Monitoring and evaluation

About: Monitoring and evaluation is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2379 publications have been published within this topic receiving 32520 citations.

Enhancing school-based prevention and youth development through coordinated social, emotional, and academic learning.

Abstract: A comprehensive mission for schools is to educate students to be knowledgeable, responsible, socially skilled, healthy, caring, and contributing citizens. This mission is supported by the growing number of school-based prevention and youth development programs. Yet, the current impact of these programs is limited because of insufficient coordination with other components of school operations and inattention to implementation and evaluation factors necessary for strong program impact and sustainability. Widespread implementation of beneficial prevention programming requires further development of research-based, comprehensive school reform models that improve social, health, and academic outcomes; educational policies that demand accountability for fostering children's full development; professional development that prepares and supports educators to implement programs effectively; and systematic monitoring and evaluation to guide school improvement.

Handbook on Impact Evaluation: Quantitative Methods and Practices

Abstract: This book reviews quantitative methods and models of impact evaluation. The formal literature on impact evaluation methods and practices is large, with a few useful overviews. Yet there is a need to put the theory into practice in a hands-on fashion for practitioners. This book also details challenges and goals in other realms of evaluation, including monitoring and evaluation (M&E), operational evaluation, and mixed-methods approaches combining quantitative and qualitative analyses. This book is organized as follows. Chapter two reviews the basic issues pertaining to an evaluation of an intervention to reach certain targets and goals. It distinguishes impact evaluation from related concepts such as M&E, operational evaluation, qualitative versus quantitative evaluation, and ex-ante versus ex post impact evaluation. Chapter three focuses on the experimental design of an impact evaluation, discussing its strengths and shortcomings. Various non-experimental methods exist as well, each of which are discussed in turn through chapters four to seven. Chapter four examines matching methods, including the propensity score matching technique. Chapter five deal with double-difference methods in the context of panel data, which relax some of the assumptions on the potential sources of selection bias. Chapter six reviews the instrumental variable method, which further relaxes assumptions on self-selection. Chapter seven examines regression discontinuity and pipeline methods, which exploit the design of the program itself as potential sources of identification of program impacts. Specifically, chapter eight presents a discussion of how distributional impacts of programs can be measured, including new techniques related to quantile regression. Chapter nine discusses structural approaches to program evaluation, including economic models that can lay the groundwork for estimating direct and indirect effects of a program. Finally, chapter ten discusses the strengths and weaknesses of experimental and non-experimental methods and also highlights the usefulness of impact evaluation tools in policy making.

Using perceptions as evidence to improve conservation and environmental management

Abstract: The conservation community is increasingly focusing on the monitoring and evaluation of management, governance, ecological, and social considerations as part of a broader move toward adaptive management and evidence-based conservation. Evidence is any information that can be used to come to a conclusion and support a judgment or, in this case, to make decisions that will improve conservation policies, actions, and outcomes. Perceptions are one type of information that is often dismissed as anecdotal by those arguing for evidence-based conservation. In this paper, I clarify the contributions of research on perceptions of conservation to improving adaptive and evidence-based conservation. Studies of the perceptions of local people can provide important insights into observations, understandings and interpretations of the social impacts, and ecological outcomes of conservation; the legitimacy of conservation governance; and the social acceptability of environmental management. Perceptions of these factors contribute to positive or negative local evaluations of conservation initiatives. It is positive perceptions, not just objective scientific evidence of effectiveness, that ultimately ensure the support of local constituents thus enabling the long-term success of conservation. Research on perceptions can inform courses of action to improve conservation and governance at scales ranging from individual initiatives to national and international policies. Better incorporation of evidence from across the social and natural sciences and integration of a plurality of methods into monitoring and evaluation will provide a more complete picture on which to base conservation decisions and environmental management.

Methods for Development Work and Research: A Guide for Practitioners

Abstract: PART ONE: CONTEXT AND FOCUS OF THE GUIDE Issues and Approaches in Current Development Co-Operation Dialogue, Problem Identification and Planning Cycle Target Groups, Readership and Terminology PART TWO: PARTICIPATION IN DEVELOPMENT - THE CONCEPT AND CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES Perceptions of Participation Participatory Methods, Techniques and Tools Strategic Considerations for Using Participatory Methods Critical Perspectives on Participation PART THREE: PARTICIPATORY METHODS IN USE Illustrations of Selected Participatory Methods Spreading Uses of Participatory Methods Topical Applications of Participatory Methods PART FOUR: DIFFERENT TYPES OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES - PURPOSE, METHODS AND DESIGN Types and Forms of Development Studies Research Purpose, Goals and Focus Research Methods and Possible Combinations Research Process and Research Plan PART FIVE: DATA GENERATION AND ANALYSIS OF QUALITATIVE DATA Theory-Based Data Generation and Analysis Analysis of Qualitative Data Standards of Quality for Qualitative Research PART SIX: SELECTED DEVELOPMENT ISSUES AND APPROACHES A Rights-Based Approach to Development Poverty Reduction - Evolving Agenda and Poverty Analysis Women in Development and Gender Perspectives Innovative Approaches - Appreciative Inquiry, Social Capital Assessment, Geomatics PART SEVEN: MONITORING AND EVALUATION Monitoring and Evaluation - for Accountability and Learning Aid Evaluation, Basic Evaluation Designs and Primary Uses of Evaluation Findings Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation Impact Monitoring and Evaluation Learning from M&E and Impact Studies PART EIGHT: CONCLUSION ON ETHICS AND INTERVENTIONS Images of 'the Others' Interventions, Interference and Agents of Change Dilemmas of Topics and Methods and Reminders on Conduct Bibliography Index

Ten Steps to a Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation System: A Handbook for Development Practitioners

Abstract: An effective state is essential to achieving socio-economic and sustainable development. With the advent of globalization, there are growing pressures on governments and organizations around the world to be more responsive to the demands of internal and external stakeholders for good governance, accountability and transparency, greater development effectiveness, and delivery of tangible results. Governments, parliaments, citizens, the private sector, NGOs, civil society, international organizations and donors are among the stakeholders interested in better performance. As demands for greater accountability and real results have increased, there is an attendant need for enhance results-based monitoring and evaluation of policies, programs, and projects. The focus of this Handbook is on a comprehensive ten-step model that will help guide development practitioners through the process of designing and building a results-based monitoring and evaluation system. These steps begin with a ""Readiness Assessment"" and take the practitioner through the design, management, and importantly, the sustainability of such systems. The Handbook describes each step in detail, the tasks needed to complete each one, and the tools available to help along the way.