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ExpectMore.govExpectMore.gov home pageEXPECT FEDERAL PROGRAMS TO PERFORM WELL, AND BETTER EVERY YEAR.
 

About Us

WHO WE ARE

The content on ExpectMore.gov is developed by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and Federal agencies. Together, we assess the performance of every Federal program and hold ourselves accountable for improvement.

HOW WE ASSESS PROGRAMS - The Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART)

The Federal Government wants programs to work. It is assessing all programs to make sure they are working well for the American people.

We use a standard questionnaire called the Program Assessment Rating Tool, or PART, for short. The PART asks approximately 25 important, yet common sense, questions about a program's performance and management. For each question, there is a short answer and a detailed explanation with supporting evidence. The answers determine a program's overall rating. Once each assessment is completed, we develop a program improvement plan so we can follow up and improve the program's performance.

PART assessments help us learn how we can achieve better results for the American people - we are always striving to make improvements, regardless of whether a program performs well or not.

For detailed information on the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) process used to assess Federal programs, visit OMB's Performance Portal.

ABOUT PROGRAM RATINGS

The program rating indicates how well a program is performing, so the public can see how effectively tax dollars are being spent.

ExpectMore.gov tells you whether or not a program is performing.

  • Programs that are PERFORMING have ratings of Effective, Moderately Effective, or Adequate.
    • Effective. This is the highest rating a program can achieve. Programs rated Effective set ambitious goals, achieve results, are well-managed and improve efficiency.
    • Moderately Effective. In general, a program rated Moderately Effective has set ambitious goals and is well-managed. Moderately Effective programs likely need to improve their efficiency or address other problems in the programs' design or management in order to achieve better results.
    • Adequate. This rating describes a program that needs to set more ambitious goals, achieve better results, improve accountability or strengthen its management practices.

    Programs categorized as NOT PERFORMING have ratings of Ineffective or Results Not Demonstrated.

    • Ineffective. Programs receiving this rating are not using your tax dollars effectively. Ineffective programs have been unable to achieve results due to a lack of clarity regarding the program's purpose or goals, poor management, or some other significant weakness.
    • Results Not Demonstrated. A rating of Results Not Demonstrated (RND) indicates that a program has not been able to develop acceptable performance goals or collect data to determine whether it is performing.

ACTION PLANS FOR IMPROVING PERFORMANCE

There is always room for improvement, which is why each assessed program has a plan to improve performance and management over time. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget and Federal agencies develop these plans collaboratively and then track the progress that is made. As a result, all assessed programs are held accountable for improving their performance and management.

The type and scope of the follow-up actions in improvement plans vary greatly. In some cases, the recommended actions focus specifically on one or two key areas needing improvement. In other cases, the follow-up actions are much broader. Sometimes, a program assessment finds that a program is duplicative of other, better run programs or even that the program has already fulfilled its original purpose. In cases such as these, one of the follow-up actions might be to work with the Congress to end, or terminate, the program. Read more about some programs that have recently been terminated:

OVERVIEW OF RATINGS FOR ALL FEDERAL PROGRAMS

This is the fourth year that we have assessed the strengths and weaknesses of Federal programs and made recommendations for improving their performance.

To date, we have assessed about 98% of all Federal programs. Here's how they stack up, by rating.

Distribution of Program Ratings
Number of Programs Assessed 1,015
Effective 193
Moderately Effective 326
Adequate 297
Ineffective 26
Results Not Demonstrated 173

Visit the homepage to search for an individual program and to learn whether or not it is performing.

The content on ExpectMore.gov is developed by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and Federal agencies.