Defining, improving, and communicating program quality

Abstract

Throughout the world, both in government and in the not-for-profit sector, policymakers and managers are grappling with closely-related problems that include highly politicized environments, demanding constituencies, public expectations for high quality services, aggressive media scrutiny, and tight resource constraints. One potential solution that is getting increasing attention is performance-based management or managing for results: the purposeful use of resources and information to achieve and demonstrate measurable progress toward agency and program goals, especially goals related to service quality and outcomes (see Hatry, 1990; S. Rep. No. 103-58, 1993; Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 1996; United Way of America, 1996).

Citation

Wholey, J.S. (2001), "Defining, improving, and communicating program quality", Benson, A.P., Michelle Hinn, D. and Lloyd, C. (Ed.) Vision of Quality: How Evaluators Define, Understand and Represent Program Quality (Advances in Program Evaluation, Vol. 7), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 201-216. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-7863(01)80073-9