Category: Evaluation
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Surfacing Value: What Project Evidence Can Tell Us Beyond the Indicators
Development projects often generate significant evidence about their value, which can be overlooked in traditional reporting focused on predefined indicators. Agility in programming requires informed judgement and adaptation to context. Effective project specification and documentation allow for a deeper understanding of value creation through learning, decision-making, and stakeholder experiences, highlighting…
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Data Is Not Evidence: So, What Actually Changed?
This content explores the crucial distinction between data and evidence in the context of educational and development programmes. While data represents numbers collected, evidence signifies insights about change. The piece argues for assessing the claims of change and ensuring that evaluation systems provide appropriate evidence to substantiate those claims, rather…
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What Are You Really Hiring an Evaluation Consultant to Do?
Most organisations know why they commission an evaluation. They want to understand whether a strategy, programme or investment has achieved its intended objectives, what has worked well, what has not, and what should happen next. Yet, despite commissioning evaluations regularly, many executives have only a vague understanding of what they…
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MEAL Isn’t New – To Me…
The author reflects on their experience completing the MEAL Essentials Certificate, noting that while it presents familiar concepts in Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning, it merely formalises established practices rather than introducing new ideas. MEAL aims to create discipline within systems where data collection and action are often disconnected, highlighting…
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Beyond the Score: Rethinking the Pillars of Learning Maturity Assessments
Learning maturity assessments have gained traction as organisations attempt to move beyond activity and towards demonstrable impact. Tools built around frameworks such as the Kirkpatrick Model typically organise maturity across a set of core capabilities, most commonly including strategic alignment, performance design, behaviour activation, measurement and evaluation, and optimisation or…
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Stop Renting Learning Impact: Learning Maturity Cannot Be Assessed Into Existence
The concept of “learning maturity” is often used without clear definition, leading organisations to misunderstand its essence. While maturity assessments can identify gaps, they do not build necessary internal capabilities. Authentic maturity requires embedding expertise in performance analysis and instructional design, enabling organisations to sustain behaviour change and achieve meaningful…