ASPA Center for Accountability & Performance

Performance Management
Presidential Hopefuls Should Debate Government Management, Says Volcker
Charles Clark, Government Executive
Presidential candidates should be made to devote an entire debate to the management of government, former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker says.

Analytics/Evaluation
Unlocking the Potential of the “What Works” Approach to Policymaking and Practice: Improving Impact Evaluations
Robert Granger and Rebecca Maynard, American Journal of Evaluation
Describe three ways to make impact evaluations more useful to policy and practice.

Innovation
Public-Sector Innovation and the Culture Factor
Erin Latham, Governing
Front-line workers know what needs to be done to make government more efficient. Encouraging them to share their ideas is critical.
How CIOs Can Enable Innovation
Tim Pavlick, Business of Government
The successful application of CIO-enabled innovation within the federal government offers a sustainable way to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and performance of government while often also reducing costs.
AFSCME, Progressive Groups Criticize Pay for Success
Patrick Lester, Social Innovation Research Center
One of the nation’s largest public sector unions released a report criticizing pay-for-success and social impact bonds.
The Don’ts and Do’s of Pay for Success/Social Impact Bonds
Jon Pratt and Ruth McCambridge, Nonprofit Quarterly
Is it time for a reevaluation of PFS?

Open Government
10 Ways to Capitalize on Transparency’s Potential
Paul Eder and Hudson Hollister, Government Executive
10 real benefits government agencies can expect if the implementation of the DATA Act goes well.

Analytics/Evaluation
Using Data and Evidence to Move the Needle on Social Problems
Patrick McCarthy, Governing
Rather than relying on aggressive policing and incarceration, these tools could help us find better ways help those left behind.
The Use of Rapid Evaluation Methods to Improve Performance (Part 2)
EvalWise
While performance data are used on an ongoing basis to monitor the quality of service provision and outcomes, rapid evaluation methods can use these same data to support short-term studies to drive improved performance.
Evidence at the Crossroads Pt. 5: Improving Implementation Research
William T. Grant Foundation
In an environment where effective programs are often adopted and implemented in new contexts, is it time to focus on implementation research that can support this adoption?
Measuring Social Impact: The Nuts and Bolts of Making a Difference
Knowledge@Wharton
How can we weigh different investments and predict which will be successful? How is success measured? And is there still a role for traditional philanthropy?
The evolving role of the chief data officer
Aisha Chowdhry, Federal Computer Week
Chief data officers are still finding out where they fit into agency plans and hierarchies.

Innovation
18F, Digital Service are here to stay, CIO says
Mark Rockwell, Federal Computer Week
The new in-house IT consultancies at GSA and OMB will likely outlast the Obama administration, according to federal CIO Tony Scott.

Open Government
Making Agencies More Transparent
Sarah Veale, Michael O’Neill, Erik Kjeldgaard, The Public Manager
Transparency can play a big role in monitoring and tracking agency progress on goals. A new GAO study details the effectiveness of six agencies in reporting on the quality of their performance information.

Presidential Transition
Making Decisions in a Time of Transition (Part II)
Dan Chenok, Business of Government
By being thoughtful and intentional in their approach, leaders can accelerate the achievement of the new elected president’s priorities, reduce risk, and increase the capacity of agencies to deliver on mission objectives.
2016 Presidential Transition Already Under Way, Think Tank Says
Charles Clark, Government Executive
With surveys showing trust in government at record lows, it’s not too early to begin an orderly and nonpartisan transition to the next presidential administration and begin rebuilding faith in agencies.

Performance Management
When government organizations learn how to learn
Steve Kelman, Federal Computer Week
The New York Police Department’s anti-terror unit is an example of performance measurement and a willingness to reinvent.
Senate Clears Bill to Improve Management of Federal Programs
Charles Clark, Government Executive
Ernst-Heitkamp plan would create new OMB council and designated agency officers.
Ernst bill aims to keep agency programs on track
Jory Heckman, Federal News Radio
A bill recently passed by the Senate aims to make agency management more accountable for programs that run over budget and behind schedule.

Analytics/Evaluation
7 Ideas for Using Government Data More Effectively
Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene, Governing
From city managers to auditors, local officials offer ways to fix data collection.
How CDOs are putting ‘useless’ data to work
Zach Noble, Federal Computer Week
Cleaning, cataloguing, counseling – it’s all part of the job for agency data gurus as they seek to surface useful data for their colleagues and customers.

Collaboration
Achieving Joined-Up Government
Peter Williams, Jan Gravesen and Trinette Brownhill, Government Executive
Digital strategies to fix fragmented public services.

Innovation
Presidential Innovation Fellows cost $205 per hour. Are they worth it?
Zach Noble, Federal Computer Week
The PIF program, which has injected many innovative thinkers into government, is facing concerns about costs as agencies fork over private sector consultant rates – and the PIFs themselves don’t see most of the money.

Presidential Transition
Making Decisions in a time of Transition
Alan Howze, Business of Government
In 2017, after taking office, the next administration will face many significant and simultaneous decisions on a wide array of issues, and mountains of data to inform these choices.

Performance Management
Creating a Culture of Accountability
Stewart Riff, Government Executive
How to set up a performance system of feedback and follow through.
A Conversation With Gary Blackmer, One of America’s Performance Management Leaders
Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene, Governing
Gary Blackmer talks about auditing police, changes in the field and the toughest parts of the job.

Analytics/Evaluation
Evidence at the Crossroads Pt. 4: The Obama Behavioral Insights Team, an Important Addition to Evidence-based Policy
Ron Haskins, William T. Grant Foundation
Six evidence-based initiatives started by the Obama administration are now supporting well over 1,400 programs at the local level.

Innovation
Making Innovation Labs Work
Darcie Piechowski, Business of Government
Organizations are increasingly embracing Innovation Labs to leverage new ideas in a practical, actionable way and as a means for moving government forward.
Does Pay for Success Work? Define ‘Success’
Patrick Lester, Government Executive
Performance-based experiments net mixed reviews.
GovNext: Massachusetts Tests Statewide Innovations Through Short-Term Projects
Jason Shueh, Government Technology
Massachusetts is embracing civic tech through its new GovNext initiative.

Customer Service
The Building Blocks of Customer-Centric Government
Pedro Nava and David Beier, Governing
With new tools at their disposal, governments have the opportunity to create a golden age of citizen engagement. That could do a lot for trust in government.

Innovation
A bold proposal to catalyze progress on key social policy challenges, called the Ten Year Challenge: An interview with Jeffrey Liebman, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School
Andy Feldman, Gov Innovator Blog
A bold proposal, called the Ten Year Challenge, calls for selecting ten important social challenges and then having the federal government fund ten communities or states to address each challenge, while rigorously evaluating the results. The goal would be to generate a few breakthrough approaches that could be scaled up.
The Hidden Cost to ‘Pay for Success’
Liz Farmer, Governing
Nonprofits have discovered a hidden cost in preventative social programs that’s keeping many from even trying to start one.
How The Science of Human Behavior is Reshaping Government
Dave Nussbaum, Government Executive
Although behavioral insights are commonly used by companies in the private sector, introducing them into the federal government can be very difficult.

Open Government
Volunteering for government: The case of the $1 code
Steve Kelman, Federal Computer Week
The real lesson from 18F’s recent reverse auction is about citizen engagement, not contracting.