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Leya

@leyamohsin.bsky.social
126 followers 292 following 73 posts

making policy more evidence-based @scientistsorg.bsky.social | alum of @arnoldventures.bsky.social + @teachforamerica.bsky.social views are my own

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Leya @leyamohsin.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
BREAKING: the Ohio legislature does something we can be proud of -- a new bill (HB644) called the Higher Education Evidence-Based Innovation Fund -- breaking down why this rocks in thread! www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/...
legislature.ohio.gov
House Bill 644 | 136th General Assembly | Ohio Legislature
Learn More : Glossary of Terms | The Legislative Process
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Alfred P. Sloan Foundation @sloanfoundation.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
The Sloan Foundation recently supported a @scientistsorg.bsky.social event that asked what it takes to design initiatives centered on big, challenging goals that lead us to better science, and why many previous "moonshots" have fallen short. Read the takeaways: fas.org/publication/...
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Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 18/05/2026
This Kind Of Smart, Reliable, Mixed-methods Evidence Is Illegal To Build In Most American Agencies
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Federation of American Scientists @scientistsorg.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
The problem with sacred cows isn't that they existed – it's that they have taken on new life as facts, even as the world changes around them. @merici.bsky.social takes on the sacred cows of digital government delivery, and what we can win if we put them out to pasture. fas.org/publication/...
fas.org
What Did We Stop Questioning in Digital Government Delivery?
Let’s see what rules we can rewrite and beliefs we can reset: a few digital service sacred cows are long overdue to be put out to pasture.
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Leya @leyamohsin.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
your alarm bells should *always* go up when you read about ginormous effect sizes like this. in this case, the study looks at a pretty small number of album release days (10) and finds an increase of 18.2 fatalities nationwide on those days. I don't find that particularly convincing!
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Federation of American Scientists @scientistsorg.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Universities think they're too nerdy for city hall. City hall thinks they're not nerdy enough for universities. Meanwhile, communities wait for solutions. The new Civic Research Agenda report digs into what's stalling the research-to-impact pipeline — and how to fix it. fas.org/initiative/c...
fas.org
The Civic Research Agenda - Federation of American Scientists
The Civic Research Agenda is the first comprehensive reporting on the priority research needs of American cities and counties.
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Tarja Porkka-Kontturi @tarjapk.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
she’s a 10 but Excel thinks she’s October
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Leya @leyamohsin.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
Attending #2025APPAM? Come check out my session this Saturday where I'm partnering with colleagues to talk about the future role of evidence synthesis and AI in powering better policy- and decision-making.
Screenshot from APPAM program describing living evidence session to be hosted Saturday, November 15 at 1:45pm
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Leya @leyamohsin.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
also worth noting that TX-18, a heavily democratic district, has been without a rep since January...
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Joshua Smith @smithmachine.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
This is illegal. www.gao.gov/blog/what-po...
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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
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Charles Ornstein @charlesornstein.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
Rep. Wesley Hunt has spent months trying to get officials to hire Elon Musk’s The Boring Co. to build a major flood control project in Houston. The company has pitched tunnels that are far smaller than what may be needed to address the flooding issues.🤔 @lmcgaughy.bsky.social @chengyilun.bsky.social
propublica.org
A Texas Congressman Is Quietly Helping Elon Musk Pitch a $760M Plan to Build Tunnels Under Houston to Ease Flooding
For years, experts in Houston have been studying the idea of building massive tunnels to divert floodwaters and save lives and property. Now Elon Musk’s tunneling company wants a piece of the project.
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Bryce Covert @brycecovert.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
Truly wild that this entire story doesn't mention the fact that DOGE nuked USDS and 18F, which actually did this work for years. Including online passport renewal and the creation of Direct File to make filing taxes easier! www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
washingtonpost.com
Trump’s new chief design officer aims to make federal websites ‘satisfying’
Joe Gebbia, an Elon Musk ally who also worked for DOGE, said navigating dot-gov websites should be just as easy as visiting the Apple Store.
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Jill Barshay @jillbarshay.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
Ever since the former commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics was dismissed by the Trump administration in February, I wanted to hear her story. Peggy Carr was among a string of Black senior officials fired in early 2025. (1/3)
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Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
Posted in the State Department. The resistance always grows. Tomorrow there will be more of us.
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Leya @leyamohsin.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
It’s true, FEMA doesn’t serve people as well as it should. But it’s also clear that in large part the tragedy unfolding in Central Texas was exacerbated by a failure of local and state officials’ response. So why should Texans trust those same people to manage their recovery?
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Leya @leyamohsin.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
for my #edusky people, highly recommend this resource the HEDCO institute just dropped that is tracking research on four-day school weeks (and all their research dashboards!): hedcoinstitute.uoregon.edu/dashboards/f...
hedcoinstitute.uoregon.edu
Four-Day School Week Research Database
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Kumail Nanjiani @kumail.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
real bummer finding out that literally everything was on the honor system this whole time
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Jill Barshay @jillbarshay.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
Yesterday, June 2, was an interesting day at work. I was reporting a story about how the Education Department hadn't delivered a report to Congress on the Condition of Education, despite the June 1 deadline mandated by law. 🧵 (1/9)
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Leya @leyamohsin.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
A blast from my past: New evidence on the program Skew the Script finds promising impact of the curriculum on AP test scores. This resource helped me bring Beyonce, influencer salary, and food deserts into the conversation into my math classroom! skewthescript.org/blog/harvard... #edusky #mathsky
skewthescript.org
Harvard researchers find evidence that Skew The Script boosts AP Stats scores — Skew The Script
A research group at Harvard found evidence that Skew The Script lessons had a causal impact on AP Stats scores across Texas…
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Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
Delighted to see this piece with Victor Ambros, @carlbergstrom.com, Carol Greider, @michaelemann.bsky.social, and @briannosek.bsky.social in the wild. Trump’s new ‘gold standard’ rule will destroy American science as we know it @standupforscience.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Trump’s new ‘gold standard’ rule will destroy American science as we know it | Colette Delawalla
The new executive order allows political appointees to undermine research they oppose, paving the way to state-controlled science
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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
The Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” report misinterprets some studies and cites others that don’t exist, according to the listed authors
notus.org
The MAHA Report Cites Studies That Don’t Exist
The Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” report misinterprets some studies and cites others that don’t exist, according to the listed authors.
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Matt Lanza @mattlanza.bsky.social · 17/05/2025
Exactly what we’ve been SCREAMING about since this whole mess started. This was inevitable. It’s not fault of the office itself. It’s entirely the fault of the current administration.
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Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
"For me, the answer now lies in refusal, the withdrawal of participation from systems that require dishonesty as the price of belonging." Today I am resigning from the National Science Board and the Library of Congress Scholars Council. I wrote about my decision in TIME. time.com/7285045/resi...
time.com
Why I’m Resigning from the NSF and Library of Congress
I cannot participate in systems that require dishonesty as the price of belonging.
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Leya @leyamohsin.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
THREAD | Today, our team from the @scientistsorg.bsky.social and the Future Evidence Foundation shared a report sharing learnings and recommendations from a year-long design sprint that explored potential use of an innovative approach, living evidence, at the federal What Works Clearinghouse.
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Leya @leyamohsin.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
Last summer, we @scientistsorg.bsky.social sourced 100+ science and technology policy ideas that would be ready in-time for whoever took office to act on. We gave the authors of these ideas the tools to push for them, support them, and turn them into actually-implemented policy.
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Leya @leyamohsin.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
Visiting the Whitney Plantation changed my life, and I think about the lessons it taught me constantly. It is emotionally heavy but so worth your time to prioritize visiting, especially now.
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Leya @leyamohsin.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower was not just a novel, but an actual prophecy...
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Leya @leyamohsin.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
Linda McMahon said just two weeks ago at ASU+GSV that NAEP was "something we absolutely need to keep" and that it's "what keeps us honest, because it's comparing apples to apples."
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Liz Willen @lizhech.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
Funding for the education department's online library is slated to end: hechingerreport.org/proof-points... via @jillbarshay.bsky.social
hechingerreport.org
A treasure trove of education reports and studies is under threat
Funding for the Education Department’s online library, ERIC, is slated to end this week
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Leya @leyamohsin.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
Found this quote while on a walk when the Dept of Ed layoffs were announced… we’d do better to remember these wise words.
Plaque reading “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men” -Frederick Douglass
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Leya @leyamohsin.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
I have a lot of thoughts on this one, but I'll let the evidence lead: the only rigorous studies I'm aware of on school vouchers, studying the impact of DC's program, found that it had no impact on student achievement or college enrollment.
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Leya @leyamohsin.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
but her emails!
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Federation of American Scientists @scientistsorg.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
Direct File is more popular than Apple. It's more efficient than paying some guy hundreds of dollars to file your taxes for you. It's more efficient than feeding your information to a third party, spending hours hoping you entered the numbers correctly. Its big problem? That it was good.
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Leya @leyamohsin.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
I love to talk about ASAP not just because of its impressive run of positive results in well-conducted RCTs (below), but also because it just makes sense: Give college students the resources they need - advising, financial support, tutoring, etc. - and they are much more likely to succeed.
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Liz Borkowski @lizborkowski.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
NIH has rescinded its scientific integrity policy. Hard to see this as anything other than clearing the way for shoddy research on things like vaccines. Regardless of the rationale, it's bad news for public health. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
grants.nih.gov
NOT-OD-25-080: Rescission of the Final Scientific Integrity Policy of the National Institutes of Health
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Rescission of the Final Scientific Integrity Policy of the National Institutes of Health NOT-OD-25-080. OD
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Leya @leyamohsin.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
If Mike Waltz was a fan of the Bachelor, he would've learned a lesson from Colton inadvertently revealing the winner of his season because his Venmo history was public. It pays off to watch reality TV! 😌 www.wired.com/story/michae...
wired.com
Mike Waltz Left His Venmo Friends List Public
A WIRED review shows national security adviser Mike Waltz, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, and other top officials left sensitive information exposed via Venmo—until WIRED asked about it.
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Leya @leyamohsin.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
a rare spot of good news for the #evidencebasedpolicy community: it appears that CLEAR (Clearinghouse for Labor Evaluation and Research) is back up this morning after disappearing for 2 months! this is a critical source of information on the evidence base for labor/workforce interventions.
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Leya @leyamohsin.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Chilling insight into IES contract cancellations: "Although [IES Acting Director] Soldner pointed out that some of those contracts were designed to meet congressional requirements, this person said, dozens of cancellations went out that day." www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
wsj.com
Trump Is Dismantling the Education Department—With or Without Congress
In cutting parts of the department, Trump is following the same playbook as with other federal agencies—and inviting legal challenges.
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NPR @npr.org · 24/03/2025
The Trump administration's erasure of federal data has put the Internet Archive in the spotlight. The organization, with its small but mighty team, is working to help save the world's digital history.
npr.org
As the Trump administration purges web pages, this group is rushing to save them
The Trump administration's erasure of federal data has put the Internet Archive in the spotlight. The organization, with its small but mighty team, is working to help save the world's digital history.
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Leya @leyamohsin.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
well, turns out it is in fact a bad idea to put a television host in charge of the DOD! 🫠
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Leya @leyamohsin.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
We need to start being louder about how US-government funded research fosters innovation that impacts people's everyday lives. DARPA research led to the internet and GPS; NSF funding led to MRIs and barcodes and Doppler radars! www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
washingtonpost.com
Opinion | Funding for R&D isn’t a gift to academia
Investing in scientific research and development is vital to U.S. security.
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Federation of American Scientists @scientistsorg.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
The EPA’s science office conducts independent research on forever chemicals that poison our water, on the health effects of wildfire smoke, on microplastics, and so much more. Eliminating this research does not improve efficiency – it sells out our public health.
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Leya @leyamohsin.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
🚨red alert 🚨 for education researchers! #edusky #econsky
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
Texas for years maintained an unofficial and illegal cap on special education. The U.S. Department of Education (under Trump!) found that Texas violated the rights of students with disabilities and owed services to many students.
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Federation of American Scientists @scientistsorg.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
extreme heat + dry winter air + high winds = perfect storm for wildfire risk and smoke exposure (which is why policymakers need to pay attention to the severe compounding public health threat that wildfire smoke and extreme heat pose, even when it's not summer)
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Leya @leyamohsin.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
The majority of these cuts (~60% of the union workers laid off last night) appear to affect Federal Student Aid and the Office of Civil Rights. This is about restricting access to opportunity.
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Jill Barshay @jillbarshay.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
Hearing that nearly all the employees in the statistics agency inside the Education Department -- NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) -- have lost their jobs. Rumors that the NAEP test -- the nation's report card -- will no longer be run by NCES. This info is not confirmed.
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kate k @kathrwn.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
posting on behalf of my union, FAS United — the Trump administration must release political detainee Mahmoud Khalil
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Leya @leyamohsin.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
"At the end of the day, evidence has no agenda and favors no partisan opinion — in this sense, it is the cornerstone of a functional democracy."
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