State Announces Creation of Tennessee Learning Agenda - New Strategic Planning Tool Managed by Office of Evidence and Impact

NASHVILLE – The Office of Evidence and Impact (OEI) within the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration has released the first State of Tennessee Learning Agenda - a strategic roadmap describing the specific areas where the state seeks to generate credible information in response to important short- and long-term strategic questions.

“Tennessee continues to lead the nation as the first state to produce a statewide learning agenda using data and evidence. The Tennessee Learning Agenda will drive research and analytic projects in a way that ensures we are putting resources in the right places,” said Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration Commissioner Jim Bryson. “Ensuring state policies and programs are efficient and effective is one of the most important things we do, and this new resource will help guide and improve those efforts.”

The Tennessee Learning Agenda is the cumulative product of a prioritization process to identify information needed to achieve the state's strategic operating priorities. Over the next five years, it will stimulate various evaluation and research activities and identify which policy approaches work, why, and for whom so the state can apply those lessons across contexts to improve outcomes.

Many of the most pressing issues the state faces do not fit neatly within the boundaries of a single government agency. The Tennessee Learning Agenda provides an opportunity to coordinate learning and evidence-building across agencies.

It also catalyzes innovation beyond the state government. Many researchers, practitioners, and state and local leaders are piloting and assessing innovative practices and generating evidence to better serve their communities. The identification of key priority questions within the Tennessee Learning Agenda can drive coordinated innovation among research institutions and within and across state and local government agencies.

For more information, visit Program Evaluation & Research (tn.gov) or e-mail oei.research@tn.gov.