Key Questions to Consider

  • What would success look like, and how will we know it?
  • How will we monitor what we are doing?
  • How will we evaluate whether what we are doing is successful?
  • Did we reach our goal(s), and, if not, how will improve our efforts?

Core Activities

  • Establish a monitoring system that provides regular information about whether there is progress.
  • Measure indicators of progress, including the process, outputs, and outcomes.
  • Evaluate the impact of the intervention on outcomes.
  • Use the results to guide improvements and resource allocation.

Reflection Prompt: This is an especially important time to reflect on what was done. Ask your group by what guidelines they would like to measure success and encourage reflection on personal success and growth as well as the broader goals you may have established. Even a “failure” provides opportunities to learn.

Social Justice Prompt:  When deciding how to evaluate progress, create specific guidelines regarding cultural competence and social justice. For example, what percentage of those involved had direct experience with the problem? How do those most affected feel that the action(s) impacted their community?

 

Evaluation of Action Based on the Social Change Wheel

Deliberative and reflective dialogue: In the early-mid 2000s, the University of Michigan-Flint enacted a number of institutional changes for educational reform. Rather than the typical approach of relying on a small committee to make the best decisions for the school, the staff relied on a much larger and more diverse range of perspectives to shape the changes they would carry out; they called students, staff, faculty, and other stakeholders into the dialogue. This new, more inclusive environment stood in contrast to the culture of secrecy and apathy that many had complained about. The approach encouraged a new campus culture of communication from members of the community and transparency about the change process from those in charge of it.

 

Resources to Help You Evaluate

From KU’s Community Tool Box

Toolkits

Troubleshooting Guide(s) for Solving Common Problems

 

Additional Resources

 

For Students