Improving Public Services: International Experiences in Using Evaluation Tools to Measure Program Performance (International Policy Exchange Series)

The Government Performance Movement Has Been In Full Swing For Decades Around The World. So, Why Do So Many Public Programs And Organizations Continue To Underperform? A Major Reason Is That Measuring The Types Of Performance That People Value Most -- Real Outcomes For Citizens -- Continues To Be An Elusive Goal. And Why Is Performance Measurement So Difficult? Because Performance Managers Have Not Taken Full Advantage Of The Tools And Knowledge Available In The Field Of Program Evaluation; The Worlds Of Performance Measurement And Program Evaluation Have Much To Learn From Each Other, But They Remain Largely Separate For Reasons Of History, Politics, And Inertia. Improving Public Services Spotlights Recent Advances In The Theory And Practice Of Performance Measurement With Potential To Bridge The Divide. As The Text's Essays, Case Studies, And Comparative Analyses Demonstrate, Many Of The Challenges To Outcome-based Performance Measurement Are Similar Across National And Cultural Boundaries. And Many Of These Challenges Are Amenable To Solutions Drawn From Program Evaluation, Especially Program Theory As Captured In Logic Models. Key Issues Addressed Include Designing And Implementing High-performance Contracts, Using Administrative Data To Measure Performance And Evaluate Program Effectiveness, Minimizing The Unintended Consequences Of Performance-based Incentive Schemes, Measuring Qualities Of Governance As Well As Service Delivery, And Fitting Performance Systems To Different Institutional Settings. The Authors Offer Insights Relevant To Charitable Organizations, Private Service Providers, International Bodies, Municipalities, States, And National Governments In Developed, Developing, And Transitional Countries. As The Global Debate Over Performance Management Rages On, This Volume Points To Promising Directions For Future Research And Practice At The Intersection Of Program Evaluation And Outcome-based Public Management. -- This Volume Spotlights Recent Advances In The Worldwide Use Of Quantitative Performance Measures In The Public Sector, Especially Approaches That Incorporate Program Evaluation Techniques. Chapters Include Single-country Case Studies, Multi-country Comparisons, And Thoughtful Essays On The Challenges Of Making Performance Measurement And Management Work In Diverse Settings-- Machine Generated Contents Note: -- 1. Introduction -- Douglas J. Besharov, Karen Baehler, Jacob Klerman -- Part 1: Unifying Themes -- 2. Modern Performance Measurement: Monitoring Program 'outcomes' Instead Of 'impacts' -- Douglas J. Besharov, Douglas M. Call -- 3. Measuring And Managing Farther Along In The Logic Model -- Karen Baehler, Jacob Klerman -- 4. Indicators, Assessments, And Benchmarking Of The Quality And Governance Of Public Human Development Services -- Ariel Fiszbein, Dena Ringold, Halsey Rogers -- 5. Does Measuring Performance Lead To Better Performance? -- Mary Bryna Sanger -- Part 2: National Applications -- 6. Top-down Strategies For Service Improvement In Uk Public Services -- James Downe, Steve Martin, Tony Bovaird -- 7. Quality Improvement And Performance Measurement In Israeli Social Services -- Tamar Zemach-marom -- 8. Institutional Contexts And Service Delivery Reforms -- Ariel Fiszbein, Yasuhiko Matsuda -- 9. Performance-based Payments In The Turkish Health System -- Gulbiye Yenimahalleli Yasar, Pinar Guven-uslu -- Part 3: Performance Contracting -- 10. Holding Nonprofits Accountable For Accomplishments, Not Appearances -- Christina Standerfer, Joseph Schafer -- 11. Welfare-to-work Performance-based Contracts In New York City -- Swati Desai, Lisa Garabedian, Karl Snyder -- 12. The Efficiency Of Contracting Out Local Public Services In The Czech Republic And Slovakia -- Beata Mikusova Merickova, Juraj Nemec, Zuzana Vozarova -- 13. Workforce Development Program Performance Over The Us Business Cycle -- Kevin Hollenbeck, David Pavelchek -- Part 4: Conclusion -- 14. Using Logic Models To Strengthen Performance Measurement -- Douglas J. Besharov, Douglas M. Call -- Index. Edited By Douglas J. Besharov, Karen J. Baehler, Jacob Alex Klerman. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.