Helping clients develop Theories of Change as an external evaluator.  Two-part blog series on The National Science Foundation (NSF) has required Theories of Change as part of many educational proposals for some time, but there has been quite a bit of confusion among my clients as to what exactly is meant by a ToC or why it would be useful. I’ve learned not to back down when a client doesn’t want to develop a ToC (or take the time to do it well). When I have not done so, target audiences and outcomes were usually muddy. One client fought me the whole way, feeling it was confusing exercise without practical value. Later, however, she related to me, “Now I know why you had me do that, and it was totally useful. Now I’m developing one on my own for this new project and it was so much easier.”  Most clients who develop Theories of Change go on to create (very good!) ToCs to guide other projects, and this gives me pride.

To see more about my approach see my posts on the American Evaluation Association “AEA 365” blog. Full text post 1 and post 2.