Evidence for the Feedback Role of Performance Measurement Systems

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Anderson, Shannon W.; Kimball, Amanda
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Davis
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2018.3129
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 4385-4406
• 关键词: performance management; management information system; education sector; assessment

摘要

Performance measurement systems (PMSs) are used to diagnose and remediate problems, termed the decision-facilitating or feedback role of management control. We examine whether use of PMSs by individual decision makers is associated with better performance. Experimental studies have isolated individual-level effects of feedback on decision quality; however, it is difficult to extend these findings to natural settings. Archival and survey studies offer evidence on the association between the presence of PMSs and performance but have had limited success in measuring decision makers' actual use of PMSs and addressing endogeneity of the decision to use PMSs. We use unobtrusively collected data on actual PMS use in 30 K-12 charter schools over three years to test whether teachers who make greater use of two PMSs are associated with greater growth in student learning. We find that teachers' use of PMSs is associated with increased student learning, consistent with the premise that PMSs facilitate teacher interventions and improve student outcomes. The results are both statistically and materially significant, and they are better explained by PMS use than by selection effects of better teachers using PMSs. Consistent with the organization's focus on at-risk students, the strongest effects of teachers' use of one PMS are concentrated among the lowest-performing students. In sum, we find broad support for the thesis that the feedback role of PMSs is associated with meaningful performance improvement.