Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Federal Teacher Quality Programs
Gao ID: GAO-11-510T April 13, 2011This testimony discusses the findings from our recent work on fragmentation, overlap, and potential duplication in federally funded programs that support teacher quality. We recently issued a report addressing fragmentation, overlap, and potential duplication in federal programs that outlined opportunities to reduce potential duplication across a wide range of federal programs, including teacher quality programs. Our recent work on teacher quality programs builds on a long history of work where we identified a number of education programs with similar goals, beneficiaries, and allowable activities that are administered by multiple federal agencies. This work may help inform congressional deliberations over how to prioritize spending given the rapidly building fiscal pressures facing our nation's government. In recent years, the Department of Education (Education) has faced expanded responsibilities that have challenged the department to strategically allocate resources to balance new duties with ongoing ones. For example, we reported the number of grants Education awarded increased from about 14,000 in 2000 to about 21,000 just 2 years later and has since remained around 18,000, even as the number of full-time equivalent staff decreased by 13 percent from fiscal years 2000 to 2009. New programs often increase Education's workload, requiring staff to develop new guidance and provide technical assistance to program participants. Our work examining fragmentation, overlap, and potential duplication can help inform decisions on how to prioritize spending, which could also help Education address these challenges and better allocate scarce resources. In particular, our recent work identified 82 programs supporting teacher quality, which are characterized by fragmentation and overlap. Fragmentation of programs exists when programs serve the same broad area of national need but are administered across different federal agencies or offices. Program overlap exists when multiple agencies or programs have similar goals, engage in similar activities or strategies to achieve them, or target similar beneficiaries. Overlap and fragmentation among government programs or activities can be harbingers of unnecessary duplication. Given the challenges associated with fragmentation, overlap, and potential duplication, careful, thoughtful actions will be needed to address these issues. This testimony draws upon the results of our recently issued report and our past work and addresses (1) what is known about fragmentation, overlap, and potential duplication among teacher quality programs; and (2) what are additional ways that Congress could minimize fragmentation, overlap, and duplication among these programs?
We identified 82 distinct programs designed to help improve teacher quality administered across 10 federal agencies, many of which share similar goals. However, there is no governmentwide strategy to minimize fragmentation, overlap, or potential duplication among these programs. The fragmentation and overlap of teacher quality programs can frustrate agency efforts to administer programs in a comprehensive manner, limit the ability to determine which programs are most cost effective, and ultimately increase program costs. In addition, our larger body of work on federal education programs has also found a wide array of programs with similar objectives, target populations, and services across multiple federal agencies. In past work, GAO and Education's Inspector General have concluded that improved planning and coordination could help Education better leverage expertise and limited resources; however, given the large number of teacher quality programs and the extent of overlap, it is unlikely that improved coordination alone can fully mitigate the effects of the fragmented and overlapping federal effort. Sustained congressional oversight can also play a key role in addressing these issues. Congress could address these issues through legislation, particularly through the pending reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), and Education has already proposed combining 38 programs into 11 programs in its reauthorization and fiscal year 2012 budget proposals. Further, actions taken by Congress in the past demonstrate ways this Subcommittee can address these issues. However, effective oversight may be challenging as many of the programs we identified, especially smaller programs, have not been evaluated.
GAO-11-510T, Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Federal Teacher Quality Programs
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United States Government Accountability Office:
GAO:
Testimony:
Before the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services,
Education, and Related Agencies, Committee on Appropriations, House of
Representatives:
For Release on Delivery:
Expected at 10:00 a.m. EDT:
Wednesday, April 13, 2011:
Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Federal Teacher
Quality Programs:
Statement of George A. Scott, Director:
Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues:
GAO-11-510T:
Chairman Rehberg, Ranking Member DeLauro, and Members of the
Subcommittee:
Thank you for inviting me here today to discuss the findings from our
recent work on fragmentation, overlap, and potential duplication in
federally funded programs that support teacher quality. As you know,
we recently issued a report addressing fragmentation, overlap, and
potential duplication in federal programs that outlined opportunities
to reduce potential duplication across a wide range of federal
programs, including teacher quality programs.[Footnote 1] Our recent
work on teacher quality programs builds on a long history of work
where we identified a number of education programs with similar goals,
beneficiaries, and allowable activities that are administered by
multiple federal agencies. This work may help inform your
deliberations over how to prioritize spending given the rapidly
building fiscal pressures facing our nation's government.
In recent years, the Department of Education (Education) has faced
expanded responsibilities that have challenged the department to
strategically allocate resources to balance new duties with ongoing
ones. For example, we reported the number of grants Education awarded
increased from about 14,000 in 2000 to about 21,000 just 2 years later
and has since remained around 18,000, even as the number of full-time
equivalent staff decreased by 13 percent from fiscal years 2000 to
2009.[Footnote 2] New programs often increase Education's workload,
requiring staff to develop new guidance and provide technical
assistance to program participants. Our work examining fragmentation,
overlap, and potential duplication can help inform decisions on how to
prioritize spending, which could also help Education address these
challenges and better allocate scarce resources. In particular, our
recent work identified 82 programs supporting teacher quality, which
are characterized by fragmentation and overlap.[Footnote 3]
Fragmentation of programs exists when programs serve the same broad
area of national need but are administered across different federal
agencies or offices. Program overlap exists when multiple agencies or
programs have similar goals, engage in similar activities or
strategies to achieve them, or target similar beneficiaries. Overlap
and fragmentation among government programs or activities can be
harbingers of unnecessary duplication. Given the challenges associated
with fragmentation, overlap, and potential duplication, careful,
thoughtful actions will be needed to address these issues.
My testimony today draws upon the results of our recently issued
report and our past work and addresses (1) what is known about
fragmentation, overlap, and potential duplication among teacher
quality programs; and (2) what are additional ways that Congress could
minimize fragmentation, overlap, and duplication among these programs?
The key points I will make today include the following:
* We identified 82 distinct programs designed to help improve teacher
quality administered across 10 federal agencies, many of which share
similar goals. However, there is no governmentwide strategy to
minimize fragmentation, overlap, or potential duplication among these
programs. The fragmentation and overlap of teacher quality programs
can frustrate agency efforts to administer programs in a comprehensive
manner, limit the ability to determine which programs are most cost
effective, and ultimately increase program costs. In addition, our
larger body of work on federal education programs has also found a
wide array of programs with similar objectives, target populations,
and services across multiple federal agencies. In past work, GAO and
Education's Inspector General have concluded that improved planning
and coordination could help Education better leverage expertise and
limited resources; however, given the large number of teacher quality
programs and the extent of overlap, it is unlikely that improved
coordination alone can fully mitigate the effects of the fragmented
and overlapping federal effort.
* Sustained congressional oversight can also play a key role in
addressing these issues. Congress could address these issues through
legislation, particularly through the pending reauthorization of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA),[Footnote 4] and
Education has already proposed combining 38 programs into 11 programs
in its reauthorization and fiscal year 2012 budget proposals. Further,
actions taken by Congress in the past demonstrate ways this
Subcommittee can address these issues. However, effective oversight
may be challenging as many of the programs we identified, especially
smaller programs, have not been evaluated.
In preparing this statement, we relied on our previous work in these
areas (please see the Related GAO Products list at the end of this
statement). These products contain detailed overviews of the scope and
methodology we used. The work on which this statement is based was
performed in accordance with generally accepted government auditing
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform audits to
obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis
for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We
believe that the evidence obtained provided a reasonable basis for our
findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
Proliferation of Programs That Support Teacher Quality Complicates
Federal Efforts to Invest Dollars Effectively:
In fiscal year 2009, the federal government spent over $4 billion
specifically to improve the quality of our nation's 3 million teachers
through numerous programs across the government. Teacher quality can
be enhanced through a variety of activities, including training,
recruitment, and curriculum and assessment tools. In turn, these
activities can influence student learning and ultimately improve the
global competitiveness of the American workforce in a knowledge-based
economy.
Federal efforts to improve teacher quality have led to the creation
and expansion of a variety of programs across the federal government.
However, there is no governmentwide strategy to minimize
fragmentation, overlap, or potential duplication among these programs.
Specifically, GAO identified 82 distinct programs designed to help
improve teacher quality, either as a primary purpose or as an
allowable activity, administered across 10 federal agencies. Many of
these programs share similar goals. For example, 9 of the 82 programs
support improving the quality of teaching in science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM subjects) and these programs alone
are administered across the Departments of Education, Defense, and
Energy; the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; and the
National Science Foundation. Further, in fiscal year 2010, the
majority (53) of the programs GAO identified supporting teacher
quality improvements received $50 million or less in funding and many
have their own separate administrative processes.
The proliferation of programs has resulted in fragmentation that can
frustrate agency efforts to administer programs in a comprehensive
manner, limit the ability to determine which programs are most cost
effective, and ultimately increase program costs. For example, eight
different Education offices administer over 60 of the federal programs
supporting teacher quality improvements, primarily in the form of
competitive grants. Education officials believe that federal programs
have failed to make significant progress in helping states close
achievement gaps between schools serving students from different
socioeconomic backgrounds, because, in part, federal programs that
focus on teaching and learning of specific subjects are too fragmented
to help state and district officials strengthen instruction and
increase student achievement in a comprehensive manner. While
Education officials noted, and GAO concurs, that a mixture of programs
can target services to underserved populations and yield strategic
innovations, the current programs are not structured in a way that
enables educators and policymakers to identify the most effective
practices to replicate. According to Education officials, it is
typically not cost-effective to allocate the funds necessary to
conduct rigorous evaluations of small programs; therefore, small
programs are unlikely to be evaluated. Finally, it is more costly to
administer multiple separate federal programs because each program has
its own policies, applications, award competitions, reporting
requirements, and, in some cases, federal evaluations.
While all of the 82 federal programs GAO identified support teacher
quality improvement efforts, several overlap in that they share more
than one key program characteristic. For example, teacher quality
programs may overlap if they share similar objectives, serve similar
target groups, or fund similar activities. GAO previously reported
that 23 of the programs administered by Education in fiscal year 2009
had improving teacher quality as a specific focus, which suggested
that there may be overlap among these and other programs that have
teacher quality improvements as an allowable activity. When looking
across a broader set of criteria, GAO found that 14 of the programs
administered by Education overlapped with another program with regard
to allowable activities as well as shared objectives and target groups
(see figure 1). For example, the Transition to Teaching program and
Teacher Quality Partnership Grant program can both be used to fund
similar teacher preparation activities through institutions of higher
education for the purpose of helping individuals from nonteaching
fields become qualified to teach.
Figure 1: Areas of Overlap among Selected Programs Administered by
Education That Support Teacher Quality Improvement:
[Refer to PDF for image: illustrated table]
Objective: Improve Education in Specific Subjects;
Even Start[A]: [Check];
Striving Readers[A]: [Check];
Mathematics and Science Partnerships[A]: [Check];
Improving Teacher Quality State Grants[A]: [Empty];
Title I, Part A: [Empty];
School Improvement Grants: [Empty];
Transition to Teaching[A]: [Empty];
Advanced Certification or Advanced Credentialing[A]: [Empty];
Teacher Quality Partnership Grants[A]: [Empty];
Language Resource Centers: [Check]; [Empty];
Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow Program: Baccalaureate[A]: [Check];
Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow: Masters[A]: [Check];
Foreign Language Assistance Program[A]: [Check];
Teach for America[A]: [Empty].
Objective: Improve Education in General;
Even Start[A]: [Check];
Striving Readers[A]: [Check];
Mathematics and Science Partnerships[A]: [Check];
Improving Teacher Quality State Grants[A]: [Check];
Title I, Part A: [Check];
School Improvement Grants: [Check];
Transition to Teaching[A]: [Check];
Advanced Certification or Advanced Credentialing[A]: [Check];
Teacher Quality Partnership Grants[A]: [Check];
Language Resource Centers: [Check];
Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow Program: Baccalaureate[A]: [Check];
Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow: Masters[A]: [Check];
Foreign Language Assistance Program[A]: [Check];
Teach for America[A]: [Check].
Objective: Improve Education for Special Populations;
Even Start[A]: [Check];
Striving Readers[A]: [Check];
Mathematics and Science Partnerships[A]: [Empty];
Improving Teacher Quality State Grants[A]: [Check];
Title I, Part A: [Check];
School Improvement Grants: [Check];
Transition to Teaching[A]: [Check];
Advanced Certification or Advanced Credentialing[A]: [Check];
Teacher Quality Partnership Grants[A]: [Empty];
Language Resource Centers: [Empty];
Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow Program: Baccalaureate[A]: [Check];
Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow: Masters[A]: [Check];
Foreign Language Assistance Program[A]: [Empty];
Teach for America[A]: [Check].
Target Group: Current Teachers;
Even Start[A]: [Check];
Striving Readers[A]: [Check];
Mathematics and Science Partnerships[A]: [Check];
Improving Teacher Quality State Grants[A]: [Check];
Title I, Part A: [Check];
School Improvement Grants: [Check];
Transition to Teaching[A]: [Empty];
Advanced Certification or Advanced Credentialing[A]: [Check];
Teacher Quality Partnership Grants[A]:
Language Resource Centers: [Check];
Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow Program: Baccalaureate[A]:
Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow: Masters[A]: [Check];
Foreign Language Assistance Program[A]: [Check];
Teach for America[A]: [Empty].
Target Group: Prospective Teachers;
Even Start[A]: [Empty];
Striving Readers[A]: [Empty];
Mathematics and Science Partnerships[A]: [Empty];
Improving Teacher Quality State Grants[A]: [Check];
Title I, Part A: [Empty];
School Improvement Grants: [Empty];
Transition to Teaching[A]: [Check];
Advanced Certification or Advanced Credentialing[A]: [Empty];
Teacher Quality Partnership Grants[A]: [Empty];
Language Resource Centers: [Empty];
Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow Program: Baccalaureate[A]: [Check];
Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow: Masters[A]: [Check];
Foreign Language Assistance Program[A]: [Empty];
Teach for America[A]: [Check].
Target Group: Other Education Professionals;
Even Start[A]: [Check];
Striving Readers[A]: [Check];
Mathematics and Science Partnerships[A]: [Empty];
Improving Teacher Quality State Grants[A]: [Check];
Title I, Part A: [Check];
School Improvement Grants: [Check];
Transition to Teaching[A]: [Empty];
Advanced Certification or Advanced Credentialing[A]: [Empty];
Teacher Quality Partnership Grants[A]: [Empty];
Language Resource Centers: [Check];
Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow Program: Baccalaureate[A]: [Empty];
Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow: Masters[A]: [Empty];
Foreign Language Assistance Program[A]: [Empty];
Teach for America[A]: [Empty].
Activity[B]: Teacher Preparation;
Even Start[A]: [Empty];
Striving Readers[A]: [Empty];
Mathematics and Science Partnerships[A]: [Empty];
Improving Teacher Quality State Grants[A]: [Check];
Title I, Part A: [Empty];
School Improvement Grants: [Empty];
Transition to Teaching[A]: [Check];
Advanced Certification or Advanced Credentialing[A]: [Empty];
Teacher Quality Partnership Grants[A]: [Check];
Language Resource Centers: [Empty];
Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow Program: Baccalaureate[A]: [Check];
Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow: Masters[A]: [Check];
Foreign Language Assistance Program[A]: [Empty];
Teach for America[A]: [Check].
Activity[B]: Professional Development;
Even Start[A]: [Check];
Striving Readers[A]: [Check];
Mathematics and Science Partnerships[A]: [Check];
Improving Teacher Quality State Grants[A]: [Check];
Title I, Part A: [Check];
School Improvement Grants: [Check];
Transition to Teaching[A]: [Empty];
Advanced Certification or Advanced Credentialing[A]: [Empty];
Teacher Quality Partnership Grants[A]: [Check];
Language Resource Centers: [Check];
Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow Program: Baccalaureate[A]: [Check];
Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow: Masters[A]: [Check];
Foreign Language Assistance Program[A]: [Check];
Teach for America[A]: [Empty].
Activity[B]: Recruitment or Retention;
Even Start[A]: [Empty];
Striving Readers[A]: [Empty];
Mathematics and Science Partnerships[A]: [Check];
Improving Teacher Quality State Grants[A]: [Check];
Title I, Part A: [Check];
School Improvement Grants: [Check];
Transition to Teaching[A]: [Check];
Advanced Certification or Advanced Credentialing[A]: [Check];
Teacher Quality Partnership Grants[A]: [Check];
Language Resource Centers: [Empty];
Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow Program: Baccalaureate[A]: [Check];
Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow: Masters[A]: [Check];
Foreign Language Assistance Program[A]: [Empty];
Teach for America[A]: [Empty].
Activity[B]: Certification or Licensure;
Even Start[A]: [Empty];
Striving Readers[A]: [Empty];
Mathematics and Science Partnerships[A]: [Empty];
Improving Teacher Quality State Grants[A]: [Check];
Title I, Part A: [Empty];
School Improvement Grants: [Empty];
Transition to Teaching[A]: [Check];
Advanced Certification or Advanced Credentialing[A]: [Check];
Teacher Quality Partnership Grants[A]: [Check];
Language Resource Centers: [Empty];
Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow Program: Baccalaureate[A]: [Check];
Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow: Masters[A]: [Check];
Foreign Language Assistance Program[A]: [Empty];
Teach for America[A]: [Empty].
Activity[B]: Induction or Mentoring;
Even Start[A]: [Empty];
Striving Readers[A]: [Empty];
Mathematics and Science Partnerships[A]: [Empty];
Improving Teacher Quality State Grants[A]: [Check];
Title I, Part A: [Empty];
School Improvement Grants: [Empty];
Transition to Teaching[A]: [Check];
Advanced Certification or Advanced Credentialing[A]: [Empty];
Teacher Quality Partnership Grants[A]: [Check];
Language Resource Centers: [Empty];
Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow Program: Baccalaureate[A]: [Check];
Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow: Masters[A]: [Empty];
Foreign Language Assistance Program[A]: [Empty];
Teach for America[A]: [Check].
Source: GAO analysis of Department of Education documents and
interviews.
Note: The 14 programs shown in the table are a subset of over 60
Education programs supporting teacher quality improvement either
specifically or as an allowable activity. Specifically, although Title
I, Part A, School Improvement Grants, and Even Start allow program
funds to be used for teacher quality activities, this is not their
primary focus. The 14 programs presented above overlapped with at
least one other program across objective, target group, and activity.
[A] Education has proposed consolidating this program under a broader
program in its proposal for the reauthorization of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965.
[B] This is not an exhaustive list of activities allowed under these
programs, but rather the activities GAO determined were most relevant
for the purposes of this analysis.
[End of figure]
Although there is overlap among these programs, several factors make
it difficult to determine whether there is unnecessary duplication.
First, when similar teacher quality activities are funded through
different programs and delivered by different entities, some overlap
can occur unintentionally, but is not necessarily wasteful. For
example, a local school district could use funds from the Foreign
Language Assistance program to pay for professional development for a
teacher who will be implementing a new foreign language course, and
this teacher could also attend a summer seminar on best practices for
teaching the foreign language at a Language Resource Center. Second,
by design, individual teachers may benefit from federally funded
training or financial support at different points in their careers.
Specifically, the teacher from this example could also receive teacher
certification through a program funded by the Teachers for a
Competitive Tomorrow program. Further, both broad and narrowly
targeted programs exist simultaneously, meaning that the same teacher
who receives professional development funded from any one or more of
the above three programs might also receive professional development
that is funded through Title I, Part A of ESEA. The actual content of
these professional development activities may differ though, since the
primary goal of each program is different. In this example, it would
be difficult to know whether the absence of any one of these programs
would make a difference in terms of the teacher's ability to teach the
new language effectively.
In addition, our larger body of work on federal education programs has
also found a wide array of programs with similar objectives, target
populations, and services across multiple federal agencies. This
includes a number of efforts to catalogue and determine how much is
spent on a wide variety of federally funded education programs. For
example:
* In 2010, we reported that the federal government provided an
estimated $166.9 billion over the 3-year period during fiscal years
2006 to 2008 to administer 151 different federal K-12 and early
childhood education programs.[Footnote 5]
* In 2005, we identified 207 federal education programs that support
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) administered
by 13 federal civilian agencies.[Footnote 6]
In past work, GAO and Education's Inspector General have concluded
that improved planning and coordination could help Education better
leverage expertise and limited resources, and to anticipate and
develop options for addressing potential problems among the multitude
of programs it administers. Generally, GAO has reported that
uncoordinated program efforts can waste scarce funds, confuse and
frustrate program customers, and limit the overall effectiveness of
the federal effort. GAO identified key practices that can help enhance
and sustain collaboration among federal agencies[Footnote 7] which
include:
* establishing mutually reinforcing or joint strategies to achieve the
outcome;
* identifying and addressing needs by leveraging resources;
* agreeing upon agency roles and responsibilities;
* establishing compatible policies, procedures, and other means to
operate across agency boundaries;
* developing mechanisms to monitor, evaluate, and report on the
results of collaborative efforts;
* reinforcing agency accountability for collaborative efforts through
agency plans and reports; and:
* reinforcing individual accountability for collaborative efforts
through agency performance management systems.
In 2009, GAO recommended that the Secretary of Education work with
other agencies as appropriate to develop a coordinated approach for
routinely and systematically sharing information that can assist
federal programs, states, and local providers in achieving efficient
service delivery. Education has established working groups to help
develop more effective collaboration across Education offices, and has
reached out to other agencies to develop a framework for sharing
information on some teacher quality activities, but it has noted that
coordination efforts do not always prove useful and cannot fully
eliminate barriers to program alignment, such as programs with
differing definitions for similar populations of grantees, which
create an impediment to coordination. However, given the large number
of teacher quality programs and the extent of overlap, it is unlikely
that improved coordination alone can fully mitigate the effects of the
fragmented and overlapping federal effort. In our work we have
identified multiple barriers to collaboration, including the
conflicting missions of agencies; challenges reaching consensus on
priorities; and incompatible procedures, processes, data, and computer
systems.
Options for Congress to Consider as It Addresses Fragmentation,
Overlap, and Potential Duplication:
As this Subcommittee considers its annual spending priorities, it may
be an opportune time to consider options for addressing fragmentation
and overlap among federal teacher quality programs and what is known
about how well these programs are achieving their objectives. As you
consider options for how to address fragmentation, overlap, and
potential duplication, I would like to highlight three approaches for
you to consider:
1. enhancing program evaluations and performance information;
2. fostering coordination and strategic planning for program areas
that span multiple federal agencies; and:
3. consolidating existing programs.
Enhancing Program Evaluations and Performance Information:
Information about the effectiveness of programs can help guide
policymakers and program managers in making tough decisions about how
to prioritize the use of scarce resources and improve the efficiency
of existing programs. However, there can be many challenges to
obtaining this information. For example, it may not be cost-effective
to allocate the funds necessary to conduct rigorous evaluations of the
many small programs and, as a result, these programs are unlikely to
be evaluated. As we have reported, many programs, especially smaller
programs, have not been evaluated, which can limit the ability of
Congress to make informed decisions about which programs to continue,
expand, modify, consolidate, or eliminate. For example:
* In 2009, we also reported that while evaluations have been
conducted, or are under way, for about two-fifths of the 23 teacher
quality programs we identified, little is known about the extent to
which most programs are achieving their desired results.
* In 2010, GAO reported that there were 151 different federal K-12 and
early childhood education programs[Footnote 8] but that more than half
of these programs have not been evaluated, including 8 of the 20
largest programs, which together account for about 90 percent of total
funding for these programs.
Recognizing the importance of program evaluations, as part of its high
priority performance goals in its 2011 budget and performance plan,
Education has proposed implementation of a comprehensive approach to
inform its policies and major initiatives. Specifically, it has
proposed to 1) increase by two-thirds the number of its discretionary
programs that use evaluation, performance measures, and other program
data, 2) implement rigorous evaluations of its highest priority
programs and initiatives, and 3) ensure that newly authorized
discretionary programs include a rigorous evaluation component.
However, Education has noted that linking performance of specific
outcomes to federal education programs is complicated. For example,
federal education funds often support state or local efforts, making
it difficult to assess the federal contribution to performance of
specific outcomes, and it can be difficult to isolate the effect of a
single program given the multitude of programs that could potentially
affect outcomes.
There are also governmentwide strategies that may play an important
role. Specifically, in January 2011, the President signed the GPRA
Modernization Act of 2010 (GPRAMA),[Footnote 9] updating the almost
two-decades-old Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA).
[Footnote 10] Implementing provisions of the new act--such as its
emphasis on establishing outcome-oriented goals covering a limited
number of crosscutting policy areas--could play an important role in
clarifying desired outcomes and addressing program performance
spanning multiple organizations. Specifically, GPRAMA requires (1)
disclosure of information about the accuracy and reliability of
performance data, (2) identification of crosscutting management
challenges, and (3) quarterly reporting on priority goals on a
publicly available Web site. Additionally, GPRAMA significantly
enhances requirements for agencies to consult with Congress when
establishing or adjusting governmentwide and agency goals. The Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) and agencies are to consult with
relevant committees, obtaining majority and minority views, about
proposed goals at least once every 2 years. This information can
inform deliberations on spending priorities and help re-examine the
fundamental structure, operation, funding, and performance of a number
of federal education programs. However, to be successful, it will be
important for agencies to build the analytical capacity to both use
the performance information, and to ensure its quality--both in terms
of staff trained to do the analysis and availability of research and
evaluation resources.[Footnote 11]
Fostering Coordination and Strategic Planning for Program Areas That
Span Multiple Federal Agencies:
Where programs cross federal agencies, Congress can establish
requirements to ensure federal agencies are working together on common
goals. For example, Congress mandated--through the America COMPETES
Reauthorization Act of 2007--that the Office of Science and Technology
Policy develop and maintain an inventory of STEM education programs
including documentation of the effectiveness of these programs, assess
the potential overlap and duplication of these programs, determine the
extent of evaluations, and develop a 5-year strategic plan for STEM
education, among other things.[Footnote 12] In establishing these
requirements, Congress put in place a set of requirements to provide
information to inform its decisions about strategic priorities.
Consolidating Existing Programs:
Consolidating existing programs is another option for Congress to
address fragmentation, overlap, and duplication. In the education
area, Congress consolidated several bilingual education programs into
the English Language Acquisition State Grant Program as part of the
2001 ESEA reauthorization. As we reported prior to the consolidation,
existing bilingual programs shared the same goals, targeted the same
types of children, and provided similar services. In consolidating
these programs, Congress gave state and local educational agencies
greater flexibility in the design and administration of language
instructional programs. Congress has another opportunity to address
these issues through the pending reauthorization of the ESEA.
Specifically, to minimize any wasteful fragmentation and overlap among
teacher quality programs, Congress may choose either to eliminate
programs that are too small to evaluate cost effectively or to combine
programs serving similar target groups into a larger program.
Education has already proposed combining 38 programs into 11 programs
in its reauthorization proposal, which could allow the agency to
dedicate a higher portion of its administrative resources to
monitoring programs for results and providing technical assistance.
Congress might also include legislative provisions to help Education
reduce fragmentation, such as by giving broader discretion to the
agency to move resources away from certain programs. Congress could
provide Education guidelines for selecting these programs. For
example, Congress could allow Education discretion to consolidate
programs with administrative costs exceeding a certain threshold or
programs that fail to meet performance goals, into larger or more
successful programs. Finally, to the extent that overlapping programs
continue to be authorized, they could be better aligned with each
other in a way that allows for comparison and evaluation to ensure
they are complementary rather than duplicative.
In conclusion, removing and preventing unnecessary duplication,
overlap, and fragmentation among federal teacher quality programs is
clearly challenging. These are difficult issues to address because
they may require agencies and Congress to re-examine within and across
various mission areas the fundamental structure, operation, funding,
and performance of a number of long-standing federal programs or
activities. Implementing provisions of GPRAMA--such as its emphasis on
establishing priority outcome-oriented goals, including those covering
crosscutting policy areas--could play an important role in clarifying
desired outcomes, addressing program performance spanning multiple
agencies, and facilitating future actions to reduce unnecessary
duplication, overlap, and fragmentation. Further, by ensuring that
Education conducts rigorous evaluations of key programs Congress could
obtain additional information on program performance to better inform
its decisions on spending priorities. Sustained attention and
oversight by Congress will also be critical.
Thank you, Chairman Rehberg, Ranking Member DeLauro, and Members of
the Subcommittee. This concludes my prepared statement. I would be
pleased to answer any questions you may have.
[End of section]
For further information on this testimony please contact George A.
Scott, Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security, who may be
reached at (202) 512-7215, or ScottG@gao.gov. Contact points for our
Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs offices may be
found on the last page of this statement. This statement will be
available at no charge on the GAO Web site at [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov].
[End of section]
Appendix I: Related GAO Products:
Opportunities to Reduce Fragmentation, Overlap, and Potential
Duplication in Federal Teacher Quality and Employment and Training
Programs. [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-509T].
Washington, D.C.: April 6, 2011.
List of Selected Federal Programs That Have Similar or Overlapping
Objectives, Provide Similar Services, or Are Fragmented Across
Government Missions. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-474R]. Washington, D.C.: March 18,
2011.
Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government Programs,
Save Tax Dollars, and Enhance Revenue. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-441T]. Washington, D.C.: March 3,
2011.
Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government Programs,
Save Tax Dollars, and Enhance Revenue. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-318SP]. Washington, D.C.: March 1,
2011.
Department of Education: Improved Oversight and Controls Could Help
Education Better Respond to Evolving Priorities. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-194]. Washington, D.C.: February
10, 2011.
Federal Education Funding: Overview of K-12 and Early Childhood
Education Programs. [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-
51]. Washington, D.C.: January 27, 2010.
English Language Learning: Diverse Federal and State Efforts to
Support Adult English Language Learning Could Benefit from More
Coordination. [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-575].
Washington: D.C.: July 29, 2009.
Teacher Preparation: Multiple Federal Education Offices Support
Teacher Preparation for Instructing Students with Disabilities and
English Language Learners, but Systematic Departmentwide Coordination
Could Enhance This Assistance. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-573]. Washington, D.C.: July 20,
2009.
Teacher Quality: Sustained Coordination among Key Federal Education
Programs Could Enhance State Efforts to Improve Teacher Quality.
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-593]. Washington, D.C.:
July 6, 2009.
Teacher Quality: Approaches, Implementation, and Evaluation of Key
Federal Efforts. [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-07-861T].
Washington, D.C.: May 17, 2007.
Higher Education: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
Trends and the Role of Federal Programs. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-702T]. Washington: May 3, 2006.
Higher Education: Federal Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics Programs and Related Trends. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-114]. Washington, D.C.: October 12,
2005.
Special Education: Additional Assistance and Better Coordination
Needed among Education Offices to Help States Meet the NCLBA Teacher
Requirements. [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-04-659.
Washington, D.C.: July 15, 2004.
Special Education: Grant Programs Designed to Serve Children Ages 0-5.
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-02-394]. Washington, D.C.:
April 25, 2002.
Head Start and Even Start: Greater Collaboration Needed on Measures of
Adult Education and Literacy. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-02-348]. Washington, D.C.: March 29,
2002.
Bilingual Education: Four Overlapping Programs Could Be Consolidated.
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-01-657]. Washington, D.C.:
May 14, 2001.
Early Education and Care: Overlap Indicates Need to Assess
Crosscutting Programs. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/HEHS-00-78]. Washington, D.C.: April
28, 2000.
Education and Care: Early Childhood Programs and Services for Low-
Income Families. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/HEHS-00-11]. Washington: D.C.:
November 15, 1999.
Federal Education Funding: Multiple Programs and Lack of Data Raise
Efficiency and Effectiveness Concerns. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/T-HEHS-98-46]. Washington, D.C.:
November 6, 1997.
Multiple Teacher Training Programs: Information on Budgets, Services,
and Target Groups. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/HEHS-95-71FS]. Washington, D.C.:
February 22, 1995.
Early Childhood Programs: Multiple Programs and Overlapping Target
Groups. [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/HEHS-95-4FS].
Washington, D.C.: October 31, 1994.
[End of section]
Footnotes:
[1] GAO, Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government
Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and Enhance Revenue, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-318SP] (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 1,
2011). Click on the link provided to access an interactive, Web-based
version of the report.
[2] GAO, Department of Education: Improved Oversight and Controls
Could Help Education Better Respond to Evolving Priorities,
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-194] (Washington, D.C.:
Feb. 11, 2011).
[3] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-318SP].
[4] Pub. L. No. 89-10, 79 Stat. 27, as most recently amended and
reauthorized by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Pub. L. No. 107-
110, 115 Stat. 1425 (2002).
[5] GAO, Federal Education Funding: Overview of K-12 and Early
Childhood Education Programs, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-51] (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 27,
2010).
[6] GAO, Higher Education: Federal Science, Technology, Engineering,
and Mathematics Programs and Related Trends, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-114] (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 12,
2005).
[7] GAO, Results-Oriented Government: Practices That Can Help Enhance
and Sustain Collaboration among Federal Agencies, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-15] (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 21,
2005).
[8] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-51].
[9] Pub. L. No. 111-352, 124 Stat. 3866 (2011).
[10] Pub. L. No. 103-62, 107 Stat. 285 (1993).
[11] GAO, Government Performance: GPRA Modernization Act Provides
Opportunities to Help Address Fiscal, Performance, and Management
Challenges [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-466T],
Washington, DC: Mar.16, 2011.
[12] Pub. L. No. 111-358, § 101, 124 Stat. 3982 (2011).
[End of section]
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