Innovative Measurement Efforts

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

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The innovative measurement team within Evaluation Support Divison (ESD) strongly believes that good measurement is essential for making cost-effective decisions. We support state and EPA measurement efforts with technical assistance, training and grants, and strive to meet three key criteria in our work:

• Is it meaningful?: We emphasize comparability and consistency in measurement approaches to help sustain learning. We also help develop measures that gauge progress on issues that matter most to stakeholders.
  
  
• Is it credible?: Effective measurement should withstand reasonable scrutiny. NCEI promotes statistical sampling and other strategies to develop a credible and realistic picture of policy outcomes.
  
  
• Is it practical?: The most ambitious measurement approaches are simply untenable when competing with a multitude of other policy priorities. We help scale measurement approaches to an agency's decision-making needs and budgetary constraints.