Performance Management
OMB Trumpets Progress on Tracking Contractor Performance and Other Cross-Agency Goals
Charles Clark, Government Executive
According to OMB, cross-agency priority goals continue to guide agency management improvements and are producing “notable progress and success.”

Analytics/Evaluation
GAO: Using Program Evaluations for More Effective Management
Innovategov
A recent GAO study identified activities that are useful in building capacity to conduct and use program evaluations.
Strengthening evidence-based grant making at the U.S. Department of Education: An interview with Jim Shelton, Deputy Secretary of Education
Andy Feldman, Gov Innovator Blog
In recent years, the Department of Education has made important advances in encouraging evidence-based grant making, including focusing a larger share of discretionary grant dollars on approaches backed by rigorous evidence of effectiveness and facilitating more evidence building among grantees. What lessons does the Department provide other public agencies?

Collaboration
Creating a Cadre of Cross-Agency Executives
John Kamensky, Business of Government
President Obama recently proposed a new White House Leadership Development Program, with the goal of exposing rising leaders to the experience of solving challenges across agency boundaries.

Leadership
Why Every Agency Needs a Chief Management Officer
Robert Behn, Government Executive
Every public executive—appointed or elected—needs a chief management officer responsible for ensuring the jurisdiction or agency is operating competently.

Open Government
Can Transparency Be Legislated?
Paul Eder, Government Executive
Making standardized data available is step one. Developing leaders who drive a culture of motivational and interpretational transparency around the data is step two.
What is the return on investment for open government?
Alex Howard, E Pluribus Unum
What’s the business case for open government?