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AO United States
]y I& General Accounting Office
Washington, D.C. 20548
General Government Division
B-270953
February 14, 1996
The Honorable John A. Koskinen
Deputy Director for Management
Office of Management and Budget
Dear Mr. Koskinen:
This letter summarizes our initial observations on selected agencies' first
attempts to report on their performance in the pilot phase of the Government
Performance and Results Act (GPRA). As you know, GPRA seeks to improve
the effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability of federal programs by having
agencies focus their management practices on the results, or outcomes, that
federal programs strive to achieve. Under GPRA, agencies will be required to
report annually on the performance of their programs to provide
policymakers, federal managers, and the public with the information needed
to assess what government is accomplishing with the money it spends.
GPRA requires each agency to develop a strategic plan to lay out its mission,
long-term goals and objectives, and strategies for achieving those goals and
objectives. In addition, it requires, beginning with fiscal year 1999, each
agency to produce an annual performance plan containing (1) the annual
performance goals for gauging progress made toward achieving longer term
strategic goals and (2) the performance measures to be used for assessing the
progress the agency has made toward achieving annual performance goals.'
'GPRA defines a performance goal as the target level of performance (either
output or outcome) expressed as a tangible, measurable objective, against
which achievement is to be compared. If performance goals cannot be
expressed in quantitative terms, GPRA allows the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) to authorize an alternative form of a goal, including a
description of a successful and minimally effective program or other criteria,
both stated with enough precision to permit independent assessment of
performance. None of the pilot reports we reviewed expressed goals in these
alternative forms.
GAO/GGD-96-66R GPRA Performance Reports
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