Managing for Results in America’s Great City Schools: Results from Fiscal Year 2012-2013

This report provides an update on the performance measures developed by the Council of the Great City Schools. In 2002, this council and its members aimed to develop performance measures that could enhance business operations in urban public school districts. The Council launched the Performance Measurement and Benchmarking Project to achieve these objectives. The project’s purposes were to: (1) Establish a common set of “key performance indicators” (KPIs) across various school operations, including business services, finances, human resources, and technology; (2) Utilize these KPIs to benchmark and compare the performance of the nation’s largest urban public school systems; and (3) Leverage the results to improve operational performance in urban public schools. The teams leading the project’s work have employed a sophisticated approach to define, collect, and validate school-system data. This process requires each KPI to have a clearly defined purpose to justify its development, and extensive documentation of the “metric definitions” ensures that the expertise of the technical teams is fully captured. At the core of the methodology is the principle of “continuous improvement.” The teams are encouraged to focus on operational indicators that can be “benchmarked” and are “actionable,” allowing them to be strategically managed by setting improvement targets. Each page of this report presents detailed information for a single KPI measure. Sections include: (1) Accounts Payable; (2) Cash Management; (3) Compensation; (4) Financial Management; (5) Grants Management; (6) Procurement; (7) Risk Management; (8) Food Services; (9) Maintenance & Operations; (10) Safety & Security; (11) Transportation; (12) Human Resources; and (13) Information Technology.