Designing a National Performance Measurement System

Abstract

During the past two decades, prison executives have begun to use performance-based management more extensively and frequently. The purpose of performance measurement is to assure accountability by translating agency missions into measurable outcomes, setting performance targets, regularly monitoring performance, and working toward quality improvement. Success among state departments of corrections in improving performance through results-driven management led the Association of State Correctional Administrators (ASCA) to begin an initiative to establish a national performance measurement system. A national system would clarify misunderstandings, establish standards, design measurable outcomes, allow cross-agency evaluations, encourage management to be future oriented, and provide motivation for using performance-based management with the profession. This article reviews ASCA's efforts to select measures of correctional performance, identify indicators of those measures, and specify measurement rules.