Maximizing the extent to whichgrants achieve their long-termperformance goals is critical tosuccessfully addressing thechallenges of the 21st century.While performance accountabilitymechanisms are fairly new tofederal grants, they have been usedin contracts for some time andlessons learned have begun toinform federal grant design. Giventhis, GAO was asked to examine(1) challenges to performanceaccountability in federal grants,(2) mechanisms being used toimprove grant performance, and(3) strategies the federalgovernment can use to encouragethe use of these mechanisms. GAOperformed a content analysis ofrelevant literature and interviewedexperts. To illustrate themechanisms and strategies foundin the literature, GAO usedexamples from the literature andselected additional caseillustrations-two federal grantprograms (vocational educationand child support enforcement)and two nonfederal contracts-forfurther study.