ASPA Center for Accountability & Performance

WEBINAR: Attacks on Auditor Independence (Thursday, Oct. 5, 1 p.m. Eastern)

ASPA Center on Accountability & Performance

There is a perennial threat to auditor independence at the state and local levels. A panel of veteran practitioners take attendees behind the scenes to better understand the need for independence and the difficulty some have in preserving it.

Evidence 2.0: The Next Era of Evidence-Based Policymaking

Stanford Social Innovation Review

It has been five years since the passage of the Evidence Act. While most federal agencies have created fairly robust evidence bases, unlocking that evidence for practical use by decision makers remains challenging. One might argue that if Evidence 1.0 was focused on the production of evidence, then the next five years—let’s call it Evidence 2.0—will be focused on the effective use of that evidence. 

Explore the September 2023 Agency Priority Goal Updates

U.S. Office of Management & Budget

Two years ago, federal agencies committed to 85 “priority goals” with a series of milestones to be completed by September 30, 2023. This set of progress updates cover the April-June 2023 period. The final progress reports for the two-year goals will be released in early 2024.

What Happens When We Measure People?

YouTube (5:15 min.)

Stacey Barr says you can’t prove that measuring and monitoring people’s performance actually improves the performance of the organization.

The Promising Evolution of Performance Management

Governing/Kennedy School

Nowhere in the U.S. can we better see the evolution and promise of local government performance programs than in Washington, D.C., thanks in no small part to the work of City Administrator Kevin Donahue. His career evolution parallels the evolution of the “-Stat” movement.

How Data Conversations Can Address Pressing Challenges

RouteFifty
Faced with water shortages, Henderson, Nevada, has turned to a data-driven approach to solve it. It’s now rolling out its approach to other departments citywide.

The Emerging Challenge of Budgeting and Performance

Government Finance Research Center

We tend to budget by agency and then, typically, by program within the agency. However, the actual implementation of almost every program depends on complex networks involving multiple programs, agencies, levels of government, sectors of society, and even foreign governments. The flow of action needs to make connections among all these pieces, but the flow of budget decisions typically doesn’t match up.

Connecting the Dots: Rethinking Data Systems to Improve Outcomes

Results for America

There are inspiring pockets of work happening around the country that show the potential for integrating data across sectors and over time to achieve better outcomes.

Using Citywide Data Strategies to Connect Dots, Drive Results

Bloomberg Cities Network

Data is more central than ever to improving service delivery, managing performance, and identifying opportunities that better serve residents. That’s why a growing number of cities are adding a new tool to their arsenal—the citywide data strategy.

How Data Literacy Improves Decision-Making

State Tech Magazine

 Governments must increase data literacy across a broader set of employees so that anyone who interacts with data can be proficient in understanding it and using it to inform leaders and affect policy decisions.

The OMB Evidence Team (Podcast Interview, 39 min.)

Mathmatica

From helping lead implementation of the Evidence Act to providing technical assistance on activities and initiatives, the Evidence Team at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is on the frontlines of evidence building and use across the federal government.

Why Do Public Agencies Seek Accountability?

Public Administration Journal (open access)

Accountability-seeking behaviors of public agencies are said to be motivated, among others, by attempts at pre-empting stricter mandatory provisions, logic of appropriateness motives, Machiavellian opportunism, reputational considerations, and a perceived need to compensate for the inadequacy of traditional arrangements.

Improvements in Employee Performance Management Over Time

Public Management Review (paywalled)

Co-authors Hyung-Woo Lee and Peter J. Robertson find that US federal employees’ perceptions of appraisal fairness and feedback quality increased from 2010-2019, as did the strength of the relationship between employee performance management and work effort.

Resource of the Week:  Florida PolicyNotes

Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability

PolicyNotes is a free electronic newsletter highlighting OPPAGA publications and other reports from the Florida Legislature, state and federal government reports, think tank research, website resources, and other sources for policy research and program evaluation. OPPAGA provides this weekly publication as an information service to bring attention to issues of interest to Florida policymakers.

WEBINAR: Did American Rescue Plan Further Evidence & Performance Practices? (Tues., Sept 19, 1 p.m. Eastern)

ASPA Center for Accountability & Performance

 Have the requirements for evidence-based approaches and annual performance reporting enhanced state and local performance management and reporting? Hear from U.S. Treasury and local government representatives as they discuss the challenges and opportunities around this unprecedented infusion of federal dollars.

Congressional “What Works” Caucus Launched

Results for America

Four Members of Congress (2-D, 2-R) launched the bipartisan What Works Caucus to ensure that federal taxpayer dollars are invested as effectively and efficiently as possible to improve outcomes for children, families, and communities nationwide.

Lessons from the Front Line of Change

PATimes

Andrew Kleine describes the practical lessons he learned in radically transforming the City of Baltimore’s budget system to be more evidence-based.

How to Do Strategic Planning Like a Futurist

Harvard Business Review

Here’s a framework for thinking strategically about the short-term and long-term at the same time. “Visioning” meetings are not a substitute for critical thinking about the future. 

Government Can Deliver: An Interview

Federal News Networks

This interview highlights Richard Spires’ practitioner’s guide which presents a framework for government agency performance improvement designed to change an inefficient culture and drive operational excellence. It outlines how government leaders can drive such change, and most importantly, it presents a proven approach for creating an environment that will affect positive change

Resource of the Week:  Checklist for Launching a Randomized Evaluation in the U.S.

J-PAL North America

 This Evaluation Toolkit includes resources ranging in focus from how to assess feasibility and interest with an implementing partner to resources for structuring file and code in ongoing evaluations.

Interim Report: Reforming Defense’s the Planning, Programming, Budgeting & Execution System

U.S. Department of Defense

The Commission’s five focus areas include: improving PPBE-related relationships between the DoD and Congress; enabling PPBE processes to implement innovation and adaptability at the speed of relevance; aligning budgets to strategy; digitizing PPBE business systems and employing data analytics; and improving the capability of the PPBE programming and budgeting workforce. Final report is due to Congress in March 2024.

Connecticut State Police Accused of Faking Traffic Stops

Deccan Herald

State officials believe that a state trooper was among more than 100 Connecticut State Police officers who may have filed false reports of traffic stops in recent years, possibly to boost the internal statistics used to measure their performance.

How One State’s Data Office Improves Government Services

RouteFifty

Indiana’s Management Performance Hub connects data from different agencies and trains front-line workers to tackle tough problems.

Resource of the Week:  Cornerstone Indicators, Dark Matters Labs

The Cornerstone Indicator concept is centered on reimagining metrics and indicators as tools for radical civic empowerment. 

Federal President’s Management Agenda: Quarterly Update

U.S. Office of Management and Budget

OMB released a progress update on its three “cross-agency priority goals” as of the third quarter of fiscal year 2023. It highlights progress on Priority 2, which focuses on improving customer experiences for targeted federal services. It also provides new metrics for Priority 3, on a dashboard for government business operations, such as internal HR and IT services (scroll down to find it).

Agency Priority Goals 101: Webinar (Sept 13, 1 p.m. Eastern)

U.S. Office of Management and Budget

This Lunch & Learn is targeted to federal employees to help them understand what Agency Priority Goals are, and how they can contribute to their progress.

Getting Managers to Measure Performance

Stacey Barr’s Blog

Managers really must see the benefit of better performance measurement if they’re ever going to give their time and energy to support it. Here are three tips to help them see measurement as useful.

Beyond Reporting: What Drives the Use of Performance Data to Improve Sustainability in Cities

Public Management Review

This research article by Angela Park uses survey data of U.S. cities regarding how they collect and use performance data when managing sustainability programs. It identifies institutional conditions that contribute to a greater use of performance information.

Public Budgeting from the Perspective of Critical Race Theory

Public Administration

 This article uses the tenets of critical race theory to illustrate how to use the budget process to incorporate equity. The resulting racial equity budgeting (REB) framework has three tenets: acknowledging and correcting historic biases, increasing the voice of nondominant groups, and disrupting the status quo by ensuring equity in current policies.

Resource of the Week:  Benchmarking Data Governance Frameworks

Data & Policy

This article explores the increasing importance of global data governance due to the rapid growth of data, and the need for responsible data practices. The purpose of this paper is to compare approaches and identify patterns in the emergent data governance ecosystem.