ASPA Center for Accountability & Performance

Charleston Leads on Analyzing Data to Gauge What Works

Charleston Courier (Editorial)

“ . . . our leaders should always seek out good data and the most thorough possible understanding of complex problems, they should be cautious not to let data alone drive their decisions but rather to use data as a tool, potentially a very powerful tool, in informing their judgment on which course of action is best.”

New Quarterly Progress Reports on Federal Agency Priority Goals

U.S. Office of Management and Budget

Quarterly updates have been posted on 90 two-year agency-level priority goals for the FY 2023 second quarter. The goal period ends September 30^th.

We Used to Want Government to Work Well

The Bulwark (James Capretta)

The Government Performance and Results Act is important because it forced federal agencies to institutionalize some of the most basic requirements of sound organizational management. But it has been exceptionally difficult to use GPRA to incentivize real change in operational practices, for a few reasons. . . . real change will require flipping the script and allowing agencies to take the initiative.

These Were Not Normal Times

Government Executive

Interview with Bob Westbrooks, former executive director of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee overseeing the spending of $5 Trillion in pandemic recovery monies. He recently published a book on his experience, “Left Holding the Bag: A Watchdog’s Account of How Washington Fumbled Its COVID Test.”

The Cornerstone Indicators Initiative

DarkMatter Labs

A Swedish community co-developed and tested a new approach to citizen engagement and community-led development of well-being indicators as tools for citizen empowerment. This short blog series and PDF show how this initiative reimages metrics and indicators for community use, and how this might be replicated elsewhere.

Best and Worst Run Cities in America

Governing

By comparing the operating efficiency of 149 of the largest U.S. cities, experts at WalletHub, the personal finance firm, have come up with a score for which ones are managed best.

Explode on Impact

Medium (Toby Lowe)

It is impossible for organizations to “demonstrate their impact” if they work in complex environments. Asking them to do so requires them to create a fantasy version of the story of their work. Conducting “contribution analyses”/theory of change is useful to start a dialogue, but not for performance management. 

Webinar: Data Sharing Between State and Federal Jurisdictions (July 12, 1:00 p.m. Eastern)

Data Foundation

This discussion will explore the challenges and strategies associated with developing appropriate privacy protections when sharing data between state and federal entities, as well as how to create beneficial partnerships between federal and state jurisdictions to promote access and use of data for policy making. 

Resource of the Week:  What Do Evaluation Officers Do?

U.S. Office of Management and Budget

A useful resource page on the roles and responsibilities of federal agency chief evaluation officers.

CAP Webinar: A Challenge to Data-Based Performance Management (Tuesday, June 27, 1 p.m. Eastern)

American Society for Public Administration

Even when public sector leaders have the best motivations for basing decisions on evidence, data and performance measurement, they may be stymied by the lack of people to fill the jobs necessary to make this happen. This webinar engages state and local talent officers to delve into the challenges and what can be done.

Helping Production Agencies Deliver

NextGov

Customer-facing agencies need a new script to resolve backlogs, measure effectiveness and harness emerging technologies.

Bringing Back “Pay for Performance?”

Government Executive

A group of over 150 House Republicans proposed, in outline form, restructuring federal employee pay and benefits. Among their plan’s elements are echoes of failed and abandoned incentive programs launched under both the G.W. Bush and Trump administrations—notably, governmentwide pay-for-performance incentives for federal employees.

Can You Demonstrate “Impact” in a Complex Environment?

Medium Post (Toby Lowe)

It is impossible for organisations to “demonstrate their impact” if they work in complex environments. Asking them to do so requires them to create a fantasy version of the story of their work. This corruption of data makes doing genuine change work harder because it is difficult to learn and adapt from corrupted data.

Resource of the Week:  The “Go To” Websites for State and Local Data

Liz Farmer’s SubStack 

Liz Farmer has been following state and local issues for years – here’s her personal list of favorite websites covering state and local pension, spending, revenue, locality, and workforce data.

Updated American Rescue Plan Data and Evidence Dashboard

Results for America

A Mathematica and Results for America analysis of state and local governments’ American Rescue Plan spending identifies 110 notable projects that demonstrate how state and local leaders are using federal funds to deliver better results for residents. The dashboard is based on financial expenditures reported through December 2022.

America’s Biggest Cities Have Seen a Crime Surge, but Not Dallas

Washington Post

An Op-Ed by Karen Tumulty highlights the data-driven crime-reduction efforts by Dallas mayor Eric Johnson, “who obsesses about data, says he is confident that the trend is real and that it is holding. “I’m either the luckiest mayor in the United States,’ he said, ‘or this stuff actually works.’”

Strengthening Randomized Evaluations with Qualitative Research

J-PAL North America

This four-part series on qualitative research examines different case studies and lessons learned about the value of embedding qualitative research methods into randomized evaluations. This link is to Part 3 – the other parts can be accessed at the end of the blog.

How Baltimore Used its ARP Monies to Make a Difference

Twitter Thread by Adam Willis

Willis synopsizes a series of stories in the Baltimore Banner that examined how Mayor Brandon Scott is using its $641 million in State-Local Fiscal Recovery Funding to cut gun violence by one-third, created a universal basic income fund, a Clean Corps, bought a hotel to house the homeless, is closing the City’s digital divide, and more.

Webinar: Building a Culture of Performance in City Government (Friday, June 23, 11 a.m. Eastern)

Pew Charitable Trusts/Committee of Seventy

What does it take to create a sustainable data-driven culture throughout city government? How do leaders at various levels of local government conceive, develop, and sustain an organizational culture centered on performance? Features a panel with leaders from Kansas City, Boston, and Denver.

Resource of the Week:  Performance.gov “Resources” Page

U.S. Office of Management and Budget

This landing page is a one-stop for 13 different sets of resources such as best practices for agency priority goals, performance measurement basics, logic modelling, and a performance principles and practices “playbook.”

Measuring Meaningful Work-in-Office

Federal News Network

Agencies are still mapping out their workforce plans after the White House called for an increase to “meaningful” in-person work at headquarters offices. The Office of Management and Budget defined “meaningful” work as “purposeful, well-planned and optimized for in-person collaboration,” but what that actually looks like depends on the agency.

Social Indicators: 97 Ways to Measure the State of the Nation

U.S. Office of Management and Budget

The social indicators presented . . . illustrate in broad terms how the Nation is faring in selected areas in which the Federal Government has significant responsibilities. Indicators are drawn from six selected domains: economic, demographic and civic, socioeconomic, health, security and safety, and environment and energy. 

Balancing Accountability and Learning in Program Evaluation

LinkedIn

Accountability refers to demonstrating a program’s results, compliance, and value for money to stakeholders, funders, and beneficiaries. Learning refers to improving a program’s design, implementation, and adaptation based on evidence, feedback, and lessons learned. How do you balance these two purposes in your program evaluation?

8 Leading Practices

FEDManager

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says solving some of the challenges on its high-risk list including fighting infectious diseases, climate change, and improving cybersecurity, will require collaboration between various government agencies. With that spirit of cooperation in mind, GAO released a report on best practices to encourage inter-agency collaboration, break down barriers between agencies, and solve some of these high-risk issues.

Resource of the Week:  How-To Tools for Foresight Projects

Check out the UN Global Pulse’s tools section on its new website. It includes step-by-step guides, workshop templates, and more for conducting Foresight projects!

President’s Management Agenda: Quarterly Update

U.S. Office of Management and Budget

The May updates covered progress made during the second quarter of FY2023 (Jan – Mar) in each of the three priority areas: federal workforce, customer experience, and business operations.

White House Reveals Two New “Life Experience” CX Projects

FedScoop

The White House has revealed details of two governmentwide technology projects focused on improving the user design of systems used by citizens to subscribe for Medicare and apply for federal disaster relief programs.

Resource of the Week:  Problem-Framing Canvas: Making Sense of Problems for Better Responses

Griffith Centre for Systems Innovation

This canvas and workbook help develop better skills to analyze problems and to reflect, test, and learn about possible responses more effectively.