ASPA Center for Accountability & Performance

Performance Management
How to design performance measures to better measure impact: An interview with Peter Schochet, Senior Fellow, Mathematica Policy Research
Andy Feldman, Gov Innovator Blog
There are ways to make performance measures a better indicator of impact, including the use of regression-adjusted performance measures.

Analytics/Evaluation
How decision modeling can make for better government
Dawn Levy, Federal Computer Week
Business decision logic is a type of data, and it’s time agencies started treating it that way.

Collaboration
Enterprise Government: Don’t Go It Alone!
Robert Shea, Government Executive
Cross-agency leadership is the key to progress on major goals.

Open Government
Treasury will invite more feedback on USASpending.gov
Nicole Ogrysko, Federal News Radio
Treasury wants the public to get involved in the discussion and comment on the portal’s visualization and navigation tools.

Performance Management
Chris Mihm: Agencies not following priority goals reporting standards
Federal News Radio
Chris Mihm, managing director for strategic issues at GAO, discusses a new report on how agencies are complying with the reporting requirements of the GPRA Modernization Act.
GAO: Agencies aren’t publicly explaining how they’re meeting agency priority goals
Ryan McDermott, FierceGovernment
Several federal agencies haven’t been transparent about how they’re measuring performance against their priority goals, says a GAO report.
It’s Still Hard to Find Good Agency Performance Data in One Place
Charles Clark, Government Executive
Six agencies have fallen short in publishing accessible and defensible performance data on their efforts to meet priority goals, says GAO.
How New York City Is Mainstreaming Data-Driven Governance
Stephen Goldsmith, Governing
What began as a niche innovation is creating a wider transformation of government culture.

Customer Service
Obama Tells Agencies to Hire Experts in Giving People Exactly What They Want
Eric Katz, Government Executive
Effort to recruit behavioral scientists part of initiative to improve delivery of services across government.

Innovation
‘Nudge’ your way to better government management
Steve Kelman, Federal Computer Week
Earlier this week, the White House issued an executive order that reflects a laudable effort to harness research knowledge to government performance.
Making Open Innovation Ecosystems Work: Case Studies in Healthcare
Michael Keegan, Business of Government
In the mist of tightening budgets, many government agencies are being asked to deliver innovative solutions to operational and strategic problems. One way to address this dilemma is to participate in open innovation.
HHS wants more innovators to ‘hack red tape’
Nicole Ogrysko, Federal News Radio
The upcoming fifth round of the HHS Ignite Accelerator will be the biggest one yet, thanks to high demand from the agency’s employees.
Bringing Design Thinking into Government
John Kamensky, Business of Government
Five key principles behind creating a design-centric organizational culture.
The Impact of Government Shutdowns on Innovation
Darcie Piechowski, Business of Government
It’s time to revisit the impact of past shutdowns and Continuing Resolutions, both which can delay funding to agencies and cause uncertainty over future funding.

CAP Announcement

New recognition program for Emerging Leaders in the field of government performance management

The Center for Accountability and Performance (CAP), established by the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), has created a new award program to recognize early- to mid-career government professionals in the field of performance management at the federal, state, and local levels.  The CAP Emerging Leaders Award of Excellence program is looking for nominations for individuals who are actively implementing performance management systems, innovating new practices, and promoting the importance of performance and accountability within their governments and communities.

Emerging Leaders can be self nominated or be nominated by others and will be chosen by a subcommittee of current CAP Board members. Nominees should have approximately 5-10 years of experience within a government organization and shown leadership, innovation, and/or accomplishment.

Click here for the program details and nomination form. Applications are due by December 1^st.

The Center for Accountability and Performance (CAP) was established in 1996 by the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) to address the requirement for all levels of government to move to performance-based, results-driven management. CAP aims to improve the practice of public service by helping public administration and nonprofit professionals acquire the knowledge, technical skills and resources necessary to successfully manage for results. CAP provides education, training, advocacy, technical assistance, resource sharing, and research on promising practices in performance management. Its publications and training materials are available to ASPA members and non-members.

Performance Management
Why We Need to Grade Our Governments (Again)
Paul Posner, Governing
An exceptional project from the past illustrates how beneficial measuring public-sector performance can be.
The Pay-for-Performance Approach to Reducing Recidivism
Charles Chieppo, Governing
The early success of a Pennsylvania program for parolees shows the potential for one form of privatization.

Innovation
Imagining an On-Demand Government in an Uber World
Paul Eder, Government Executive
Five principles that public sector organizations can employ when planning for and integrating on-demand contracting.

Open Government
GAO Reports on DATA Act Governance
Innovategov
A recent GAO report included a review of steps OMB and Treasury have taken to create a governance structure and solicit input from stakeholders.
Can Yelp Help Government Win Back the Public’s Trust?
Tod Newcombe, Governing
The popular review site is giving public employees a place to directly engage with citizens. Whether that improves services or trust remains to be seen.

Performance Management
So Long to the Cubit and Ad Hoc Performance Metrics
John Kamensky, Government Executive
Cross-agency benchmarks support data-driven decision-making.
Agencies Should Celebrate Their Accomplishments
Howard Risher, Government Executive
There is no better way to motivate high performance than making it public.

Analytics/Evaluation
For Effective Government, Data Cannot Replace Vision
Joe Coletti, Governing
Program evaluation can provide roadmaps, not destinations. Reformers need to be wary of unrealistic expectations.
Strengthening a culture of data-driven decision making: An interview with Carter Hewgley, Enterprise Analytics Division Director, FEMA
Andy Feldman, GovInnovator Blog
How can public agencies strengthen a culture of data-driven decision making?
How Startups Are Transforming the Smart City Movement
Jason Shueh, Government Technology
Smart city technology is luring entrepreneurs hoping to embed themselves in an industry estimated to grow to $27.5 billion by 2023.