By: James Wall
June 22, 2023

Previously, professionals and policymakers have suggested using Performance-Based Funding in Public school programs, however, we think that it would be a perfect application for Results based accountability and Clear Impact Suite. This blog post will discuss traditional public school funding practices, Results-Based Accountability (RBA), Performance-Based Funding (PBF) and the similarities between RBA, Clear Impact Suite, and how Suite can be used to improve the performance and implementation of PBF in public schools, all in that order. In the section on RBA it will discuss the factors that RBA attempts to measure and how it uses them to improve performance. Additionally, how Suite can achieve RBA in public school programs.

Table of Contents:

  1. Overview of Traditional Public School Funding
  2. What is Results Based Accountability (RBA)?
  3. What is Performance Based Funding (PBF) and How Is It Similar to RBA?
  4. What Is Clear Impact Suite? 
  5. How can Suite and its Compyle and Scorecard Features be Used to Implement Performance-Based Funding in Public Schools?
  6. Helpful Links

1. Overview of Traditional Public School Funding

Progress in education has traditionally been measured using system inputs, such as dollars per student and number of students for each instructor. According to a Brookings piece written in 2016 “the current system is opaque by allocating revenue almost entirely upon student attendance or enrollment, which misaligns incentives for improving outcomes.”  We are now seeing a shift toward measuring outputs and using these measurements to help determine future funding. This challenge seems to be a perfect application for Results Based Accountability.

2. What is Results Based Accountability (RBA)?

Results Based Accountability (RBA) relies on performance measures, data that quantitatively measure the agency/division/ program’s performance. All performance measures are tailored to the specific situation and fit into one of four categories that answer the questions:

  • How much service was delivered?
  • How well was it delivered?
  • How much change was produced?
  • What quality of change was produced?

Ultimately, three universal performance measures are developed that tell us how much was done, how well it was done, and whether anyone is better off.

3. What is Performance Based Funding (PBF) and How Is It Similar to RBA?

School system performance-based funding is a system that is aimed at measuring outcomes to decide what approaches produce better outcomes. As mentioned earlier, traditional government funding techniques have been focused almost entirely on paying for inputs that need clear outcomes. Performance Based Funding (PBF) is a shift from this form of funding as it seeks to pay for inputs that achieve specific outcomes. According to the Brookings article “PBF can provide a new approach to improving educational outcomes beyond current practice while addressing systemic inefficiency.” PBF has seen success in higher education and as a result, policymakers are wondering whether its application can be expanded to K-12 education. Measurements of PBF in past applications have included “student retention rates, transfer rates from two- to four-year institutions, credit hours earned, graduation rates, degrees conferred, and job placement rates.” There are many similarities of note between Results Based Accountability and Performance-Based Funding. RBA measures performance through a series of questions that must be answered based on information collected on outcomes. As mentioned earlier, RBA measures How much service was delivered? How well was it delivered? How much change was produced? What quality of change was produced? These are all outcomes that could be used to measure the impact of teachers, lesson plans, and curricula in K-12 education. This is why Clear Impact Suite and its Scorecard feature would be a valuable addition to the toolbox of any school system looking to implement Performance Based Funding across the country.  It would be a valuable resource to use in implementing Performance-Based Funding in public school systems across the country. 

Clear Impact Software Suite

Collect, organize, analyze, and report the data you need to implement RBA effectively.

Schedule a custom, private demo of Clear Impact Suite. 

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4. What is Clear Impact Suite?

One of the programs offered by Clear Impact is Suite which is composed of Compyle (our client-level data collection software) and Scorecard (our performance and Impact management system) and they combine to form one Unified Data Management system in Clear Impact Suite. Using these systems separately can certainly aid individual Collective Impact efforts. When used together, however, they can actually streamline, align, and improve efforts across an entire Collective Impact network, such as multiple state-funded.  

Regional or county-level public education systems. It would be a valuable system to improve the ease and efficiency with which state governments can manage, track and allocate funding to school systems and districts within the state. Compyle alone allows collective action organizations to Automatically compile survey data and measure program performance inside it without using multiple systems. Scorecard allows organizations to track multiple individuals’ performances within the organization and upload them all in one place. Scorecard is entirely customizable and goals can be set for individuals to achieve within a set amount of time. Together, Scoreboard and Compyle as Suite is a versatile program for tracking organizational progress as a whole or in specific areas.

Clear Impact Scorecard and Compyle combine to form one Unified Data Management system in Clear Impact Suite.

5. How can Suite and its Compyle and Scorecard features Be Used to Implement Performance-based Funding in Public Schools?

So how can Clear Impact Suite be used to implement Performance-Based Funding in regional school systems and districts? The answer is that due to the similarities between Results Based Accountability and Performance Based Funding, Suite is the perfect tool to track results achieved through funding over a large area. One way that Suite could be used to track and improve performance in K-12 schools could be to have teachers input progress each week through lesson plans and curriculum material covered into Scorecard. Student attendance each day could also be input into the Scorecard to see how many students continue to attend class throughout the semester. Surveys could also be sent to Students regarding whether the material they are being taught is interesting and whether they feel engaged and excited to come to class. This could be measured using Compyle as it has a survey function that can be uploaded to produce graphs and other measurement tools.     

6. Helpful Links

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