All grantees must establish, track, and assess performance measures for their programs. As a grantee, you must ensure that any program under your oversight fulfills performance measure and evaluation requirements. In addition, you must:

(a) Establish ambitious performance measures in consultation with AmeriCorps, or the State commission, as appropriate, following §§ 2422.560 through 2422.660 of this subpart;

(b) Ensure that any program under your oversight collects and organizes performance data on an ongoing basis, at least annually;

(c) Ensure that any program under your oversight tracks progress toward meeting your performance measures;

(d) Ensure that any program under your oversight corrects performance deficiencies promptly; and

(e) Accurately and fairly present the results in reports to AmeriCorps.

(a) Performance measures are measurable indicators of a program's performance as it relates to member service activities.

(b) Performance measurement is the process of regularly measuring the services provided by your program and the effect your program has in communities or in the lives of members or community beneficiaries.

(c) The main purpose of performance measurement is to strengthen your AmeriCorps program and foster continuous improvement and to identify best practices and models that merit replication. Performance measurement will also help identify programmatic weaknesses that need attention.

You must submit all of the following as part of your application for each program:

(a) Proposed performance measures, as described in § 2522.580 and § 2522.590 of this part.

(b) Estimated performance data for the program years for which you submit your application; and

(c) Actual performance data, where available, as follows:

(i) For continuation programs, performance data over the course of the grant to date; and

(ii) For recompeting programs, performance data for the preceding three-year grant cycle.

(a) When applying for funds, you must submit, at a minimum, the following performance measures:

(1) One set of aligned performance measures (one output, one intermediate-outcome, and one end-outcome) that capture the results of your program's primary activity, or area of significant activity for programs whose design precludes identifying a primary activity; and

(2) Any national performance measures AmeriCorps may require, as specified in paragraph (b) of § 2522.590.

(b) For example, a tutoring program might use the following aligned performance measures:

(1) Output: Number of students that participated in a tutoring program;

(2) Intermediate-Outcome: Percent of students reading more books; and

(3) End-Outcome: Number and percent of students who have improved their reading score to grade level.

(c) AmeriCorps encourages you to exceed the minimum requirements expressed in this section and expects, in second and subsequent grant cycles, that you will more fully develop your performance measures, including establishing multiple performance indicators, and improving and refining those you used in the past. Any performance measures you submit beyond what is required in paragraph (a)(1) of this section may or may not be aligned sets of measures.

(a) You are responsible for developing your program-specific performance measures through your own internal process.

(b) In addition, AmeriCorps may, in consultation with grantees, establish performance measures that will apply to all AmeriCorps-sponsored programs, which you will be responsible for collecting and meeting.

(a) AmeriCorps will review and approve performance measures, as part of the grant application review process, for all non-formula programs. If AmeriCorps selects your application for funding, AmeriCorps will approve your performance measures as part of your grant award.

(b) If you are a program submitting an application under the State formula category, the applicable State commission is responsible for reviewing and approving your performance measures. AmeriCorps will not separately approve these measures.

(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, State commissions are responsible for making the final determination of performance measures for State formula programs, while AmeriCorps makes the final determination for all other programs.

(b) AmeriCorps may, through the State commission, require that formula programs meet certain national performance measures above and beyond what the State commission has individually negotiated with its formula grantees.

(c) While State commissions must hold their sub-grantees responsible for their performance measures, a State commission, as a grantee, is responsible to AmeriCorps for its formula programs' performance measures.

AmeriCorps sets specific reporting requirements, including frequency and deadlines, for performance measures in the grant award.

(a) In general, you are required to report on the actual results that occurred when implementing the grant and to regularly measure your program's performance.

(b) Your report must include the results on the performance measures approved as part of your grant award.

(c) At a minimum you are required to report on outputs at the end of year one and outputs and intermediate outcomes at the end of years two and three. We encourage you to exceed these minimum requirements.

If you are not on track to meet your performance measures, you must develop and submit to AmeriCorps, or the State commission for formula programs, a corrective action plan, consistent with paragraph (a) of this section, or submit a request to AmeriCorps, or the State commission for formula programs, consistent with paragraph (b) of this section, to amend your requirements under the circumstances described in § 2522.640 of this subpart.

(a) Your corrective action plan must be in writing and include all of the following:

(1) The factors impacting your performance goals;

(2) The strategy you are using and corrective action you are taking to get back on track toward your established performance measures; and

(3) The timeframe in which you plan to achieve getting back on track with your performance measures.

(b) A request to amend your performance measures must include all of the following:

(1) Why you are not on track to meet your performance requirements;

(2) How you have been tracking performance measures;

(3) Evidence of the corrective action you have taken;

(4) Any new proposed performance measures or targets; and

(5) Your plan to ensure that you meet any new measures.

(c) You must submit your plan under paragraph (a) of this section, or your request under paragraph (b) of this section, within 30 days of determining that you are not on track to meeting your performance measures.

(d) If you are a formula program, the State commission that approves the plan under paragraph (a) of this section or the request to amend your performance measures under paragraph (b) of this section, must forward an information copy to AmeriCorps' program office within 15 days of approving the plan or the request.

(a) You may change your performance measures only if AmeriCorps or, for formula programs, the State commission, approves your request to do so based on your need to:

(1) Adjust your performance measure or target based on experience so that your program's goals are more realistic and manageable;

(2) Replace a measure related to one issue area with one related to a different issue area that is more aligned with your program service activity. For example, you may need to replace an objective related to health with one related to the environment;

(3) Redefine the service that individuals perform under the grant. For example, you may need to define your service as tutoring adults in English, as opposed to operating an after-school program for third-graders;

(4) Eliminate an activity because you have been unable to secure necessary matching funding; or

(5) Replace one measure with another. For example, you may decide that you want to replace one measure of literacy tutoring (increased attendance at school) with another (percentage of students who are promoted to the next grade level).

(b) [Reserved]

(a) If you are significantly under-performing based on the performance measures approved in your grant, or fail to collect appropriate data to allow performance measurement, AmeriCorps, or the State commission for formula grantees, may specify a period of correction, after consulting with you. As a grantee, you must report results at the end of the period of correction. At that point, if you continue to under-perform, or fail to collect appropriate data to allow performance measurement, AmeriCorps may take one or more of the following actions:

(1) Reduce the amount of your grant;

(2) Suspend or terminate your grant;

(3) Use this information to assess any application from your organization for a new AmeriCorps grant or a new grant under another program administered by AmeriCorps;

(4) Amend the terms of any AmeriCorps grants to your organization; or

(5) Take other actions that AmeriCorps deems appropriate.

(b) If you are a State commission whose formula program(s) is significantly under-performing or failing to collect appropriate data to allow performance measurement, we encourage you to take action as delineated in paragraph (a) of this section.

(a) This subpart sets forth the minimum performance measures and evaluation requirements that you as an AmeriCorps applicant or grantee must follow.

(b) The performance measures that you, as an applicant, propose when you apply will be considered in the review process and may affect whether AmeriCorps selects you to receive a grant. Your performance related to your approved measures will influence whether you continue to receive funding.

(c) Performance measures and evaluations are designed to strengthen your AmeriCorps program and foster continuous improvement, and help identify best practices and models that merit replication, as well as programmatic weaknesses that need attention.

This subpart applies to you if you are an AmeriCorps grantee administering an AmeriCorps grant, including an Education Award Program grant, or if you are applying to receive AmeriCorps funding from AmeriCorps.

The following definitions apply to terms used in this subpart of the regulations:

(a) Approved application means the application approved by AmeriCorps or, for formula programs, by a State commission.

(b) Community beneficiaries refers to persons who receive services or benefits from a program, but not to AmeriCorps members or to staff of the organization operating the program.

(c) Outputs are the amount or units of service that members or volunteers have completed, or the number of community beneficiaries the program has served. Outputs do not provide information on benefits or other changes in communities or in the lives of members or community beneficiaries. Examples of outputs could include the number of people a program tutors, counsels, houses, or feeds.

(d) Intermediate-outcomes specify a change that has occurred in communities or in the lives of community beneficiaries or members, but is not necessarily a lasting benefit for them. They are observable and measurable indications of whether or not a program is making progress and are logically connected to end outcomes. An example would be the number and percentage of students who report reading more books as a result of their participation in a tutoring program.

(e) Internal evaluation means an evaluation that a grantee performs in-house without the use of an independent external evaluator.

(f) End-outcomes specify a change that has occurred in communities or in the lives of community beneficiaries or members that is significant and lasting. These are actual benefits or changes for participants during or after a program. For example, in a tutoring program, the end outcome could be the percent and number of students who have improved their reading scores to grade-level, or other specific measures of academic achievement.

(g) Grantee includes subgrantees, programs, and projects.

(h) National performance measures are performance measures that AmeriCorps develops.

(i) You refers to a grantee or applicant organization.

If performance measurement and evaluation costs were approved as part of your grant, you may use your program grant funds to support them, consistent with the level of approved costs for such activities in your grant award.

No, the costs of performance measurement and evaluation do not count towards the statutory five percent cap on administrative costs in the grant, as provided in § 2540.110 of this chapter.

(a) Evaluation is a more in-depth, rigorous effort to measure the impact of programs. While performance measurement and evaluation both include systematic data collection and measurement of progress, evaluation uses scientifically-based research methods to assess the effectiveness of programs by comparing the observed program outcomes with what would have happened in the absence of the program. Unlike performance measures, evaluations estimate the impacts of programs by comparing the outcomes for individuals receiving a service or participating in a program to the outcomes for similar individuals not receiving a service or not participating in a program. For example, an evaluation of a literacy program may compare the reading ability of students in a program over time to a similar group of students not participating in a program.

(b) Performance measurement is the process of systematically and regularly collecting and monitoring data related to the direction of observed changes in communities, participants (members), or end beneficiaries receiving your program's services. It is intended to provide an indication of your program's operations and performance. In contrast to evaluation, it is not intended to establish a causal relationship between your program and a desired (or undesired) program outcome. For example, a performance measure for a literacy program may include the percentage of students receiving services from your program who increase their reading ability from “below grade level” to “at or above grade level”. This measure indicates something good is happening to your program's service beneficiaries, but it does not indicate that the change can be wholly attributed to your program's services.

(a) If you are a State commission, you must establish and enforce evaluation requirements for your State formula subgrantees, as you deem appropriate.

(b) If you are a State competitive or direct AmeriCorps grantee (other than an Education Award Program grantee), and your average annual AmeriCorps program grant is $500,000 or more, you must arrange for an independent evaluation of your program, and you must submit the evaluation with any application to AmeriCorps for competitive funds as required in § 2522.730 of this subpart.

(c) If you are a State competitive or direct AmeriCorps grantee whose average annual AmeriCorps program grant is less than $500,000, or an Education Award Program grantee, you must conduct an internal evaluation of your program, and you must submit the evaluation with any application to AmeriCorps for competitive funds as required in § 2522.730 of this subpart.

(d) AmeriCorps may, in its discretion, supersede these requirements with an alternative evaluation approach, including one conducted by the AmeriCorps at the national level.

(e) Grantees must cooperate fully with all AmeriCorps evaluation activities.

(a) If you are a State formula grantee, you must conduct an evaluation, as your State commission requires.

(b) If you are a State competitive or direct AmeriCorps grantee, your evaluation must cover a minimum of one year but may cover longer periods.

(a) If you are an existing grantee recompeting for AmeriCorps funds for the first time, you must submit a summary of your evaluation efforts or plan to date, and a copy of any evaluation that has been completed, as part of your application for funding.

(b) If you again compete for AmeriCorps funding after a second three-year grant cycle, you must submit the completed evaluation with your application for funding.

AmeriCorps will consider the evaluation you submit with your application as follows:

(a) If you do not include with your application for AmeriCorps funding a summary of the evaluation, or the evaluation itself, as applicable, under § 2522.730, AmeriCorps reserves the right to not consider your application.

(b) If you do submit an evaluation with your application, AmeriCorps will consider the results of your evaluation in assessing the quality and outcomes of your program.

AmeriCorps will evaluate programs based on the following: (a) The extent to which the program meets the objectives established and agreed to by the grantee and AmeriCorps before the grant award;

(b) The extent to which the program is cost-effective; and

(c) The effectiveness of the program in meeting the following legislative objectives: (1) Providing direct and demonstrable services and projects that benefit the community by addressing educational, public safety, human, or environmental needs;

(2) Recruiting and enrolling diverse participants consistent with the requirements of part 2540 of this chapter, based on economic background, race, ethnicity, age, gender, marital status, education levels, and disability;

(3) Promoting the educational achievement of each participant based on earning a high school diploma or its equivalent and future enrollment in and completion of increasingly higher levels of education;

(4) Encouraging each participant to engage in public and community service after completion of the program based on career choices and participation in other service programs;

(5) Promoting an ethic of active and productive citizenship among participants;

(6) Supplying additional volunteer assistance to community agencies without providing more volunteers than can be effectively utilized;

(7) Providing services and activities that could not otherwise be performed by employed workers and that will not supplant the hiring of, or result in the displacement of, employed workers; and

(8) Other criteria determined and published by AmeriCorps.

(a) AmeriCorps will conduct independent evaluations of programs, including in-depth studies of selected programs. These evaluations will consider the opinions of participants and members of the community where services are delivered. Where appropriate these studies will compare participants with individuals who have not participated in service programs. These evaluations will: (1) Study the extent to which the national service impacts involved communities;

(2) Study the extent to which national service increases positive attitudes among participants regarding the responsibilities of citizens and their role in solving community problems;

(3) Study the extent to which national service enables participants to afford post-secondary education with fewer student loans;

(4) Determine the costs and effectiveness of different program models in meeting program objectives including full- and part-time programs, programs involving different types of national service, programs using different recruitment methods, programs offering alternative non-federally funded vouchers or post-service benefits, and programs utilizing individual placements and teams;

(5) Determine the impact of programs in each State on the ability of VISTA and National Senior Volunteer Corps, each regular and reserve component of the Armed Forces, and the Peace Corps to recruit individuals residing in that State; and

(6) Determine the levels of living allowances paid in all AmeriCorps programs and American Conservation and Youth Corps, individually, by State, and by region and determine the effects that such living allowances have had on the ability of individuals to participate in such programs.

(b) AmeriCorps will also determine by June 30, 1995: (1) Whether the State and national priorities designed to meet educational, public safety, human, or environmental needs are being addressed;

(2) Whether the outcomes of both stipended and nonstipended service programs are defined and measured appropriately;

(3) Whether stipended service programs, and service programs providing educational benefits in return for service, should focus on economically disadvantaged individuals or at risk youth, or whether such programs should include a mix of individuals, including individuals from middle and upper income families;

(4) The role and importance of stipends and educational benefits in achieving desired outcomes in the service programs;

(5) The income distribution of AmeriCorps participants, to determine the level of participation of economically disadvantaged individuals. The total income of participants will be determined as of the date the participant was first selected to participate in a program and will include family total income unless the evaluating entity determines that the participant was independent at the time of selection. Definitions for “independent” and “total income” are those used in section 480(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965;

(6) The amount of assistance provided under the AmeriCorps programs that has been expended for projects conducted in areas classified as empowerment zones (or redevelopment areas), in areas that are targeted for special economic incentives or are otherwise identifiable as having high concentrations of low-income people, in areas that are environmentally distressed or adversely affected by Federal actions related to the management of Federal lands, in areas that are adversely affected by reductions in defense spending, or in areas that have an unemployment rate greater than the national average unemployment rate for the most recent 12 months for which satisfactory data are available; and

(7) The implications of the results of these studies as appropriate for authorized funding levels.

(a) Yes. AmeriCorps will maintain the confidentiality of information regarding individual participants that is acquired for the purpose of the evaluations described in § 2522.540. AmeriCorps will disclose individual participant information only with the prior written consent of the participant. However, AmeriCorps may disclose aggregate participant information.

(b) Grantees and subgrantees that receive assistance under this chapter must comply with the provisions of paragraph (a) of this section.