Facts In Action

Making it Count is a series of articles designed to help you develop ways to measure outcomes in your program or family child care home. If you would like to receive earlier issues of Making it Count, please contact Erika Argersinger at (617) 695-0700 x271, or by email at eargersinger@associatedearlycareandeducation.org.

In previous issues of Facts in Action, we discussed why you and your program should be thinking about outcome measurement and how to begin developing a measurement plan. Outcome measurement is important because it helps to document our achievements, to communicate to others what we do, and to strengthen and support our programs by letting us know how we're doing.

Once you have assembled a working group that will take responsibility for developing a measurement plan (see Facts in Action, May 2000), the first task for the group is to identify which outcomes to measure. Outcomes are changes or benefits children experience as a result of being in your care or your program. Short-term outcomes are those that are most closely related to and influenced by your programs' activities. They can give you information about how your program is working and help you to pinpoint problem areas. Long-term outcomes are the ultimate changes or benefits your program hopes to achieve for children. However, the longer term the outcome, the less direct influence your program has over its achievement.

In identifying outcomes to measure, the working group should:

• Gather ideas from a variety of sources, both inside and outside your program. Talk with program staff and other important contributors (such as parents), review program mission statements, and collaborate with other programs that may be measuring outcomes.

• Select the outcomes that are important to measure. The working group is likely to produce a long list of outcomes for your program. Weed out the outcomes that are duplicative, overlapping, or beyond the scope of the program.

• Construct a logic model (see sidebar).

• Get feedback on the logic model and the outcomes selected for measurement. Time taken to fine-tune ideas and reach consensus will pay off later.

Tip: Be realistic about what outcomes your program has the ability to influence.

Defining a set of outcomes is a very important step because it creates the foundation for all subsequent planning and implementation activities. Once the working group has developed a set of outcomes, the next step is to determine what information (or "indicators") will help you measure your program's achievement and what tools you will use to collect and record this information. The next Making it Count article will discuss planning a measurement strategy and identifying indicators.

Action Steps

Get a copy of the United Way of America's handbook, Measuring Program Outcomes: A Practical Approach. To order a copy, call (800) 772-0008 and request item number 0989. Set up meetings with the working group to start brainstorming a list of outcomes. Try keeping a running list on large pieces of flipchart paper, where people can contribute ideas when they think of them. Start narrowing down the outcomes you would like to measure. Consider what information will best help you to improve your program and document achievements. Use logic models to understand how the outcomes you have listed are linked to one another. (Remember, there is no "right" number of outcomes to include in a logic model or for a program to measure - however, be realistic with your time and resources and don't try to measure too many.) Have your stakeholders provide feedback on your outcomes. You might review them with your board, your parent advisory group, and your staff.

Source:
Measuring Program Outcomes: A Practical Approach, United Way of America, 1996.

See also —Program Logic Models

Facts in Action, August 2000