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Session Title: The Role of Monitoring in Evaluation Quality
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Panel Session 735 to be held in CROCKETT C on Saturday, Nov 13, 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM
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Sponsored by the International and Cross-cultural Evaluation TIG
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| Chair(s): |
| Chung Lai, International Relief & Development, clai@ird-dc.org
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| Abstract:
This panel features perspectives on the role of monitoring in evaluation quality in international settings, presented by three panelists working in M&E for international development. The role of monitoring contributes to improved program management and evaluations. Practitioners and independent evaluators have many overlapping data needs; good monitoring can address many of them. Quality monitoring data - that track key performance indicators and targets – is key to evaluations. Developing monitoring plans and systems at the design stage of programs has many advantages. Planning for monitoring provides an opportunity to analyze the planned program logic model and indicators to determine if, in fact, the plans are measurable and can be monitored. Monitoring plans can also accelerate thinking about data collection instruments that must be developed for monitoring and later evaluation efforts. Finally, regular reporting and utilization of monitoring data by program implementers and funders foments a culture of evaluation within organizations.
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Data Collection Instruments for Quality Evaluation
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| Chung Lai, International Relief & Development, clai@ird-dc.org
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This session will discuss the linkage between quality evaluation and quality data through data collection instruments using a project in Indonesia as a case study. Data collection instruments are important to increase evaluation quality through quality data collected using instruments designed and reviewed for the project. In the rush of getting activities started often data collection instruments are done on an adhoc basis or using a template. Some projects do not have the capacity to customize the template. Some projects create something that is sufficient for them but it may not meet all the project needs or match with the higher level indicators. Given a performance monitoring plan, the project field staff may still have questions: What do I use to collect the data? What format is the best to link with our database? What user-friendly format is appropriate for grantees who will collect some of the data too?
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Monitoring Tools and Systems: Contributing to Better Information for Program Teams and Evaluators
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| Maurya West Meiers, World Bank, mwestmeiers@worldbank.org
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This session presents a range of tools and systems that have been used by program teams for their routine monitoring and decision-making, as well as by evaluators in the range of evaluation types conducted. Featured will be the following: examples of monitoring systems that inform on the entire program logic (from inputs to impacts); the use of key performance indicators for managing programs and decision-making; and data collection tools to complement the systems. It will present examples of how and under what circumstances monitoring data has been used in evaluations. A range of examples of tools and systems from international contexts will be provided, from those used by individual projects to those used by national and regional ministries, particularly in Latin American countries.
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Monitoring: An Evaluator’s Friend or Foe
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| Cheyanne Scharbatke-Church, Tufts University, cheyanne.church@tufts.edu
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This session will explore the impact of monitoring on evaluation quality from the perspective of an external evaluator. It will identify the ways in which monitoring brings value to the evaluative process; seeking to draw out key success factors. It will also explore the opposite side of the coin, identifying ways in which monitoring can negatively affect evaluations. Using a broad definition of quality in this case, the paper will discuss where monitoring detracts from a quality process. This paper will draw from experience conducting evaluations in international development and peacebuilding and where possible will identify the nuances of each field to this discussion.
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