Case Study: Program evaluation - measuring impact in community services and the education sector
Programs to support particular groups of people need to be able to demonstrate their impact - what difference they are making in the lives of the people they are meant to help. It's important for program staff to set clear goals and targets and measure the program's performance against these targets. Staff also need to understand what's working well and what isn't, so program delivery can improve.
- Renée worked with staff from Independent Schools Queensland in Brisbane, Community Gro in Townsville, and CatholicCare in Toowoomba to measure the success of various programs in community services and education, including: Which Way - a program for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander youth.
- BLESS - Building Links and Empowering South Sudanese.
- TRAMS - Toowoomba Refugee and Migrant Support.
- Outside School Hours Care service at Annandale State School.
- Teaching and Learning Suite - professional development for teachers.
- Renée worked with staff to develop an evaluation framework for each program:
- 1. Program logic diagram to show the short- and long-term goals for each program, and how everyday activities would achieve those goals.
- 2. Evaluation plan to collect performance information, measure progress against goals from the program logic, and identify areas for improvement.
- 3. Tools to collect performance information that were practical and easy for staff and stakeholders to use, e.g. surveys and spreadsheets. Tools were based on existing systems and processes wherever possible, to minimise workload for staff and improve efficiency.
- 4. Reporting on progress to those who needed to know, e.g. funding bodies, leadership team, delivery partners, the wider community.
- Renée also interviewed CatholicCare's delivery partners and compiled an independent report. This helped CatholicCare understand how well their partnerships were operating and where they could improve. Evaluation is helping Community Gro, CatholicCare and Independent Schools Queensland to demonstrate their achievements to their funding bodies and stakeholders, and identify areas for improvement. This increases their chances of getting future funding and improves their relationships with stakeholders and the wider community. "Renée worked with us to develop a clear and efficient evaluation plan to inform continuous improvement. Renée helped us to identify existing processes that could be used, rather than create additional work. This is working well to embed evaluation throughout our service." - Susan Perry, CEO, Community Gro
- "Working through a not-for-profit, I particularly appreciated Renée's ability to scale her involvement with our evaluation processes to match our budget constraints. She has made the evaluation process clear and easy to follow for staff and for stakeholders. Thanks Renee!"
- - Jayne Thorpe, Business Innovation & Development Coordinator, CatholicCare Toowoomba
- "The evaluation plan [Renée developed] is great, easy to read and understand. Renée makes it seem so easy, when it's all broken down in an evaluation plan." - Kerry Guy, Coordinator, Community Gro
- "Renee listened to what we needed for evaluation – some consultants just try to tell you how much they know."
- "I’m feeling inspired about the way forward for evaluating our programs."
- - Staff members undertaking evaluation, Independent Schools Queensland
.JPG "Group of South Sudanese women from the BLESS program")
The BLESS program run by CatholicCare Toowoomba (Building Links and Empowering South Sudanese)
Photo credit: CatholicCare