INTRODUCTION TO PROJECT DESIGN, QUALITY MONITORING, AND EVALUATION

1. INTRODUCTION TO PROJECT DESIGN, QUALITY MONITORING, AND EVALUATION February 19, 2011 Kelsi Stine

2. I. Let’s Warm Up • Name • MCN group affiliation • One thing that annoys you about being here on a Saturday afternoon • One thing you hope to learn today and why

3. II. Introduction to DQE Word Map Exercise • What do you think of when we say project • Design, • Quality Monitoring, and • Evaluation?

4. II. Introduction to DQE “The M&E Hypothesis” IF we develop clear project designs, and IFwemonitor the quality of our project implementation, and IFweevaluate our projects, THEN development/social change interventions will make more positive, sustainable impacts and cause less unintentional harm

5. II. Introduction to DQE Session Objective and Outcomes Session Objective • Students understand basic M&E concepts and apply them to their projects Learning Outcomes • Students understand the importance of learning for their projects • Students develop a logic frame for their projects • Students understand the necessity of logical project design for M&E • Students identify next steps for improving M&E on their projects

6. Check-In • How does this relate to your MCN projects? • What is your goal, and how do you define success?

7. III. The Logic Frame Purpose and Structure • Development Community 1970s-Today: • Development practice and results vary greatly • Disparate activities don’t roll up to a major impact • Projects aren’t addressing clear, community-identified problems • Vague projects cannot be evaluated • Activities vs. change • Logic Frames help address these issues • Theory of Change -> Development Hypothesis

8. III. The Logic frame “The Living Logic Frame”

9. THEN THIS WILL CONTRIBUTE TO… IF… THEN… IF… IF…

10. Is the hypothesis sound? THEN THIS WILL CONTRIBUTE TO… Critical assumptions IF… THEN… IF… IF… THEN… THEN… IF… IF… IF… IF… IF…

11. III. The Logic Frame It’s a Race! • The Burkinabe Governance Program actually has 3 objectives • Break into two groups to complete the remaining 2 objectives • 5 minutes

12. III. The Logic frame It’s a Race! KEEP IN MIND THESE DEFINITIONS: Goal: Overarching social change to which the project contributes (but does not achieve itself) Objective:What will be accomplished by the end of the project (addresses the root cause of the social/development problem targeted by the project) Intermediate Objective: What will be accomplished during the project’s lifecycle (not directly provided by the project, but a result of the project outputs) Activity: Actions the project implementer takes with the participants

13. III. The logic frame It’s a Race! • One group member explains the objective tree and leads the IF-THEN check • Does the logic hold?

14. Check-In • What was your experience in creating the the logic frame? What worked? What was challenging?

15. III. The logic frame Creating Your Logic Frame • Break into project groups • Each group should have at least 2 people • Develop a logic frame for your existing project • Does the hypothesis hold? Use the IF-THEN test to check its logic • Identify any areas to clarify (e.g. for logic, relevance to community-identified problems, critical assumptions)

16. III. The logic frame Creating Your Logic Frame KEEP IN MIND THESE DEFINITIONS: • Goal: Overarching social change to which the project contributes (but does not achieve itself) • Objective:What will be accomplished by the end of the project (addresses the root cause of the social/development problem targeted by the project) • Intermediate Objective: What will be accomplished during the project’s lifecycle (not directly provided by the project, but a result of the project outputs) • Activity: Actions the project implementer takes with the participants

17. IV. Using Logic Frames for M&E • Why do you think we focused on design and the logic frame? • What is the relationship between design and monitoring/design and evaluation?

18. IV. Using Logic Frames for M&E • Learning about program implementation (and emerging results) • Does the program adhere to its design (integrity)? • Develop indicators and targets and each level; monitor them throughout project life cycle. • Is the project on time, target, and budget? • Are outputs delivered as planned (accountability)? • Do critical assumptions still hold? Have new risks emerged? • Quality Monitoring • Evaluation • Learning about results and change • Did the project achieve its stated objectives (outcome evaluation)? Why or why not? • What other effects did the project have on the environment and vise versa? • What would have happened if the project hadn’t existed (impact evaluation)?

19. V. Reflection • How does the project design process happen in your groups? How was this different and/or similar? • What is the relevance of logic frames to your project groups? What is the relevance of M&E? • How will you help your group improve it’s M&E in the coming semester? What resources or support do you need?

20. IV. More information and support • Key Resources: • IFAD M&E Guide (available online) • Designing for Results • Tailored tools we’re developing for the IGL • Request M&E resources from us • Assistance • Some availability throughout the semester: kelsi.stine@tufts.edu