Learning Objectives: Identify purposes of evaluation Differentiate between evaluation input, output, quality, and outcomes Identify output and outcome measures logically linked to program indicators Plan appropriate output and outcome measures.

"The Australasian Evaluation Society (AES) is a professional organisation for people involved in evaluation. The AES has over 700 members involved in all aspects of evaluation and performance measurement. Members include evaluation practitioners, managers, teachers and students from all levels of government, educational institutions, research agencies, community organisations, businesses and other interested individuals. Members meet regularly through Regional Groups centred in major cities in Australia and New Zealand. Professional development workshops are conducted throughout Australasia on a regular basis."

"The Society is a Canada-wide non-profit bilingual association dedicated to the advancement of evaluation theory and practice."

"The African Evaluation Association (AfrEA) was founded in 1999 in response to a growing demand for information sharing, advocacy and advanced capacity building in evaluation in Africa. It is an umbrella organisation for national evaluation associations and networks in Africa. It is also a resource for individuals in countries where national bodies do not exist."

Portuguese site - will be translated into English at a later stage

"The primary goal of the European Evaluation Society is to promote theory, practice and utilization of high quality evaluation especially, but not exclusively, within the European countries. This goal is obtained by bringing together academics and practitioners from all over Europe and from any professional sector, thus creating a forum where all participants can benefit from the co-operation and bridge building. The society was founded in the Hague in 1994. The first official board was elected in autumn 1995 and started its work in January 1996."

"The advent of the IDEAS, a voluntary, charitable membership based organization, is timely. A new development consensus has emerged, focused on sustained poverty reduction driven by economic growth; the removal of social and structural constraints to economic and human development; reforms that are owned by those who must carry them out; and an intent, especially in the public sector, to manage for results and measure for performance. In parallel, citizens in developing and developed countries alike, expect more efficient, more accountable and more transparent government and public sector programs and projects that have measurably greater development effectiveness than hitherto. Thus there is need to renew old and established evaluation mechanisms to help deliver results to ensure accountability and learn from mistakes."

"The AEA is an international professional association of evaluators devoted to the application and exploration of program evaluation, personnel evaluation, technology, and many other forms of evaluation. Evaluation involves assessing the strengths and weaknesses of programs, policies, personnel, products, and organizations to improve their effectiveness. AEA has approximately 4000 members representing all 50 states in the US as well as over 60 foreign countries."

"The UN Evaluation Forum is a knowledge network that contains moderated discussions, digests and interesting news postings. This Forum disseminates good practices and lessons learned on measuring, monitoring and evaluation to all member agencies of the UN Evaluation Group (UNEG). More specifically, the UN Evaluation Forum aims to: a) enable exchange of experiences and knowledge among involved agencies; b) distill lessons learned and best practices while sharing methodologies; and c) provide a platform to raise and discuss issues on evaluation policy and practices. This forum was created as a result of an informal UNEG meeting that took place on 23 March 2003 in Paris."

"This is a collaborative working space to share summaries of interest and current areas of work on Impact Assessment and Monitoring & Evaluation in relation to Sustainable Livelihoods thinking and approaches, including current frameworks in use and key challenges and questions."

"The IOCE aims to become a platform for worldwide cooperation and partnership in evaluation, fostering the cross fertilisation of ideas, high professional standards and an open and global perspective among evaluators. The mission of the IOCE as stated in our constitution is: To help legitimate evaluation and support evaluation societies, associations and networks so that they can better contribute to good governance, effective decision making and strengthen the role of civil society. The IOCE believes that evaluation is best strengthened through national and regional organisations. Our membership is made up of organisations not individuals. As an international organisation, the IOCE is committed to cultural diversity, inclusiveness and to bringing together different evaluation traditions in ways that respect this diversity. Representatives from 24 evaluation associations and networks from around the world launched IOCE at an Inaugural Assembly in Lima, Peru in March 2003. Their vision was that collaboration between evaluation associations would strengthen evaluation worldwide."

International Iniative for Impact Evaluation

"In the 1990s an extremely successful strategy for capacity building in the area of monitoring and evaluating the quality of education was developed through the establishment of a Consortium of fifteen Ministries of Education known as the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ). SACMEQs mission is to assist educational planners and researchers to undertake studies of the quality of their education systems by working in a co-operative manner that allows them to share their experiences and to learn from each other. The network works closely with the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) to co-ordinate the delivery of intensive training programmes focussed on the requirements of the research, and also to facilitate access to advanced technical knowledge and computer-based techniques."

AEA

"This book offers a clear-cut methodology to diagnose institutional strengths and weakness at the onset of development activities. In this way, beneficiaries can respond to growing pressures from donor governments and organizations for accountable and sustainable use of development funding. The authors examine all aspects of organizational performance, including the enabling environment, institutional capacity, management, financial viability, and staff motivation. They also review the methodological issues involved in carrying out an assessment, ranging from the choice and framing of questions to data collection and analysis, the question of who “owns” the assessment, and the reporting of results. Designed for practitioners interested in organizational diagnosis and social change, this book includes a quick guide for organizational assessment, a sample report outline and questions, and a comprehensive assessment glossary."

"Each year billions of dollars are spent on thousands of programs to improve health, education and other social sector outcomes in the developing world. But very few programs benefit from studies that could determine whether or not they actually made a difference. This absence of evidence is an urgent problem: it not only wastes money but denies poor people crucial support to improve their lives. This report by the Evaluation Gap Working Group provides a strategic solution to this problem addressing this gap, and systematically building evidence about what works in social development, proving it is possible to improve the effectiveness of domestic spending and development assistance by bringing vital knowledge into the service of policymaking and program design. In 2004 the Center for Global Development, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, convened the Evaluation Gap Working Group. The group was asked to investigate why rigorous impact evaluations of social development programs, whether financed directly by developing country governments or supported by international aid, are relatively rare. The Working Group was charged with developing proposals to stimulate more and better impact evaluations. This report, the final report of the working group, contains specific recommendations for addressing this urgent problem."

CDC Evaluation Working Group

Gates Foundation

"The Cultural Reading began as text conversations among a group of professional evaluators who share expertise in and concern for issues of cultural diversity and cultural context in evaluation. The purpose of the cultural reading was to review The Program Evaluation Standards (2nd edition) with respect to coverage of cultural diversity, treatment of cultural concerns, and attention to cultural competence. This conversation was intended to build knowledge among Diversity Committee members and other relevant stakeholders within the AEA; to identify specific passages that are in need of revision; and to gather ideas on relevant resources and suggested changes for input to The Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation. Throughout this reflection, culture is broadly defined, inclusive of race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, social class, disability, language, and educational level or disciplinary background. It includes both individual characteristics and those of a group or collective (e.g., community or organizational culture)."

Ideas for Africa

"The MES is a dedicated organization for evaluation practitioners and managers from all levels of government, the business community, and academia as well as individuals interested in or involved with evaluation. The idea of the MES was first mooted in 1996 by a small group of people who had a deep interest in evaluation and was officially registered in 1999. The MES is established to help promote and further enhance the knowledge, awareness, and activities of its members in all aspects of evaluation, both nationally and internationally."

Receive free e-mailed updates of conferences matching your interests, available dates and preferred destinations

"APRIL 2005 ” Family Health International has released an important new resource for improving the lives of orphans and vulnerable children. The guide, Conducting a Participatory Situation Analysis of Orphans and Vulnerable Children Affected by HIV/AIDS: Guidelines and Tools, is a powerful tool that builds on experiences from FHI's work in the developing world. Conducting a situation analysis is a complex and delicate process. It gathers and analyzes information to guide planning and action. Done properly, it can help build consensus and among key stakeholders. Collecting data that is not directly linked to specific programs helps identify strengths and weaknesses in national and sub-national responses. Because this resource is focused on children, it features a special emphasis on ethical considerations for information-gathering. The six-chapter, 210-page guide offers sample consent forms, baseline surveys and interview guides, which can be adapted for local use. It was funded by the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Reliefe through the U.S. Agency for International Development. It was written by Renee DeMarco with FHI's OVC Team. The accompanying French edition, released in April 2006, was prepared by the nongovernmental organization Plan International."

"This site provides evaluation specialists and users with refereed checklists for designing, budgeting, contracting, staffing, managing, and assessing evaluations of programs, personnel, students, and other evaluands; collecting, analyzing, and reporting evaluation information; and determining merit, worth, and significance. Each checklist is a distillation of valuable lessons learned from practice. The site's purpose is to improve the quality and consistency of evaluations and enhance evaluation capacity through the promotion and use of high-quality checklists targeted to specific evaluation tasks and approaches."

There is often confusion about what M&E entails. The purpose of this M&E Overview is to strengthen awareness and interest in M&E, and to clarify what it entails. You will find an overview of a sample of M&E tools, methods, and approaches outlined here, including their purpose and use; advantages and disadvantages; costs, skills, and time required; and key references. Those illustrated here include several data collection methods, analytical frameworks, and types of evaluation and review. The M&E Overview discusses: Performance indicators The logical framework approach Theory-based evaluation Formal surveys Rapid appraisal methods Participatory methods Public expenditure tracking surveys Cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis Impact evaluation This list is not comprehensive, nor is it intended to be. Some of these tools and approaches are complementary; some are substitutes. Some have broad applicability, while others are quite narrow in their uses. The choice of which is appropriate for any given context will depend on a range of considerations. These include the uses for which M&E is intended, the main stakeholders who have an interest in the M&E findings, the speed with which the information is needed, and the cost.

MandE News