Assessing New Public Mana gement's Focus on Performance Measurement in the Public Sector

Abstract

New Public Management, with its emphasis on debureaucratization, decentralization, and accountability, has attempted to make public sector organizations function in the same way as those in the private sector. Its implications for traditional governmental entities, including the public school system, are yet to be fully determined. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 was intended to decrease achievement gaps caused by race, class, first language, and learning abilities. The act's foci of accountability, testing, sanctions, and rewards in the educational process are central to the federal government's framework for shaping the goals and outcomes of educational policy across the United States. The present research indicates that the development and use of performance measures to hold educators accountable and improve performance is limited by organized employee groups and enhanced by minority student populations. At this time, significant increases in student performance as a result of NCLB efforts are not evidenced.