Outcomes, Goals, and Objectives Work smart, Be Specific, Be Measurable Welcome and introductions. Tell people that all the information discussed in this workshop can be obtained online.

With your outcomes first

Start with your outcomes If you don't know where you are going, how will you know when you get there?

Anticipate Measurable Outcomes   Using your program data, strategic plan, evaluation results, and funder criteria: List the goals that your organization wants to achieve in the next FY to help students, whether it is personal goal attainment, acquisition of certain skills, retention, recruitment, mentoring, improving tutor training, increasing program capacity through partnerships or increased staff or hours, the purchase of updated equipment, etc. Decide on which outcomes are achievable within the FY and prioritize them in order of importance.   Write these ideas into outcome statements that are measurable. Write down how these outcomes will be assessed.

First, be Specific

Example of a measurable statement Unclear Outcome: Students will have an appreciation of the banking system in our community. Measurable Outcome: After 6 weeks of financial literacy instruction, 65% or 18 students will fill out a deposit slip and deposit money at a local bank or credit union. Learners will know specifically what is expected of them. Their performance is observable and measurable; the verbs describe a behavior that can be observed and measured. Anticipated outcomes are based on program data and capacity.

Measuring outcomes is here to stay “It’s important to get exceedingly clear about the results for which the organization will hold itself accountable and clarify what success looks like.” - “Zeroing in on Impact” Stanford Social Innovation Review (2004)

Turn these sentences into measurable statements Students will be comfortable using technology. We will reduce our waiver requests by 80%. As a result of our new marketing materials, we will recruit more students. 100% of teachers will be taking professional development in preparation of GED 2014. We will invite new corporate partners to inform us about their employee needs and skills requirements.      Go over these quickly. Ask them what is wrong with these statements. If time is short, work on one statement together as a group.

Students will be comfortable using technology Changing a vague statement into a specific, measurable statement: By June 30, 2013, 80% (36) students who have received our 2-hour September and October 2012 orientations on where to find technology resources and use of equipment in the computer lab will use distance learning to supplement their classroom learning, increasing their intensity of instruction by 5% (3 hours) per week.

Evaluation and Assessment After 6 weeks of financial literacy instruction, 65% or 18 students will fill out a deposit slip and deposit money in a local bank or credit union. How will you evaluate this result? Write the answers down. Ask, is there more than one way to evaluate this outcome statement? Then ask the group to work on one of the statements they created. This exercise at the beginning of the grant ensures that assessment and evaluation are embedded throughout the project. Students will have a bank record of successfully doing this; the program will fill out an evaluation that records how many steps students got right, which steps they missed; attendance records will show the numbers of hours of instruction; the training agenda will show which topics were covered; a follow-up questionnaire will show how well students retained the information 6 months after class.

Program Evaluation Questions to ask as you develop your goals, objectives and outcomes: What do you ultimately want to say as a result of the evaluation? How should data and information be gathered? How often? How should it be analyzed? Who should do the analysis? (Internal analysis? Outside specialist?) What will you do with the results once the evaluation is completed? - This is important.

Learner Evaluations How will you determine learner achievement? Did the knowledge, behavior, or attitude of a learner change as a result of the program or learner participation? Evaluation Instruments: Pre/post tests, impact evaluation, or follow-up questionnaires and surveys (subjective); simulations or application to real life situations showing mastery of a skill.

Go from the broad to the specific Your organization Your organization’s plan Your grant project In terms of measurement, these elements go from the broad to the specific. Assess activities, outputs

You are now ready to write your goals and objectives Write S.M.A.R.T. goals and objectives considering the strategic plan the funder’s RFP and mission your program’s capacity the grant’s time frame Ask people what SMART means. Then click and the graphic will show up.

Goals and objectives Goals: are general statements of results; they specify a target group and address something that will undergo change. Objectives: are more specific and identify the results to be achieved, they address criteria by which results will be measured, offer a time frame, and mentioned a specific target group. Discuss the health goal, and how exercise, diet, and taking medicine are three objectives to achieve the goal.

Goals and objectives Goal: We will improve retention of adult students in ACEs ESOL program. Objective 1: Retention of adult students until they are post tested will increase 25% (60 students) by June 30, 2012 as a result of the new peer-to-peer mentoring program for ACE ESOL classes. What: Peer-to-peer mentoring program Results: 25% increase in retention Criteria: improvement; 60 more are post-tested Time frame: by June 30, 2013 Target: Adult students in ACE ESOL classes Goals and objectives are measurable There can be several objectives to one goal.

A goal can have more than one objective Goal: We will improve retention of adult students in ACEs ESOL program. Objective 1: Retention of adult students until they are post tested will increase 25% (60 students) by June 30, 2012 as a result of the new peer-to-peer mentoring program for ACE ESOL classes. Objective 2: Might deal with timely teacher intervention Objective 3: Might consider day care and transportation Objective 4: Might create additional class sites or new classes at a time convenient for students who work a swing shift.

Example of a measurable objective Unclear Objective: Increase retention to 80% using intervention strategies. Measurable Objective: By September 30, 2012, all teachers will have attended an in-service on retention strategies for adult students; by June 30, 2013, 100% of trained teachers will refer students who miss two classes in a row to the retention counselor for ongoing and personalized retention counseling. Teachers will know specifically what is expected of them. Their performance is measurable and the timeline is clear.

Methodology Objective: Retention of adult students until they are post tested will increase 25% (60 students) by June 30, 2012 as a result of the new peer-to-peer mentoring program for ACE ESOL classes. Methodology addresses specifics: Activities: Who, what, where, when, how Why the methods and activities were chosen Includes: Curriculum, software, equipment, qualifications of staff and professional development Methodology not only addresses specific activities, but describes why materials and curriculum were chosen, discusses qualifications of staff, and includes professional development. Evaluations and assessments should be embedded throughout this section.

The project design Objectives Goal Activities and Tasks Objectives: Results, criteria, timeframe, target group. Specific statement about outcomes. Methodology: Includes reasons why activities and tasks were chosen; and describe who, what, where, and when. Objectives Activities and Tasks Active verbs: ie, establish, conduct, select, produce, encourage, create, attend, take, master. Be aware that there might be 2-3 goals per grant, depending on how much funding you are going for.

Impact Statement Impact: The change you want to achieve with long-term outcomes. This is harder to measure. An impact statement shows how your program adds value to the community: employment, increased earnings, reduction in welfare dependency, transition to post-secondary education, student progress in educational functioning levels, GED attainment, impact on children’s education, improvement in health, citizenship skills, etc. An impact statement is long range. It sometimes takes years before an impact is measurable. It flows from your program’s mission, vision, and values.