About the evidence gap map

The evidence gap map displays studies of programs in the United States that provided education and employment services to young people who are not in school. The evidence gap map focuses on studies of programs targeting education and employment outcomes that serve young people who meet the eligibility criteria for the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act out-of-school youth (WIOA OSY) program, and were published between 2010 and 2021. Read more about the scope and methodology used to create the evidence gap map in the full report.

You can use this tool to identify studies that described specific practices or measured certain outcomes. By looking at the map, users can identify areas where there are many studies and areas where there are few or no studies. The evidence gap map does not include information about the findings from the studies or the quality of the studies.

How to use the map

Practices. Practices described in the studies are listed in the rows of the map, which are grouped into seven categories. Hover over a practice to see its definition. Rows are expanded by default. To collapse a category, click the “-“ sign next to the category name. To expand a category, click the "+" sign next to the category name.

Outcomes.  Outcomes measured in the studies are listed in the columns of the map, and are organized into three categories: education, employment and well-being. Categories are collapsed by default. To expand the columns to show the specific outcomes measured, click the “+” sign. To collapse a category, click the “-“ sign next to the category name.

Types of studies. Studies are grouped into four categories:

• Impact studies are studies where an outcome was measured against a comparison group (e.g., randomized controlled trials or quasi-experimental designs) and are dark blue bars.
• Outcome studies are those studies where participant outcomes were measured, but not against a comparison group, and are dark gray bars.
• Qualitative and implementation studies are orange bars and appear in their own column.
• Cost studies are orange bars and appear in their own column on the far right of the map.

Reading the map. Hover over the bars in each cell to see the practice and outcome names, and the number and type of studies. The bars show the number of studies that described the practice and measured the outcome for that cell. The bars for qualitative and implementation studies and cost studies—which may or may not also report outcomes—reflect the number of studies of programs with that practice. Note that studies can appear in the map in multiple places.

Click to view studies. Clicking on the cells in the map will open a new tab that brings you to the “View all studies” page and provides the details for the studies in the cell clicked. From here, you can view study details and further refine your search using the filters.

Filters. Choose filters from the drop-down menu above the map and press “submit.” The evidence gap map will reload displaying only those studies that met the filter criteria you selected. You can choose from the following filters:

• Populations: Target population of program described in the study
• In Compendium: Studies of programs that are also in the compendium of programs
• Study Type:
  • Randomized controlled trials
  • Quasi-experimental studies
  • Outcome studies
  • Qualitative or implementation studies
  • Cost studies: includes cost, cost-effectiveness, and benefit-cost studies
  • Study includes subgroup analysis: studies that include a subgroup analysis or are focused on a particular subgroup

View all studies

The "View All Studies" tab allows you view all the studies in the evidence gap map and their publications. Click on the study name to see the study type, target population, impacts/outcomes measured, practices, publications, and whether the program in the study is in the compendium. You can refine the list of studies displayed using the filters.

You can view the details about each study by clicking the study title in the “Study Titles” column. Study details are displayed on the right-hand side of the page. Links to the study’s publication(s) appear at the bottom of the study details. If the program evaluated in the study is in the compendium, a link to the program’s compendium page is at the bottom of the study details.