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The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993 (the "Results Act") was enacted by Congress to provide for the establishment of strategic planning and performance measurement (made up of an annual performance plan and an annual performance report) in the Federal Government.
The purposes of this Act are to:
- Improve the confidence of the American people in the capability of the Federal Government, by systematically holding Federal agencies accountable for achieving program results;
- Initiate program performance reform with a series of pilot projects in setting program goals, measuring program performance against those goals, and reporting publicly on their progress;
- Improve Federal program effectiveness and public accountability by promoting a new focus on results, service quality, and customer satisfaction;
- Help Federal managers improve service delivery, by requiring that they plan for meeting program objectives and by providing them with information about program results and service quality;
- Improve congressional decision making by providing more objective information on achieving statutory objectives, and on the relative effectiveness and efficiency of Federal programs and spending; and
- Improve internal management of the Federal Government.
The Results Act is based on models already being used successfully in New Zealand. In cities like Portland, Seattle, and even the NY Police Department, the Results Act gives a 'bottom line" to every program and brings to America a tested means to track performance and make program managers more accountable.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
All of ED's plans are available on line.
The National Partnership for Reinventing Government has an excellent publication on-line entitled Balancing Measures: Best Practices in Performance Management.
Demonstrating Results, An Introduction to Government Performance and Results Act, Spring 1999 is an introductory guide to GPRA, produced by ED's office of Higher Education Programs.
 The National Academy of Public Administration maintains a GPRA Knowledge Center with links to all the Annual Performance Plans, Annual Performance Reports, and Strategic Plans of all Executive Agencies. This is the single best GPRA resouce site. It includes Major GPRA Web Sites (some of which are duplicated below), Selected Outcome Measures and Performance Measurement Links (none of which are duplicated below), and other useful material and information.
The General Accounting Office has several key GPRA publications. This listing includes titles and abstracts.
The Agency for International Development (now a part of the State Department)has produced useful resources relevant for GPRA. They include:
The Office of Personnel Management has a variety of useful reports.
Performance Management Issues in OECD countries
The U.S. General Services Administration's Office of Governmentwide Policy provides a one-stop source for information named Performance Pathways related to the development and use of performance measures including Sample Performance Measures for a variety of areas.
The Alliance has an extensive set of Frequently Asked Questions addressing Strategic Planning.
DATA SOURCES FOR ED PERFORMANCE MEASURES
The National Center for Educational Statistics lists all NCES Survey/Program groups. Select your area of interest for information on specific surveys and programs. Another listing, of each individual study by name (alphabetical, instead of by program area) is also available. |
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