Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) Status
The Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART)
is a component of the President’s Management Agenda (PMA) that the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) developed to assess and improve
program performance so that the federal government can achieve better
results. A PART review helps identify a program’s strengths and
weaknesses to inform management decisions aimed at making the program
more effective.
OMB conducted the following PART reviews during FY 2005 with results
reported in FY 2006. The results of previous PART reviews are reported
in the FY 2004 and FY 2005 Performance and Accountability Reports (PAR).
The results of these reviews are used to inform the participants in the
planning and budgeting process and are published in the annual President’s
Budget and Performance Plan, submitted to Congress. OMB did not conduct
any PART reviews for programs appearing in the Management Integration
Goal during FY 2005.
TABLE 1: RESULTS OF THE OMB PART PROCESS1
NUMBER OF PART RESULTS
RATING |
RESULTS |
Effective |
6 |
Moderately Effective |
10 |
Adequate |
9 |
Results Not Demonstrated |
5 |
Totals |
30* |
|
Percentage of PARTS Rated
"Adequate" or Better:
83% |
PART RATINGS AND SCORES BY PROGRAM
PROGRAM |
RATING AND SCORE
|
Current Economic Statistics and Census of
Governments (Census) |
Moderately Effective – 83% |
Market Access and Compliance (ITA) |
Adequate – 58% |
Import Administration (ITA) |
Results Not Demonstrated |
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) (entire
bureau) |
Moderately Effective – 72% |
National Telecommunications and Information
Administration (NTIA) (entire bureau) |
Adequate – 62% |
Weather and Related Services (NOAA) |
Moderately Effective – 76% |
Ecosystem Research (NOAA) |
Adequate – 63% |
TABLE 2: PART SUMMARIES BY STRATEGIC GOAL
STRATEGIC GOAL 1: PROVIDE THE INFORMATION AND TOOLS TO MAXIMIZE U.S.
COMPETITIVENESS AND ENABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH FOR AMERICAN INDUSTRIES,
WORKERS, AND CONSUMERS
PROGRAM
NAME |
CURRENT ECONOMIC STATISTICS
(CES) AND CENSUS OF GOVERNMENTS |
Score
and Rating |
- Moderately Effective – 83%
|
Lead
Bureau |
|
Major
Findings/
Recommendations |
- These programs address the need to provide
comprehensive economic statistics, critical to understanding
the current conditions of the U.S. economy.
- Improve the relevance of CES data by improving measurement
of the services sector.
- Facilitate reporting and reduce burden through the use of
electronic reporting.
|
Actions
Taken/
Planned |
- Increased the number of current economic
survey reporting units filing electronically by 41 percent.
- Established quality management program for the Economic
Directorate.
- The Committee on National Statistics, a subsidiary of the
National Academy of Science, began its review of the Directorate’s
Census of Governments and corresponding current programs.
- Expand the Quarterly Services Survey to include Rental and
Leasing; the remainder of Health Care and Social Assistance;
Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation, and Other Services; and
increasing coverage to at least 25 percent of GDP.
|
PROGRAM
NAME |
MARKET ACCESS AND COMPLIANCE
(MAC) |
Score
and Rating |
|
Lead
Bureau |
- International Trade Administration (ITA)
|
Major
Findings/
Recommendations |
- MAC’s mission is clear. The U.S.
government seeks to ensure that its trading partners abide by
the commitments of their trade agreements and that U.S. companies
can enter foreign markets on a level-playing field. MAC supports
this by assisting U.S. industry with market access and trade
agreement compliance problems.
- MAC has developed new long-term performance measures that
will reflect program outcomes; however, MAC should also develop
efficiency measures. MAC should engage other federal agencies
to develop long-term shared goals regarding high-level trade
compliance issues.
- Overall, program management is strong. However, MAC would
benefit from implementation of a financial system that allows
staff to allocate time and operational costs to different activities
and enables management to readily identify how resources are
applied to key activities and goals.
|
Actions
Taken/
Planned |
- Developing measures to assess the efficiency
and cost-effectiveness of the program.
- Implementing a financial system to better track how resources
are applied to program goals.
- Working with other federal agencies to develop long-term
shared goals regarding high-level trade compliance issues.
|
PROGRAM
NAME |
IMPORT ADMINISTRATION (IA) |
Score
and Rating |
|
Lead
Bureau |
- International Trade Administration (ITA)
|
Major
Findings/
Recommendations |
- IA does not have long term measures that
address the program’s intended outcome, and therefore
results cannot be demonstrated. IA does have an annual measure
that indicates its efficiency in administering certain program
processes.
- Overall, IA is well-managed. However, it would benefit from
a program evaluation that assesses how well IA is accomplishing
its mission.
|
Actions
Taken/
Planned |
- Developing long-term measures and targets
that address the program’s intended mission.
- Conducting a program evaluation that addresses how well
the program is accomplishing its mission.
- Implementing a financial system to better track how resources
are applied to program goals.
|
PROGRAM
NAME |
BUREAU OF INDUSTRY AND SECURITY
(BIS) (ENTIRE BUREAU) |
Score
and Rating |
- Moderately Effective – 72%
|
Lead
Bureau |
- Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)
|
Major
Findings/
Recommendations |
- BIS’s purpose, design, and management
are strong; however it would benefit from an updated, reauthorized
Export Administration Act (EAA). A new act would clarify some
outdated control requirements, increase penalties for violations,
and specify interagency licensing processes.
- BIS has long-term and annual measures that relate to the program’s
goals, and targets are largely met, including those related
to increasing efficiency.
|
Actions
Taken/
Planned |
- Working to ensure passage of an updated
reauthorized EAA.
- Developing a measure to address the accuracy of the export
licensing process.
|
STRATEGIC GOAL 2: FOSTER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGICAL LEADERSHIP BY PROTECTING
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, ENHANCING TECHNICAL STANDARDS, AND ADVANCING
MEASUREMENT SCIENCE
PROGRAM
NAME |
NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS
AND INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION (NTIA)
(ENTIRE BUREAU) |
Score
and Rating |
|
Lead
Bureau |
- National Telecommunications and Information
Administration (NTIA)
|
Major
Findings/
Recommendations |
- NTIA coordinates executive branch telecommunications
policy, manages all spectrum use by federal government departments
and agencies, and examines how the radio spectrum is used and
managed in the United States.
- NTIA plays an important role in advancing the President’s
Spectrum Policy Initiative, engaging relevant parties in pursuit
of the President’s goals for spectrum use.
- NTIA lacks outcome measures and data to ensure that radio
spectrum allocation serves the greatest public benefit. As a
proxy, the program uses output-based measures, such as frequency
assignment processing speed. NTIA should continue efforts to
develop measures of economic efficiency of spectrum use, particularly
for the federal spectrum.
|
Actions
Taken/
Planned |
- Analyzing the costs and benefits of
the process by which spectrum is allocated in order to improve
efficiency of operations.
- Improving technical, procedural, and policy coordination
with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in order
to improve management of the radio spectrum.
- Developing methods to measure the economic efficiency of
spectrum use, considering opportunity costs and benefits.
|
STRATEGIC GOAL 3: OBSERVE, PROTECT, AND MANAGE THE EARTH'S
ENVIRONMENT TO PROMOTE ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP
PROGRAM
NAME |
WEATHER AND RELATED SERVICES |
Score
and Rating |
- Moderately Effective – 76%
|
Lead
Bureau |
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA)
|
Major
Findings/
Recommendations |
- The program has made progress in achieving
its long-term goals, particularly in improving accuracy and
timeliness of forecasts and warnings.
- One of the satellite programs has experienced significant
cost and schedule overruns which were caused by management and
technical problems. This program is at least 25 percent over
budget and the satellite launches are delayed by at least two
years.
|
Actions
Taken/
Planned |
- Investing in technology to improve
severe weather warning lead times.
- Instituting quarterly reporting on progress of satellite
programs.
|
PROGRAM
NAME |
ECOSYSTEM RESEARCH |
Score
and Rating |
|
Lead
Bureau |
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA)
|
Major
Findings/
Recommendations |
- Ecosystem Research addresses the need
for science in support of wise management of ocean and coastal
resources. The President’s U.S. Ocean Action Plan expressed
support for many of these activities, which were also emphasized
by two recent blue-ribbon panels, the U.S. Commission on Ocean
Policy and the Pew Oceans Commission.
- Some redundancies exist both within the components of Ecosystem
Research and between it and other federal efforts. Ecosystem
Research was established to begin to align different research
efforts within NOAA in order to address these redundancies.
In addition, other federal, state, and private organizations
have similar or shared responsibilities.
- Within some of the components of this program, program managers
have had difficulty influencing how resources are targeted to
ensure that the highest priority science needs are met. This
can be an issue for institutional programs, such as Sea Grant,
and for earmarked research projects.
|
Actions
Taken/
Planned |
- Assessing the portfolio of research
within NOAA’s Ecosystem Research program in order clarify
the role of each of the program’s components and eliminate
redundancies.
- Modifying planning and management processes so that research
activities meet the highest priority science needs and provide
a balanced response to local, regional, and national issues.
|
|