ASPA Center for Accountability & Performance

Measurement and Complexity: Why, How, and For Whom Do We Measure?

United Nations Development Programme’s Innovation Unit

UNDP has set up a monitoring and evaluation sandbox to nurture and learn from new ways of doing monitoring and evaluation that are coherent with the complex nature of the challenges facing the world today. The Sandbox prioritizes action and practical insights ‘from the front lines’ about how to do it, rather than abstract theory and general principles (though those are important too!).

Theory of Change Workbook (Webinar – 8:30 a.m. Eastern, Nov 16).

Social Impact

Theories of Change are foundational to program design and implementation and yet very few resources exist to help development practitioners develop strong theories of change. Learn how to use the workbook to help create stronger theories of change that are locally-driven and context-specific. 

Let’s Talk Performance: Making Government Work

National Center for Public Performance (webinar – 3 p.m. Eastern, Nov 17)

Webinar features authors Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene, with moderator Monica Croskey Chaparro. Email ncppsuffolk@gmail.com to register.

Evaluation & Auditing: Lessons Overseeing DATA Act

Data Foundation and U.S. Government Accountability Office (Webinar – 1 p.m., Eastern, Nov 30)

These evaluations of how agencies implemented the DATA Act are examples of how GAO and the IG community support, coordinate, and leverage evaluative activities . . .  Taken as a whole, these evaluations also provide powerful examples of the benefits and challenges of conducting “real time” audits of a complex, government-wide reform initiative.

The Triumph and Tribulations of Performance Management

International Journal of Public Administration (Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene) – Gated access

This essay builds a case for the power of performance management to aid in making positive change, while also focusing on some of the biggest challenges leaders in this field have confronted. It also includes a series of principles designed to help overcome or avoid these challenges.

New Bill Would Increase State & Local Government Transparency

Accounting Today

The Financial Data Transparency Act (S.4295) takes a major step toward openness and accessibility by directing seven financial regulators to develop “machine-readable” data standards that accurately reflect the existing reporting standards. So, it is surprising that this transparency measure has attracted stiff opposition when it has proven so successful in corporate reporting.

Resource of the Week:  Catalog of Administrative Data Sets

J-PAL North America

Administrative data are information collected, used, and stored primarily for administrative (i.e., operational), rather than research, purposes. These data can be an excellent source of information for use in research and impact evaluation. Specific requirements and processes for obtaining data vary by data source.

HUD’s 21 Categories of Risk

Federal News Network (interview with Elliott Johnson, Jr.)

The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Chief Risk Officer has created a Front-End Risk Assessment tool that has 21 different categories from compliance to systems to reputational and so on, to help managers assess programmatic risks, with the goal of creating a risk management culture across the agency.

Communities of Excellence 2026

Baldrige National Quality Awards Foundation

 When President Biden signed into law the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, it authorized “Community” becoming the seventh category of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards. This bill authorizes American communities to apply for and receive presidential-level recognition for efforts to systematically improve community performance across all sectors and collectively achieve better community outcomes. 

Resource of the Week:  The Management Library: Performance Management

Paradise Media, LLC

Information in this topic describes the foundational performance management process that underlies Employee Performance Management, Team Performance Management and Organizational Performance Management. 

Denver’s Participatory Budgeting Initiative

RouteFifty

After months of offering ideas and refining proposals, Denver residents now have a direct say in how the city will spend $2 million in infrastructure funds. . . Earlier this week, voting opened for Denver’s first “participatory budgeting” initiative, which allows residents to cast ballots for the projects they’d most like to see the city fund

Employee Perceptions of Performance-Based Budgeting in Developing Countries

Public Budgeting & Finance (Early View)

This paper examines the case of Ghana from the perspective of budget officers. How do budget officers perceive the PBB? It is argued that while PBB is professed as a useful budgetary mechanism, there are challenges that need to be addressed if it is to achieve its objectives.

Start Keeping Score

Boston Globe Op-Ed

We already score proposed legislation for its cost to taxpayers, and we require environmental impact assessments for many major projects. If we value racial inclusion and equity, then we should measure it, score it, and hold leaders accountable for how well it is achieved through government action.

Building a Data Foundation: The Role of Data and Evidence in the President’s Management Agenda

Partnership for Public Service/Guidehouse

This report provides agencies with critical building blocks for meeting the PMA’s goals, focusing on investments in strong data infrastructure and using data to improve internal operations and external services. It offers three case studies: the Department of the Air Force, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Treasury’s Fiscal Service.

Resource of the Week:  Stacey Barr’s “Measure Up” Blog

Barr is an Australian consultant with an extensive website offering free, useful performance-related insights relevant to public managers, and links to several books she’s written on the topic.

The Five A’s of Agile Government Performance

Federalism.us

Agile governments don’t just ask, analyze, answer, apply, and adjust within individual organizational units. They also continually communicate insights to target audiences, especially those working in the field and implementation partners eager to contribute to progress on policy problems and opportunities. 

Eight Strategies for Transforming Government

IBM Center for The Business of Government

This special report identifies eight strategies for transforming government in the years to come. The trends include Restoring Trust in Government, Driving Agility, Addressing Equity, Developing Actionable Insights, and Attaining Effective Outcomes.

Invest in What Works – 2022 State Standards of Excellence

Results for America

In 2022, sixteen criteria comprise the State Standards of Excellence. Results for America used them to identify 263 examples of data-driven and evidence-based practices, policies, programs, and systems in effect as of August 2022 in 41 states across the country. There are 8 leading states and 9 honorable mentions.

How NGOs Can Support States in Advancing Evidence-Based Policymaking

Results First/Pew Charitable Trusts

This report offers guidance on ways that nongovernment stakeholders can help evolve states’ progress by addressing persistent challenges to the routine use of evidence.

Resource of the Week:  Data Viz Style Guide (Baltimore CitiStat)

This style guide was developed to provide a springboard for data visualizations for data practitioners in the City of Baltimore. It is not prescriptive; charts, dashboards, and tables should be developed with audience and application in mind.

Project Performance Reporting in New South Wales [Australia] Local Government

International Journal of Public Administration (Austin Morris, et al) – Gated access

This research highlights the inconsistencies in the way local government project performance is being reported and presents one measure of project success based on publicly available information.

Building a Data Foundation

Partnership for Public Service (report release event – 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. Eastern, Wednesday, Oct. 26)

This on-line event will focus on the release of a new report about how select federal agencies have successfully created a data infrastructure and used that data to drive lasting change on the three priorities in the President’s Management Agenda.

Priority-Based Business Planning and Budgeting

Strathcona County, Alberta, Canada

Priority based budgeting helps Strathcona County to better understand the services it provides citizens and businesses; how much they cost, and how they reflect and address its 8 strategic goals and priorities.  

Performance Audit Reports (podcast: 37:10 min.)

Mark Funkhouser

In this podcast interview, Funkhouser describes by performance auditors need information, ideas, and allies – and why the final reports never “speak for themselves.”