PLANNING FOR EVALUATION

Using Your Logic Model as a Blueprint for Improvement

Agenda

• Evaluation purposes and audiences

• Using your Logic Model to ask evaluation questions

• Prioritizing your evaluation questions

• Data collection considerations

• Using planning tools

Youth Development Executives of King County

(YDEKC) is a coalition of youth-serving organizations

working to advance the youth development field in

order to improve outcomes for young people.

Representing the executive leadership of King County

based youth serving organizations, YDEKC is uniquely

positioned to advocate for its members with the systems

(school districts, governments, the public) that they intersect

with; to develop field level knowledge about best

practices in youth development; and to build leadership

strength in the non-profit youth serving sector.

Who We Are

Plan Collect Reflect

Steps to Creating an Evaluation Plan

1. Identify evaluation purpose(s) and audience(s)

2. Use your logic model to clarify evaluation questions

3. Specify indicators that can help answer evaluation questions

4. Map data collection, analysis, and reporting strategies for indicators

5. Sketch out an evaluation timeline and budget

Involve program stakeholders – including young people – in every part of the process!

1. Evaluation Purposes and Audiences

Purposes

• Positioning of your

program and its work in

the public consciousness

• Improvement of the

program on an ongoing

basis

• Proof of program impact

Audiences

• External stakeholders

(funders, community

members, partners and

potential partners)

• Internal stakeholders

(staff, parents, young

people)

2. Logic Model → Evaluation Questions

Types of Evaluation Questions

• Feedback loops

What do participants value about our program?

• Program process (outputs, activities, participation)

Are we serving the youth we intend to serve?

• Program outcomes (learning, action, conditions)

What percentage of our participants graduate from high school?

• Linking process and outcomes

Do participants who attend our program more frequently do better?

3. Specifying indicators

Outcome: Improved postsecondary performance

Indicators:

• % enrolling directly in college after high school graduation

• % enrolling in college within 2 years of graduation

• % placing directly into college-level math courses

• % persisting in college

• # college credits earned

• college grade point average (GPA)

• % earning a degree within 6 years

4. Collecting, Analyzing, Reporting

Indicator design

template from our

Evaluation Planning

worksheet

5. Creating a Timeline and Budget

• A timeline can help you to:

• Ensure readiness for evaluation activities

• Minimize burden on participants and staff

• A budget is:

• Sometimes required

• Helpful in making sure that adequate resources are available to

answer high-priority questions

Evaluation Timeline Worksheet

Budgeting Tools

“Bottom Up” Approach

Attributable Impact

Longer-Term Satisfaction or

Success/ Transfer Outcomes

Initial Perceived Satisfaction or Success/Learning

Outcomes

Participation

Your Own Activity

Adapted from Idealware, “10 Tips

for Measuring Programs through

Data”

Ou

tpu

ts

Ou

tco

me

s

Co

mp

lexity /

Difficu

lty / E

xp

en

se

o

f M

ea

su

rem

ent Requires

Rigorous

Research

Start

Here!

Consider if

Feasible