The Implications of Statistical Measurement on Public Policy

• Activity Number: 450
• Type: Invited
• Date/Time: Wednesday, August 3, 2011 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
• Sponsor: Scientific and Public Affairs Advisory Committee
• Author(s): Amy Braverman*+ and Daniel F. McCaffrey*+ and James Rosenberger*+ and Clyde Tucker*+
• Companies: California Institute of Technology and RAND Corporation and Penn State University and Retired

Abstract

Policymakers are becoming more and more dependent on statistical information to describe current conditions and make policy. Much of this information is a result of complex statistical measurement issues that are not at all obvious to the policymakers, yet alternative measurements could lead to dramatically different policies. This panel will present statistical measurement issues on four selected policy areas: Dan McCaffrey will discuss methodological issues in the Race To The Top such as modeling teacher contributions to student achievement given the complex realities of students' instructional inputs. He will also discuss the challenges to assigning student achievement to teachers' training programs. Clyde Tucker will discuss defining economic concepts (e.g. unemployment) through data collection, adjustment, estimation and analysis to the content of official publications of results by the Federal statistical agencies. Jim Rosenberger will discuss the measurement issues confronting the new Office of Financial Research created as part of the Wall Street reforms. Amy Braverman will describe measuring greenhouse gases from space used for monitoring climate change and treaty verification.