The Harvard Family Research Project separated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education to become the Global Family Research Project as of January 1, 2017. It is no longer affiliated with Harvard University.
Volume IV, Number 1, 1998
Issue Topic: Performance Measurement
From the Director's Desk
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| Heather Weiss |
It has been over five years since Osborne and Graebler began the “accountability revolution” with their book, Reinventing Government. Since that time, the notion of results-based accountability (RBA) has reached far beyond the public sector to include foundations, nonprofits, and other community-based organizations. Early supporters and naysayers must be impressed by the extent to which RBA has taken hold.
We have learned a great deal about accountability over the years. The most important thing is perhaps that the development of RBA systems is neither one-shot nor simple. Rather, developing these systems is an iterative process which involves experimentation and continuous reassessment and revision. Further, we now know that there is no one RBA model that can be exported and adopted in all situations. RBA systems are highly contextualized, developing in response to the unique political, social, and institutional environments in which they work. We also know that while RBA systems an help make decisions more information-based, decision making in the public arena always will be in part a political process. Finally, there is the realization that the development of RBA systems is, at its core, a very human process—dependent on champions, relationships, personal credibility, and the ability to engage people who may have a stake in the outcomes of public programs in a frank discussion about what needs to be changed to improve them.
In this issue of The Evaluation Exchange, we present articles on RBA that are both retrospective and prospective. Our Theory and Practice article, written by Diane Schilder of HFRP's Results- Based Accountability Project, draws on case studies of eight states to provide a frank assessment of the potential and limitations of RBA systems. Our Promising Practices section highlights two important aspects of RBA systems. Karen Stanford, of the Commission on Government Accountability to the People in Florida, speaks about techniques to engage important stakeholders in the discussion about public outcomes. Janet Bittner, of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia, draws on the experiences of Georgia to share some insights about engaging assistance in the development of RBA systems. In our Questions and Answers section, Joseph Wholey and Harry Hatry, both of whom have been influential in the movement toward accountability at the federal level, discuss lessons learned and next steps for performance measurement. We highlight two evaluations in our Evaluations to Watch section. The first, by Jay Bell of James Bell Associates, describes the National Learning Project Evaluation of the United Way. The second evaluation, by Ruth Hubbell McKey of Ellswood Associates, Inc. and Louisa Tarullo of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, discusses the FACES study of Head Start. Our Beyond Basic Training section identifies a number of forthcoming conferences. Finally, our New and Noteworthy and Electronic Mailbox sections note important resources to help assist our readers in their accountability work.
In many ways, we are at an important crossroads in the accountability movement. We have lessons to guide us about what does and does not work. The concept of RBA has permeated many organizational layers. We are beginning to collect results data systematically, and must now think about how results information can be used responsibly—to help people “manage for results.” We have little experience with this but know that it will involve creating the right incentives, melding quantitative results with good evaluation data to help explain them, and working in a spirit of cooperation. Most importantly, it will require the understanding that to get meaningful results takes time, a commitment to stay the course, and the willingness to learn from what we are doing.
Heather B. Weiss, Ed.D.
Founder & Director
Harvard Family Research Project