MONITORING AND EVALUATION

Monitoring

Monitoring is the systematic and routine collection of information from projects and programs for four
main purposes:

To learn from experiences to improve practices and activities in the future;

To have internal and external accountability of the resources used and the results obtained;

To take informed decisions on the future of the initiative;

To promote empowerment of beneficiaries of the initiative.

Monitoring is a periodically recurring task already beginning in the planning stage of a project or
program. Monitoring allows results, processes and experiences to be documented and used as a basis to
steer decision-making and learning processes. Monitoring is checking progress against plans. The data
acquired through monitoring is used for evaluation.

Evaluation

Evaluation is assessing, as systematically and objectively as possible, a completed project or program (or
a phase of an ongoing project or program that has been completed). Evaluations appraise data and
information that inform strategic decisions, thus improving the project or program in the future.

Evaluations should help to draw conclusions about five main aspects of the intervention:

o relevance

o effectiveness

o efficiency

o impact

o sustainability

Information gathered in relation to these aspects during the monitoring process provides the basis for
the evaluative analysis.

Monitoring & Evaluation

M&E is an embedded concept and constitutive part of every project or program design (“must be”).
M&E is not an imposed control instrument by the donor or an optional accessory (“nice to have”) of any
project or program. M&E is ideally understood as dialogue on development and its progress between all
stakeholders.

In general, monitoring is integral to evaluation. During an evaluation, information from previous

monitoring processes is used to understand the ways in which the project or program developed and
stimulated change. Monitoring focuses on the measurement of the following aspects of an intervention:

o On quantity and quality of the implemented activities (outputs: What do we do? How do we
manage our activities?)

o On processes inherent to a project or program (outcomes: What were the effects /changes that
occurred as a result of your intervention?)

o On processes external to an intervention (impact: Which broader, long-term effects were

triggered by the implemented activities in combination with other environmental factors?)

The evaluation process is an analysis or interpretation of the collected data which delves deeper into the
relationships between the results of the project/program, the effects produced by the project/program
and the overall impact of the project/program.

Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) Tools and Techniques

Tools

Theory of Change

The Theory of Change is a comprehensive description and illustration of how and why a desired change
is expected to happen in a particular context. It is an explanation of how you expect your programme to
result in the ultimate changes you seek. It provides the logical explanation and flow between project
inputs and activities, to project outputs, to outcomes and finally to impact. It is typically provided as
both a written narrative and a diagram. For evaluations, a Theory of Change is rapidly becoming a
standard expectation for developing an evaluation framework. This is because it lays out the 'expected
story' of the project in advance, thus provides an explicit framework for assessing the long-term results
against. However, (unlike a logframe) a theory of change in and of itself does not include any thinking
about data collection or how an impact assessment will be managed. A clear Theory of Change is usually
the foundation for creating a results framework (like a logframe).

Logical Framework (Logframe)

A Logical Framework (logframe) is one of the most common planning, monitoring and evaluation tools
used to describe the anticipated chain of cause and effect in development interventions. A logframe is
based on a simple grid, and describes what a project needs to do to achieve its impacts through a
hierarchy of activities, outputs, outcomes and impacts. Originally devised as a planning tool, logframes
are used for M&E as they lend themselves to the monitoring of outputs and outcomes, and assessing the
effectiveness and efficiency of a project's delivery.

Logframes should include quantified SMART targets (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and
Time-bound), indicators for measurement, plans for verification of indicators and key assumptions.

Monitoring and Evaluation Plan

Monitoring and Evaluation Plan

An M&E Plan is a guide as to what you should monitor and evaluate, what information you need, and
who you are evaluating for. It is the central repository for all project M&E plans, and reference tool that
guides M&E activities throughout the project.

The plan outlines the key evaluation questions and the approach to monitoring that will help to design
evaluations and data collection activities. This allows you to identify the information you need to collect,
how you can collect it, and who will collect it. The plan should be able to be picked up by anyone
involved in the project at anytime and be clear as to what is happening in terms of monitoring and
evaluation.

A data collection table/matrix is a critical tool for planning and managing data collection, analysis, and
use. This is a table that is usually included in a wider M&E plan. It expands the Logframe to identify key
information requirements for each indicator and summarizes the key M&E tasks for the project. This
would include indicators, method of verification/data source, use of comparison group, who will collect,
frequency, storage location of data

Monitoring techniques that can guide students progression and engageme

1. Entrance and Exit Tickets

As students arrive and/or leave the classroom, require them to demonstrate mastery of key parts of the
content. For example, a math teacher’s entrance or exit ticket could consist of three problems of varying
complexity, giving the teacher a clear picture of each student’s level of understanding, as well as where
his or her understanding may have been altered.

2. Student Reflection

Have students communicate what they know, what has helped them learn, and what they’re still unclear
about. This gives educators clear insight so they can make adjustments and plan the next steps in their
teaching. It also gives them opportunities to help students revise their knowledge and clear areas of
confusion. Best of all, they now know what part of their instruction was most helpful to students.

3. Revising Knowledge

To deepen their knowledge, students must be able to identify what they know about the critical content
and recognize how their understanding has evolved. A myriad of activities can be done in small groups to
get students discussing their own learning processes and solidifying the revised knowledge in their
minds.

4. Accountable Answers

Effective student monitoring provides more than a snapshot of how the majority of the class seems to be
doing. When teachers require all students to respond to a question, they can effectively gauge each
learner’s understanding. They can quickly display responses on whiteboards or vote anonymously. You
may even have them walk to the corner of the room that corresponds with their responses, essentially
“voting with their feet.”
 5. Summarizing

Another good way to help students grasp their learning targets is by having them summarize what
they’ve learned. This immediately shows teachers which students need an adjustment in instruction. It
can be as simple as asking students to summarize in quick phrases or a teacher might spontaneously
have them provide descriptors for a particular character, person, or concept from the lesson.

Ways to track online learning experiences

Tracking student progress is a core function of teaching. With online learning tools this function becomes
not just easier, but more effective.

While grades remain an important indicator on how well your students are understanding the
coursework, there are a myriad of other tools and techniques that will give you even more insight into
their progress.

Tracking student progress operates across a number of vectors: their grades, their attendance and
participation. When using online learning tools there are a couple of ways to track students progress.

LMS tracking tools

The swiftest and easiest way to set up an online student tracking system is by using a professional LMS
(Learning Management System). These systems are designed as end-to-end closed systems where the
teacher is given a user-friendly interface and dashboard where they can create lessons freely, using a
number of media, give assignments and grade them — all from the same online space.

Tracking progress is as easy.