In 2010, 46 states joined together in two different consortia (PARCC and Smarter Balanced) to create higher-quality, next-generation state summative assessments. Though these new tests were highly rated and received significant attention at the time, today only 20 states are participating in either consortia. So what has happened to state assessments, and where are they …
In 2015, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation launched a three-year, $6-million California Drought Initiative to help ensure that local communities and natural systems both have adequate and sustainable water supplies. This board-approved action was a response to 1) approval of a $7.5-billion water bond in California, 2) landmark state legislation to create a groundwater …
Evaluation – the independent, systematic investigation of how, why, and to what extent our objectives and goals are being achieved – is a critical part of outcome-focused philanthropy at the Hewlett Foundation. Independent evaluations help us learn and adapt throughout the strategy lifecycle. But are the evaluations that we’ve conducted meeting our expectations for quality?…
In 2016, at the mid-point of an initial five-year commitment to our Cyber Initiative, the Hewlett Foundation commissioned strategy consultants Camber Collective, with input from Cyber experts Upturn, to evaluate progress on the main goal of the initiative: building a more capable cyber policy field that works with the private sector, as well as government, …
The main goal of our Cyber Initiative is to build a more capable cyber policy field that works with the private sector, as well as government, to solve pressing challenges. As we reached the midpoint of our initial five-year funding commitment, we thought it was time to look at how we’re doing. With that in …
Every five years, each program of the Hewlett Foundation undertakes an intensive “strategic refresh,” which includes evaluations of its past successes and failures as well as research on opportunities for greater impact. In 2017, as a part of the Environment Program’s process to review and refresh its Climate and Clean Energy strategy, it commissioned an …
Are you a researcher or organizational designer interested in how governments can better serve citizens and how behavioral science can nudge governments to respond to citizen feedback? The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation’s Global Development and Population Program seeks three-page expressions of interest (EOI) for a six-month consulting engagement to help design a potential, longer-term research …
Editor’s note: Ruth Levine, director of the Hewlett Foundation’s Global Development and Population Program, delivered these remarks on November 8, 2017, at the close of the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation’s (3ie) London Evidence Week, which included a series of public events focused on the importance of using evidence to inform international development research, policies…
To mark the Hewlett Foundation’s 50th anniversary, our Performing Arts Program commissioned author and consultant Laurie MacDougall to write a history of the program and its grantmaking over the first five decades of the foundation’s history. The history describes how the Performing Arts Program evolved from an initial focus on the issue rooted in Bill …
While the problems of disinformation, misinformation and propaganda are not new, certain aspects of modern technology and communications appear to be contributing to a rapid polarization and democratic deterioration in the U.S. and abroad. The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation’s Madison Initiative focuses on making democracy and its institutions – especially Congress – more effective …