Toward a Culture of Consequences: Performance-Based Accountability Systems for Public Services--Executive Summary - Softcover

Stecher, Brian M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0833050168 ISBN 13: 9780833050168

Publisher: RAND Corporation, 2010

Synopsis

Performancebased accountability systems (PBASs) link incentives to measured performance to improve services to the public. Research suggests that PBASs influence provider behaviors, but little is known about PBAS effectiveness at achieving performance goals. This study examines nine PBASs that are drawn from five sectors: child care, education, health care, public health emergency preparedness, and transportation.

About this title

About the Author:

Dr. Brian Stecher (Ph.D., Education, University of California, Los Angeles) is a senior social scientist in the Education program at RAND. Dr. Stecher's research emphasis is applied educational measurement, including the implementation, quality, and impact of state assessment and accountability systems; the cost, quality, and feasibility of performance-based assessments, and the development and validation of licensing and certification examinations. Dr. Stecher currently directs a multi-state, NSF-funded study of the accountability provisions of the No Child Left Behind act, and he recently completed a four-year evaluation of the California Class Size Reduction initiative. Dr. Stecher is a member of the Technical Design Group, advising the California Department of Education on the development of that state's accountability system. Dr. Stecher has published widely in professional journals, and he is currently a member of the Editorial Board of the Educational Assessment Journal.

Camm leads research at RAND on high-level Army resource management issues associated with force structure design, logistics policy, and acquisition of combat service support services.

Cheryl Damberg (Ph.D., RAND Graduate School of Policy Studies) is a Health Policy Fellow. Research interests include employment-based health insurance, health care reform, quality of care, health promotion/disease prevention.

(PhD, Educational Psychology, Stanford University) is a senior behavioral scientist at RAND whose research expertise includes education: elementary, middle/secondary, K-12 assessment and accountability, teachers and teaching.

Christopher Nelson is Senior Research Associate at Western Michigan University's Evaluation Center, where he works on large-scale evaluations of state charter school laws. He is project manager for evaluations in Pennsylvania, Illinois, and the city of Cleveland, and has contributed to evaluation reports on charter schools in Michigan and Connecticut. Before joining The Evaluation Center, Dr. Nelson was on the faculty of the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University, where he taught courses on evaluation methodology, policy analysis, and public organizations. While in Pittsburgh, Nelson worked on a number of regional education policy studies,including a large-scale assessment of work force readiness among high school students, and a study of early-grade literacy. In addition, he played a leading role in the development of an education policy indicator system that is still in use today. Nelson holds an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a B.A. summa cum laude from the University of Minnesota, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

From the Inside Flap:

Performance-based accountability systems (PBASs) link incentives to measured performance to improve services to the public. Research suggests that PBASs influence provider behaviors, but little is known about PBASs' effectiveness at achieving their performance goals. This document explores the design and effectiveness of nine PBASs in five sectors: child care, education, health care, public health emergency preparedness, and transportation.

About this edition

• Publisher: RAND Corporation
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0833050168
• ISBN 13: 9780833050168
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 50