Articles
Grading the States Report
Indiana shows the most improvement on state management report card
Governing magazine, in conjunction with the Pew Center on the States, has released its fourth report from the Government Performance Project, which assesses the quality of management in each state.
Overall, Indiana's grade improved from C+ to a B. Although the report does not rank states against each other, only eight states finished with a higher grade than Indiana, whereas only five states finished with a lower grade than Indiana in 2005.
Researchers analyzed performance in four categories: money, people, infrastructure and information. Within each of these categories are five criteria for which states were rated as a strength, mid-level, or weakness. The 20 criteria used are identical to the measures used for the last report in 2005, allowing direct comparison to individual performance from three years ago.
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2005 |
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2008 |
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Money |
C |
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B+ |
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People |
C |
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B |
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Infrastructure |
B- |
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B+ |
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Information |
C |
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B- |
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OVERALL |
C+ |
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B |
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Indiana was one of three states (the others are Alabama and Wyoming) whose overall grade went up two letter segments. No states improved or declined by more than two letter segments. Indiana was the only state to move from below the median grade (B-) to above it.
Grades were also assessed at the category level (money, people, infrastructure and information). Indiana increased each category grade by at least two letter segments. No other state increased all four sections by one letter segment, let alone two. In total, the Indiana's category grades increased by eleven letter segments. The next highest increase was five letter segments (Georgia and Wyoming).
Indiana's improvement was also evident at the criteria level. In 2005, Indiana had a single strength and 10 weaknesses identified. In 2008, Indiana had eight strengths and only one weakness identified.
Indiana actually converted five criteria from weaknesses in 2005 to strengths in 2008. No other state converted more than one weakness to a strength (Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, North Carolina, and Vermont).
The complete study is available online at both www.governing.com/gpp and www.pewcenteronthestates.org/gpp.
