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 the first issue of Facts in Action, we discussed why you and your program

should be thinking about outcome measurement. 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.

So, now that you’ve decided to measure outcomes in your program, where do you begin? One of the first steps you should take when you decide to measure outcomes in your program is to assemble a working group, which will assume responsibility for developing a work plan. It’s important that your program’s leadership (director or chief executive officer, if you have one) understands the importance of measuring outcomes, and is supportive and helpful in forming the working group and giving staff time to participate in it. The responsibilities of the working group (which will be discussed in future Making it Count articles) should include:

• Developing a timeline;
• Identifying outcomes to measure;
• Planning a measurement strategy;
• Identifying outcome indicators;
• Preparing the forms or questionnaires to collect data;
• Monitoring data collection, data analysis, and report preparation; and
• Evaluating the results and making recommendations.

A working group should try to represent all of the stakeholders involved with your program, either through direct participation in the group or by providing opportunities for them to give the group input and feedback. Including directors, teachers, providers, volunteers, parents, and others in your planning will assure that all of their goals for the program are being considered. There should be one staff person involved, however, who has responsibility to coordinate the program’s outcome measurement working group, and be responsible for its success.

The working group must also communicate with and involve staff, volunteers, and parents at each step. Explaining why the agency is going to measure program outcomes, what outcomes it will measure, what data it will use to measure outcomes, how it will collect and process data, and how staff and volunteers will use the findings ensures that the stakeholders will be invested in measuring outcomes and will be committed to following through on the recommendations.

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

See also — Associated Early Care and Education, Inc.’ Outcomes Task Force (www.factsinaction.org/mcmay002.htm)

Facts in Action, May 2000