Illusory effects of performance management: the case of contracts for excellence in New York school districts

ABSTRACT

Performance Management systems are ubiquitous in contemporary public management. However, evidence of their performance effects is inconclusive. The Contracts for Excellence (C4E) reform required 58 New York State public school districts to develop individualized reform plans and report compliance and performance measures to authorities. This study evaluates C4E’s impact on organizational performance using a difference-in-differences approach. Findings suggest negative or precisely estimated null effects on standardized test scores ranging from −0.02 to −0.07 standard deviations. Findings suggest undesirable organizational responses may have compromised the reform, such as crowding out of local revenue collection and inflation of performance metrics.

KEYWORDS:

• Performance Management
• Education Policy
• Program Evaluation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Philip Gigliotti

Philip Gigliotti, MPA, is a PhD Candidate in Public Administration and Policy at the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, University at Albany, SUNY. His research bridges public management and public policy, using causal inference methods to evaluate programs and interventions in public organizations. His dissertation focuses on evaluating performance management reforms in the context of public health. He has previously evaluated a number of performance reforms in the context of public education. His research has been published in Economics of Education Review, Perspectives on Public Management and Governance, Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, and Research in Higher Education.

Lucy C. Sorensen

Lucy C. Sorensen is an Assistant Professor of Public Administration and Policy at the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, University at Albany, SUNY. She received her PhD in Public Policy and MA in Economics from Duke University. Her research uses applied econometrics to investigate questions related to education policy, human development, and social inequality. She is particularly interested in the ways in which public school systems interact with other systems (such as criminal justice and housing) to shape long-term individual trajectories. Her research has been published in Economics of Education Review, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis and Educational Administration Quarterly, among others.