Lessons Learned from Creating a
Performance Culture in a School
Reform Nonprofit
Eric Barela, Ph.D.
Partners in School Innovation
2011 American Evaluation Association Conference,
Anaheim, CA
Partners in School Innovation
• SF Bay Area-based nonprofit founded in 1993
• 30 employees
• Annual operating budget of approx $3.5 million
• PartnersSI supports schools in San Francisco,
Oakland, San Jose
Mission
To enable public schools in highpoverty Bay Area communities—
serving students of color and English
Learners—to achieve educational
equity through school-based reform
• We do this by providing coaching support
to existing teachers and school leaders
around effective data use.
Dilemma
• In 2008, PartnersSI was at a crossroads:
– Lack of clarity around program
– Culture of “private practice” with respect to program
implementation
– Intermittent tracking of student achievement results
– Uneven staff accountability, often perceived to be subjective
• Solution:
– Create Organizational Performance dept.
– Work toward incorporating a performance culture
Performance Culture
“An organization with a performance
culture is focused on mission
effectiveness (doing well what it says it
does) and mission fulfillment (doing it
well for as many as it reasonably—
maybe even unreasonably—can).”
(Morino, 2011)
PartnersSI Two-pronged Approach
Design and Implementation
• Performance measurement strategy
• Management roles and
responsibilities
• Metrics, tools and data system
• Reporting and communication of
results
Organizational Performance
Department
Design and Implementation
• Performance Measurement Strategy
– Evaluate and report on program AND organizational
effectiveness
– Develop and manage measurement tools/processes
– Inform relevant external communities of PartnersSI work
– As an org matures, performance measurement processes
should evolve into evaluation processes (Forti, 2011; Price,
2011)
• Management Roles/Responsibilities
– Dedicated Organizational Performance dept.
– Defined management roles around monitoring and managing
individual performance
Design and Implementation
• Metrics/Tools/Data System
– Appropriate, relevant, timely data collection
(Collecting the right data to measure impact in the
right ways at the right time)
– Data collection across all org departments
•
•
•
•
•
Program implementation
Student achievement
Fundraising capacity
Effectiveness of internal business, HR processes
Usefulness of Organizational Performance reports
Design and Implementation
• Reporting and Communication of Results
– Relevant, timely, consistent reporting
– Transparency around formative and summative data
• However, offering an increased amount of
data without systems to support data use
won’t improve performance (Price, 2011).
PartnersSI Two-pronged Approach
Design and Implementation
• Performance measurement strategy
• Management roles and
responsibilities
• Metrics, tools and data system
• Reporting and communication of
results
Organizational Performance
Department
Change Management
• Theory of change
• Learning from results
• Culture of learning at all levels
• Staff engagement and buy-in
Theory of Change
Consistent, highquality delivery of
PartnersSI
approach
Increased school
capacity in
leadership,
professional learning,
and instruction
What we do
What school
staff do
Breakthrough
student
achievement
What students do
Change Management
• Learning from Results
– Relevant, timely, consistent reporting AND
analysis/interpretation assistance
• Culture of Learning at All Levels
–
–
–
–
Field staff
Managers
Cabinet
Board of Directors
• Staff engagement and buy-in
–
–
–
–
Consistency
Transparency
Relevance
Evidence of learning from results
Elements of Performance Culture
• Mission Measurement (2008)
– Internal drivers for measuring performance
– Leadership values performance data
– Outcomes-driven strategy (“whatever it takes
to achieve our objectives…”)
– Continuous improvement via reflection and
adjustment
– 20% of nonprofits operate this way,
PartnersSI is striving to be in that 20%!
• For copies of my slides or for additional
information:
[email protected]