S 922119th CongressIn Committee

A bill to amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to define the term evidence-based.

Introduced: Mar 10, 2025

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

This bill would add a formal definition of “evidence-based” to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). The definition sets out three levels of evidence that can qualify an activity, service, strategy, intervention, or content as evidence-based: strong, moderate, or promising, each tied to specific study designs and outcomes. It also provides an alternative pathway: an activity can be deemed evidence-based if there is a solid research rationale or positive evaluation suggesting it will improve outcomes, provided there is ongoing evaluation of its effects. In addition, the bill would require states to describe how they will prioritize funding for evidence-based programs using funds reserved for statewide workforce development activities, thereby embedding an explicit funding priority for evidence-based initiatives into state planning and reporting.

Key Points

1Defines “evidence-based” to include three evidence levels:
2- Strong evidence: at least one well-designed and well-implemented experimental study showing a statistically significant positive effect on outcomes.
3- Moderate evidence: at least one well-designed and well-implemented quasi-experimental study showing a statistically significant positive effect.
4- Promising evidence: at least one well-designed and well-implemented correlational study with statistical controls for selection bias showing a positive effect.
5An alternative pathway to evidence-based status:
6- A rationale based on high-quality research findings or positive evaluations that the activity is likely to improve outcomes, plus ongoing efforts to examine its effects.
7Additional requirement for program description:
8- States must describe the extent to which activities are evidence-based (new consideration in Section 102(b)(1)).
9New funding-priority component for states:
10- States must add a description of strategies they will use to prioritize funding of evidence-based programs with funds reserved under section 128(a) for statewide workforce development activities.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected- State and local workforce development boards, training and service providers, and program administrators who design and implement WIOA activities.- Participants whose training and services could be guided by evidence-based programs.Secondary group/area affected- Employers and workforce partners who rely on trained workers and evaluated programs.- Researchers and evaluators who design, conduct, and interpret studies used to establish evidence levels.Additional impacts- Federal and state accountability and reporting requirements, with increased emphasis on evidence and ongoing evaluation.- Potential shift in funding toward programs with stronger evidence bases, and increased capacity-building needs for evaluation and data analysis at the state level.

Generated by gpt-5-nano on Nov 19, 2025