What I learned from being on the other side of the policy action.

A WAIP Blog: A reflection on my time at NCES and what I learned from being on the other side of the policy action. 

I spent the summer as an intern at the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) which is situated in the Department’s Institute of Education Sciences. The Institute of Education Sciences serves as the independent, non-partisan research and evaluation arm of the U.S. Department of Education. Because of its independent and non-partisan nature, as well as the the scope of its work, there is very little room for policy discussions. 

I am a public policy analysis major, who came to Washington with the desire to engage in political and policy-conversations surrounding education. I ended up at NCES for a number of reasons (most of which related to my desire for education research experience) and am loving it despite the fact that “policy change” is rarely the focus of the office. But luckily, in the government, policy reaches into even the most scientific of institutions. The data collection I work on, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, was created by Congress and the variables collected are written into law. Data collection is rolled up into policy discussions even if the management of a data system is not. 

IPEDS team members debate how to carry out the charge to collect information with precision while balancing the burden on those from whom information is collected from and the desire for increased information by those who use the data for policy purposes. While not an explicit policy debate as these conversations are internal, these debates get at the heart of how to best gauge the landscape of postsecondary education—a heavily charged policy topic. The agency that is collecting the data is charged to engage in thoughtful conversations that go beyond the talking points made obvious to the public. Digging into the details of complex finance metrics and analyzing measurement error are critical to providing accurate information and informing policy, but this critical role in the policy process was one that I had not considered before coming to NCES.

*this is my plug for how hard federal government employees work and how the *exciting* policy work is only possible in partnership with the work carried out by these agencies. The federal government can be cool and it can teach you a lot.*

 Working on the other side of policy, for the agency that is required to carry out its mandates rather than a non-profit or congressional office aiming to influence the directives, has helped me to evaluate the behavior of policy actors. The interests of these groups must be weighed against so many other factors that often are not considered by the offices pushing for their own agendas. I learned first hand how necessary the balancing role of the federal government is to make sure all voices are heard. I am so glad to have learned from the intelligent men and women who provide incredible attention to detail so that the proposals to change our education system are based on the purest of facts. 

By: Sarah Souders