The Latest PMA Scorecard

It's out, and there's not a lot of movement since the end of September. All the Human Capital and Performance Improvement scores have remained the same. The Smithsonian's Commercial Services Management score is up to Yellow from Red, but no other agency saw an improvement or decline in that category. Four agencies have improved Financial Performance scores, and GSA fell from Green to Yellow in that category. Interior, State, and NASA all have improved E-Government scores.

This lack of movement illustrates two things. First, it takes a long time to achieve substantial improvements in how agencies operate. Second, a three-light system doesn't allow for a lot of nuance; a number of agencies may have made progress towards improvement, or suffered setbacks, but a 3-grade system doesn't have a way to indicate those fluctuations. It also doesn't really explain what metrics define the boundaries between the color grades. I don't know if a numerical score system would be too difficult to put in place, but it would provide a more fluid look at how agencies are doing.