In July of 2002, the Office of Management and Budget announced development of a tool for formally evaluating the effectiveness of federal programs, called the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART).
The PART questionnaire for each program was divided into four sections: 1. Program Purpose & Design, 2. Strategic Planning, 3. Program Management, and 4. Program Results.
The PART’s instructions set a high standard for compliance with what each question sought and put the burden of proof on the program to show that it had fully met the evidentiary requirements.