ASPA Center for Accountability & Performance

Evidence-Based Policymaking: Agencies Need Additional Guidance to Assess Their Capacity

U.S. Government Accountability Office

GAO reviewed the statutorily required agency self-assessments regarding their capacity to evaluate evidence. It identified 12 themes—generally strengths and opportunities for enhancement—in the evidence-building capacity assessments agencies published in 2022.

The 10 Commandments of Horizon Scanning

Association of Professional Futurists

British futurist John Carney created a set of ten commandments that he thinks have stood the test of time and cover the full gamut of purpose, communication, the scanning process itself, stakeholder engagement, and impact.

Trust-Based Philanthropy Isn’t an Excuse to Ignore Metrics

The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Measuring performance actually promotes trust and accountability while helping both funders and grantees do their jobs better.

Pivoting from Outcomes to Results

Government Executive/Don Kettl

When it comes to creating a government that solves the country’s big problems, the people just don’t believe it’s happening. Here’s how to fix that as part of the next President’s Management Agenda.

Metrics, Feedback Needed for CX

FedTech Magazine

Using AI, the right customer experience platforms and services can be used to create tailored journeys for citizens and federal employees.

Resource of the Week:  Federal Evidence-Based Spending Guide

Results for America

This guide provides practical approaches for the Executive Branch and Congress for incorporating evidence-based policy into grant-making and legislation. It lays out both how to integrate existing evidence into federal spending, as well as how to build new evidence around what works. 

Commerce Department Doubles Grants to Coastal Habitat Restoration

Federal News Network

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s grant programs for coastal habitat restoration have different metrics for success, depending on the project – oyster reef restoration will have different metrics than dam removal and fish passage projects. 

Acceptance of Strategic Planning in Northern European Municipalities

Public Administration Review/Bert George et al

“To avoid strategic plans becoming “empty” rhetoric that end up in a closet, we need to consider how we design strategic planning and involve stakeholders, how managers respond to that design, and whether that response might influence their commitment to the ensuing strategic plan.”

Sarasota Should Use “Performance Budgeting”

Sarasota Herald Tribune/John Mercer

John Mercer, the “godfather” of performance measurement in the 1980s, now lives in Florida and is recommending performance measures and performance budgeting for his new hometown of Sarasota.

Resource of the Week:  Clearinghouse for Labor Evaluation and Research (CLEAR)

U.S. Department of Labor

CLEAR’s mission is to make research on labor topics more accessible to practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and the public more broadly so that it can inform their decisions about labor policies and programs. CLEAR identifies and summarizes many types of research, including descriptive statistical studies and outcome analyses, implementation, and causal impact studies.

An Open Letter to Elected Officials

Barrett & Greene

“We hope we’ve established that we understand the motivations for wanting to push performance information aside. But when elected officials do so, they are missing the idea that people trust candor.”

To Prove or Improve? That Is the Question!

Stacey Barr on LinkedIn

Do you want Key Performance Indicators to PROVE what you’re doing and achieving? Or do you want Key Performance Indicators to help you IMPROVE what you’re doing and achieving?

CIGIE Pushes Congress for Permanent Data Analytics Hub

MeriTalk

The Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) is calling on Congress to make permanent the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee’s (PRAC) Pandemic Analytics Center of Excellence (PACE) to conduct more effective oversight of all Federal spending.

Resource of the Week: Minnesota Results Management

The State of Minnesota is committed to using data and research to inform decision-making and improve results for Minnesotans. Minnesota Management and Budget’s Results Management team conducts analysis and research that helps our state and local partners make informed decisions.