Evaluation: Did You do it? Did it Matter?

Articulating a Theory of Change

Evaluators advise collaborations to articulate a theory of change to represent their beliefs about what children and their families need and what strategies will help meet those needs.

Building Blocks of a Theory of Change

Conceptualization and operationalization of the three core elements of a program

What populations should the service reach/impact?
What strategies do we think will help us accomplish this?
What do we want to accomplish?

Understanding and expression of the relationship of the three core elements

What populations are being reached?
What strategies are being provided?
What have we accomplished?

Source: M. Hernandez. (2000). Using logic models and program theory to build outcome accountability. Education and Treatment of Children, 23, 24–40.

THERE ARE THREE INTERCONNECTED PARTS TO THE THEORY OF CHANGE. WHAT YOU SAY YOU WILL DO SHOULD RELATE TO WHAT YOU ARE TOLD BY STAKEHOLDERS AND STAFF AND TO WHAT YOU DISCOVER WHEN YOU GATHER DATA. THE THREE PARTS ARE:

Recorded Theory
Your intended action
Expressed Theory
What stories line staff tell
Active theory
What is documented through process evaluation

Benefits derived from articulating a theory of change include the development of local solutions; the facilitation of communication and collaboration among partners; the improved ability of systems and programs to specify where they are going and how they plan to get there; and improved strategic planning, internal evaluation, and quality. (See Getting to Outcomes in ACTION Pamphlet 1.)

Collaborators often are concerned because they embark on their violence prevention initiatives without expressing—or even thinking much about—a theory of change. It is helpful to backtrack at this point and seek guidance on how to do so; evaluators recommend searching the Internet, where a wealth of information on theories of change can be found. (Try a www.google.com search on the phrase “theories of change.”) Illustrate your collaboration’s theory of change in your logic model.

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