survey Response Rate from Federal Tenants - Time of Day

Emails sent at lunchtime saw 1.5% more Federal employees click through to a workplace survey.

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Increasing Satisfaction Survey Response Rate from Federal Tenants - Subject Lines and Day of Week

Emails with subject lines that included the word "please" increased Federal employees responses to a workplace survey.

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Increasing Satisfaction Survey Response Rate from Federal Tenants - Calendar Invite

Emails including a calendar invite reminder led to increased survey responses from Federal employees.

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Increasing Chapter 36 Benefits Uptake by Veterans

Emails informing veterans about education and career benefits increased applications.

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Reducing Inappropriate Prescribing of Schedule II Substances in Medicare Part D

Sending letters of potential overprescribers did not influence Schedule II prescribing activities.

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Encouraging Account Transfers by Securities Holders

Scheduling appointments to transfer securities increased call-in rates by 2.37%.

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Increasing Farmer Microloan Applications

A new letter increases farmers' access to credit by 22%.

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Increasing Online TSP Enrollment by Servicemembers

A single email to military Servicemembers nearly doubled the rate of savings plan enrollment.

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Increasing Servicemember On-Base TSP Enrollment

Explaining benefits of TSP during in-processing doubled the number of Servicemembers enrolling.

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Increasing Duplex Printing Among Federal Workforce

A digital pop up significantly lowers office-wide printing costs.

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Increasing Health Insurance Enrollment Among Uninsured Americans

A letter increased health insurance enrollment by 7.15%.

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Increasing IDR Applications Among Delinquent Student Borrowers

Sending emails to delinquent borrowers positively impacted IDR application completion.

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Increasing Servicemember Roth TSP Re-Enrollment

One email enables 22% more Servicemembers to re-enroll in their Thrift Savings Plans.

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Increasing Debt Repayment by Delinquent Lenders

A modified letter sent to delinquent borrowers increased utilization of online payments.

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