NSF PR 02-45 - May 22, 2002
OMB/NSF Workshop Highlights Improved Performance
Measures for Federal Agencies
National experts on program evaluation joined federal
government representatives Tuesday to review the latest
techniques for measuring government effectiveness
at a workshop organized for the Office of Management
(OMB) and Budget by the National Science Foundation
(NSF).
The session, Strengthening Program Effectiveness Measurement
of Federal Programs, is part of a continuing effort
by OMB to improve measurements of government program
effectiveness and relate them to budget and management
issues. OMB officials intend to use improved performance
measurement criteria for fiscal 2004 budget submissions.
NSF will use workshop results to identify opportunities
for further research on this topic.
We're pleased that OMB asked NSF to host this workshop.
A workshop like this is at the heart of what NSF does-bringing
together top experts in science and engineering to
discuss research at the frontier, share knowledge,
identify opportunities, ask questions and raise more
questions, said NSF Deputy Director Joseph Bordogna.
Government agencies currently rely on a system established
in the 1993 Government Performance and Results Act
(GPRA) to measure the success of their programs. OMB
anticipates that this effort will bolster and propel
GPRA implementation so that it is more meaningful
in making management and budget decisions. Tuesday's
workshop was also designed to find more effective
tools to enhance those performance measures on a consistent
basis.
Scholars presenting at the session were James Heckman,
a Nobel Prize winning economist from the University
of Chicago; Irwin Feller, Pennsylvania State University,
who convened the panel; William Gormley, Georgetown
University; Jeffrey Smith, University of Maryland;
Kerry Smith, North Carolina State University; and
Paula Stephan, Georgia State University. John Wallace
of the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation
also spoke.
Additional government representatives speaking at the
workshop were NSF's Norman Bradburn and OMB's Mark
Everson and Marcus Peacock.
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of science and engineering, with an annual budget
of about $4.8 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states,
through grants to about 1,800 universities and institutions
nationwide. Each year, NSF receives about 30,000 competitive
requests for funding, and makes about 10,000 new funding
awards. NSF also awards over $200 million in professional
and service contracts yearly.
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