9 Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
Monitoring
Monitoring is the routine, systematic monitoring of project resources (or ‘inputs’), activities, and results. It is an analysis of these factors to help guide project implementation. Monitoring is concerned with determining if activities are being carried out as planned (i.e., monitoring the process).
Monitoring involves data collection to address questions such as:
- To what extent are planned activities delivered as planned?
- What services are provided, to whom, when, how often, for how long, and in what context?
Monitoring data are used to inform project managers if and where existing efforts need to be modified.
Evaluation
Evaluation is the periodic (including interim and final) assessment and analysis of an ongoing or completed project. Evaluation is focused on the outputs and impacts (i.e., the effectiveness of the project or study under evaluation).
Learning
Learning is the process through which information generated from monitoring and evaluation is reflected upon and intentionally used to continuously improve a project’s ability to achieve results.
| Item | Monitoring | Evaluation |
|---|---|---|
| Frequency | Regular, ongoing | Periodic – at a point in time |
| Main Action | Keeping track/oversight | Assessment |
| Basic Purpose | Improving efficiency, adjusting work plan | Improving effectiveness, impact, future programming |
| Focus | Inputs/outputs, activities/process, work plans | Effectiveness, relevance, efficiency, impact, sustainability |
| Information Sources | Routine systems, field visits, stakeholder meetings, output reports, rapid assessments | Same as monitoring, plus surveys (pre-/post-project), special studies |
| Undertaken By | Project/program managers, community workers, supervisors, community (beneficiaries), funders, other stakeholders | Project/program managers, external evaluators, community (beneficiaries), supervisors, funders |
| Learning | Used to continuously adjust workplan, make improvements as the project goes. | Highlights effectiveness; used to inform future programming based on what does/doesn’t work. |
| Used to identify key recommendations to share with other stakeholders doing similar work so that we can improve intervention planning, methods, and implementation. | ||
Monitoring and evaluation
The monitoring and evaluation pipeline steps are described in the table below:
| M&E Step | Examples | Example question(s) to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Inputs | Staff
Money Supplies Training Facilities Other resources |
Are we on budget?
How many staff are required to implement our activities? What roles will they have? How many other resources do we need and are they available? |
| Activities | Vaccinating children
Community awareness sessions Testing febrile cases for malaria Interviewing pregnant women about attending antenatal clinics |
Did the vaccine clinic happen? On time?
Did the community awareness sessions happen? Did the health workers know the case definition to test for malaria? Did the health workers know how to use the survey? Were the pregnant women happy to participate in the survey? |
| Outputs | Number vaccinated out of number of people in target population
Number of community awareness sessions held Number of people attending session out of number in community Number tested for malaria out of number who met case definition Number interviewed out of number of women selected to participate in survey |
How many children were vaccinated?
Did we test everyone who met the malaria case definition? How many of the 120 women selected, were interviewed? |
| Outcomes | Trends of disease
Behaviour changes Attitude changes Clinical outcomes Quality of life |
What was vaccine coverage before the intervention? After?
Have more women had supervised deliveries in Nov 2018, compared to Nov 2017? What is health worker knowledge about malaria testing practice before the training? After the training? |
| Impact | Morbidity
Mortality Disease trends Economic impact |
Number of measles cases in clinic A declined from an average of 28 cases/month in 2017 to 2 cases/month in 2019
Maternal death rate decreased in 2019 by 23% when compared to 2014-2018 New training program reduced vaccine wastage by 62% and saved $250,000 |
Monitoring and evaluation matrix
A monitoring and evaluation matrix helps us to plan and implement monitoring and evaluation activities. Below is an example of a monitoring and evaluation matrix.
| Intervention Objective | Activities | Output Indicators | Outcome Indicators | Source of Information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 – Objective 1 | 1.1 – Activity 1 | 1.1.1 – Indicator 1 | ||
| 1.1.2 – Indicator 2 | ||||
| 1.2 – Activity 2 | 1.2.1 – Indicator 1 | |||
| 1.2.2 – Indicator 2 | ||||
| 1.2.3 – Indicator 3 | ||||
| 2 – Objective 2 | 2.1 – Activity 1 | 2.1.1 – Indicator 1 | ||
| 2.1.2 – Indicator 2 | ||||
| 2.1.3 – Indicator 3 | ||||
| 2.2 – Activity 2 | 2.2.1 – Indicator 1 | |||
| 2.2.2 – Indicator 2 |
Below is an example of a monitoring and evaluation plan matrix where the goal is to reduce malaria incidence on the island.
Example:
Monitoring and evaluation matrix for an intervention which has the goal to reduce malaria incidence on an island.
|
Intervention Objective |
Activities |
Output Indicators |
Outcome Indicators |
Source of Information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
To improve malaria prevention habits amongst residents on the island |
1. Distribute 200 bed nets to households on the island |
1.1 # bed nets distributed (%) |
% bed net coverage compared to % before intervention |
Survey of households visited to distribute nets Audit of nets distributed |
|
1.2 # (%) houses on the island to receive their first bed net |
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2. Conduct 4 community education sessions about malaria prevention methods |
2.1 # community education sessions conducted |
Participants knew % of basic malaria prevention steps after sessions compared to % before |
Log of community educational sessions, including # of participants Pre & post assessments of participant knowledge, attitudes & practices |
|
|
2.2 Total # of people who attended community education sessions (% of estimated # residents of the island) |
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|
1 & 2 |
|
% positive malaria tests in health facility compared to % before the interventions |
Health facility records |
