What is “PART?”

“PART” (Program Assessment Rating Tool) is an assessment rating system developed by the Office of Management of Management and Budget to grade the effectiveness of federal agencies and federally funded programs.

50% of the PART score for each program is related to program purpose and design, strategic planning and program management. 50% of the score for each program is related to results. Fully 50% of the results for Upward Bound can be attributed to the fact that “the Department of Education recently finalized its goals and targets for Upward Bond but does not yet have information to measure program progress (OMB PART Score, page 450.) This is true despite the fact that colleges sponsoring Upward Bound programs have been submitting individualized data on long-term program outcomes for over ten years. The Department has not analyzed it.

Why Can We Evaluate our Children and Youth but Not Educate Them?

OMB has rated 56 programs through the PART rating system. Only two have been rated effective—the National Center on Education Statistics and the National Assessment. Despite the fact that the Department of Education’s Budget totals $69.4 billion, no program educating students has been rated effective.