Minnesota

Minnesota Management and Budget’s Enterprise Director for Results Management serves as the state’s Chief Performance and Evaluation Officer. They partner with state agencies and lead the Results Management team to collect, analyze, share, and use data and performance measures to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of public programs and inform policy decisions affecting them. Results Management provides evaluation leadership to the state in three primary ways: coordinating data-informed interagency work; assistance to support use of evidence in practice; and conducting original impact evaluations. Results Management tracks the use of evidence in policy making over time through an annual policy maker survey and uses the findings to help inform its strategies and services. The team specializes in inventories of evidence in state programs, providing sector-specific analysis and hosting a public inventory. The team also incubates new cross-agency work to advance evaluation in the enterprise, such as the MN Story Collective.

Minnesota IT Services (MNIT) is the information technology agency for Minnesota’s executive branch. MNIT is led by the state’s Chief Information Officer and employs over 2,600 employees. MNIT’s 2020 strategic plan outlines multiple goals and initiatives relating to data collection, management, and use, including an emphasis on elevating Minnesota’s Digital Estate through 1) improving collaboration and communication within and between state agencies; 2) promoting benefits of cross-agency data sharing; and 3) focusing on results-oriented strategic data analytics to drive decision-making. Minnesota’s Data Practices Act guides use and protection of government data, with Responsible Authorities and Compliance Officials identified for all agencies. In 2023, new legislation (line 15.5) directed Minnesota Management and Budget, in partnership with Minnesota DOH and MNIT, to facilitate a cross-agency effort to develop enterprise-wide standards for disaggregating data by race and ethnicity and other critical demographic characteristics. This will assist all agencies in better understanding differences among communities.

In 2018, Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) adopted an evaluation policy that governs its use of impact evaluations by the Results team. It requires public release of all completed evaluation reports regardless of findings. The policy outlines key principles for evaluation: rigor, relevance, independence, transparency, and ethics. It also requires pre-registration of evaluations and final results. In 2024, MMB published key research priorities to guide its continued expansion of evaluation support across the enterprise.

Minnesota’s Statewide Longitudinal Education Data System and Early Childhood Education Data System match administrative education and employment data from five state agencies, from pre-kindergarten through completion of postsecondary education and into the workforce. The Minnesota P-20 Education Partnership, established by state statute, governs both systems, explicitly connecting policymakers and external researchers. The SLEDS Research and Data Advisory Committee reviews and develops research and evaluation proposals, approving 14 during 2021 and 2022 that met the State’s priorities.

The Minnesota Government Data Practices Act “controls how government data are collected, created, stored, used and released.” This policy defines all data as public, and therefore accessible to anyone for any or no reason, unless state or federal law classifies it otherwise. Additional Minnesota statutes outline practices for use of data “for the administration and management of programs” and describe the State’s informed consent process to ensure ethical data collection.

The Minnesota P-20 Education Partnership governs the Statewide Longitudinal Education Data System (SLEDS) and Early Childhood Longitudinal Data System (ECLDS) that “form a P-20 education data system which captures, analyzes, and uses student data from preschool to…college, and the workforce.” This system is governed jointly by the Minnesota Office of Higher Education and Minnesota Departments of Education and Employment and Economic Development and incorporates data from the state departments of Human Services and Health.

State grants that define and prioritize evidence provide over two hundred million dollars to communities across Minnesota. Grant programs that define and prioritize evidence include Serve Minnesota AmeriCorps grants, grants from the Minnesota Department of Education’s (Full-Service Community Schools grant program and the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers Grant for Cohort 9), and grants administered by the Department of Human Services (Housing with Supports for Adults with Mental Illness grant program, and 2022 and 2023 Opioid Epidemic Response grants).

The One Minnesota Plan sets a shared vision for the enterprise. The plan includes mission, vision, guiding principles, and priorities; Measurable Goals; and Agency Strategic Plans. Minnesota Management & Budget leads implementation coordination, overseen by the Enterprise Director for Results Management, in consultation with the Governor’s Office. Quarterly, state agencies review progress on the measurable goals to evaluate if success will be achieved by staying the course or if course corrections or increased intensity are needed. The Crossroads to Justice plan, released in 2024 by the Minnesota Interagency Council on Homelessness, and co-developed with 10 paid consultants with lived experience of homelessness, identifies Strategy 3 to “Use data to target resources more effectively,” including for MMB to “Display state performance and outcomes data by housing status on any public website…” This practice is already used for some One Minnesota goals, such as Educational Opportunity, where one can find data disaggregated by race/ethnicity and housing status.

Minnesota prioritizes community participation throughout the enterprise and within the budget process. The government-to-government relationship between the State and 11 sovereign Tribal Nations sharing land with Minnesota is strong and codified within State law.

The Chief Equity Officer leads the Office of Equity, Opportunity, and Accessibility, connecting external stakeholders with state government partners. Their Mind, Body, and Soul Convenings exemplify the leadership of this Office. Statewide leadership is also provided by the Office of Public Engagement, as well as multiple Councils convened by Executive Order.

In 2023, Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) introduced the MN StoryCollective, a platform and process for people in Minnesota to share their experiences. MN StoryCollective shares these stories with state leaders, calling attention to the most pressing needs of our communities and issues to solve. The stories will help shape how Minnesota improves programs and services to support the health and wellbeing of communities. Over 1,000 submissions have been made to date.

In 2023, Governor Walz and Lt. Governor Flanagan released the One Minnesota Plan, which outlines strategic priorities for the state through 2027. Senior leaders across state agencies then worked with the Governor’s Office and the Results Team at Minnesota Management & Budget (MMB) to develop measurable goals to achieve these priorities. Now available online, these Measurable Goals articulate specific, action-orientated areas of emphasis and interagency work. They help set direction and assess progress within each priority area. Goals are designed to be observable, measurable, and have specific targets that are to be achieved by 2027. The Walz-Flanagan administration met with thousands of Minnesotans–students, parents, community members, employees, and business owners–across the state to inform them of the One Minnesota Plan and its Goals. While every community in Minnesota has its own strengths and faces unique challenges, the Plan elevates priorities that are widely shared across the state.