Discussion of evaluation of federal laboratories.

Federal agencies are now beginning work on their fiscal year 1999 budget requests. Compounding the usual difficulties in budgeting is that all agencies must for the first time justify their requests in terms of outcomes to be achieved, using pre-approved measures. That requirement for results-oriented management is mandated by the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA). Pilot tests of the GPRA requirements—specifically, measures that agencies can use to assess outcomes—have been under way for the past few years at several agencies, including two that support scientific research, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Army Research Laboratory (ARL). The conundrum for the scientific community is obvious. It is not hard to imagine outcome measures for processing of Social Security forms, procuring new weapons, or enforcing environmental standards. However, what outcome measures should the government apply to the use of public funds to support fundamental research? Managers at NSF, ARL, and other agencies are now wrestling with that question. It is not simple. As the 1995 NASyNAEyIOM report on Allocation of Federal Funds for Science and Technology observed: