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Do Job Corps performance measures track program impacts?

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Z. Schochet

    (Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.)

  • John A. Burghardt

    (Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.)

Abstract

Since the 1993 Government Performance and Results Act, performance measurement systems based on short-term program outcomes have been increasingly used to assess the effectiveness of federal programs. This paper examines the association between program performance measures and long-term program impacts, using nine-year follow-up data from a recent large-scale, national experimental evaluation of Job Corps, the nation's largest federal job training program for disadvantaged youths. Job Corps is an important test case because it uses a comprehensive performance system that is widely emulated. We find that impacts on key outcomes are not associated with measured center performance levels. Participants in higherperforming centers had better outcomes; however, the same pattern holds for comparable controls. Thus, the performance measurement system is not achieving the goal of ranking and rewarding centers on the basis of their ability to improve participant outcomes relative to what these outcomes would have been otherwise. © 2008 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Z. Schochet & John A. Burghardt, 2008. "Do Job Corps performance measures track program impacts?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(3), pages 556-576.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jpamgt:v:27:y:2008:i:3:p:556-576
    DOI: 10.1002/pam.20356
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Cragg, Michael, 1997. "Performance Incentives in the Public Sector: Evidence from the Job Training Partnership Act," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(1), pages 147-168, April.
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    10. Terry Johnson & Mark Gritz & Russell Jackson & John Burghardt & Carol Boussy & Jan Leonard & Carlyn Orians, 1999. "National Job Corps Study: Report on the Process Analysis," Mathematica Policy Research Reports efc0cd05f0524a049779f797f, Mathematica Policy Research.
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    Cited by:

    1. Joanne Lee & Peter Z. Schochet & Jillian Berk, "undated". "The External Review of Job Corps: Directions for Future Research," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 376221bbee0d4b40bda431a16, Mathematica Policy Research.
    2. Burt S. Barnow & Jeffrey Smith, 2015. "Employment and Training Programs," NBER Chapters, in: Economics of Means-Tested Transfer Programs in the United States, Volume 2, pages 127-234, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Jesse Rothstein & Till von Wachter, 2016. "Social Experiments in the Labor Market," NBER Working Papers 22585, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Flores-Lagunes, Alfonso & Gonzalez, Arturo & Neumann, Todd C., 2007. "Estimating the Effects of Length of Exposure to a Training Program: The Case of Job Corps," IZA Discussion Papers 2846, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Sameh Hallaq, 2020. "The Palestinian Labor Market over the Last Three Decades," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_976, Levy Economics Institute.
    6. Jane Fortson & Peter Z. Schochet, "undated". "Analysis of Associations Between Contemporaneous Job Corps Performance Measures and Impact Estimates from the National Job Corps Study," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 66ddefe84fb84c1e9a0666e17, Mathematica Policy Research.
    7. repec:mpr:mprres:7650 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Douglas J. Besharov, 2009. "Presidential address: From the Great Society to continuous improvement government: Shifting from “does it work?” to “what would make it better?”," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(2), pages 199-220.

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