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A Guide to Self Evaluation: How to Tell You are Making a Difference: a Basic Guide for Voluntary Organisations
This booklet describes how to reach a shared understanding of: your aims; signs of success; objectives; targets; monitoring and evaluation. It offers a basic introduction to each step and ...

A handbook to data collection tools: companion to “a guide to measuring advocacy and policy”
This is a compendium of examples of tools and approaches to gathering evaluation data in relation to advocacy and policy.  It covers six main outcome areas: shifts in social norms; ...

Addressing the challenges for evaluation
This paper is for people with a role in commissioning, funding or evaluating ...

An Overview of Evaluation Methods
This Toolkit provides guidance on how best to use the following methods for information gathering: Counting; Observation; Documents; Interviewing; Case Studies; Group work; Questionnaires; Story ...

Analyzing Outcome Information: getting the most from data
This guide, the fifth in the Urban Institute's series on outcome management for non-profit organizations, describes steps that nonprofit organizations can take in performing this ...

Assessing Strategic Partnership
The Strategic Partnership Taskforce in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister commissioned the Nuffield Institute at the University of Leeds to provide a Tool that local authorities can use ...

Basic Principles of Monitoring and Evaluation for Service Providers
The aim of the booklet is to provide guidance to service providers on the principles of monitoring and evaluation and to provide a template for planning, conducting and reporting on evaluation. ...

Becoming More Effective
This is an introduction to monitoring and evaluation for refugee community organisations.

Becoming visible: Operating standards for community organisations
The standards were developed for use by community organisations in England and Wales, but have general relevance for village halls, community centres and flats, resource centres and arts or ...

Befriending and Mentoring Evaluation Resource Pack
This resource pack was comissioned by Befriending Network Scotland, Scottish Mentoring Network and Evaluation Support Scotland to support projects to undertake monitoring ...

Carers Checklist
A free downloadable tool that can be used to assess the needs of people with people with dementia and their carers and to evaluate the outcomes of the service being delivered.  Carers were ...

CES Guidance Papers: Quality and Evaluation in Community and Voluntary organisations
Written but the Charities Evaluation Services (CES) in June 2005. Guidance Paper 1: How much should we expect to pay for an external evaluation? This paper sets out ...

Charities Evaluation Service Discussion Papers
Wide-ranging series of papers written in 2005 introducing evaluation topics: The purpose of evaluation Different ways of seeing evaluation Self-evaluation ...

Community Buildings Examples
This document outlines sample evaluations of community building projects.

Creating Confidence Handbook
A handbook for professionals working with children to explore the issue of building confidence, particularly in relation to the Curriculum for Excellence.  There is a critique of work in ...

Data Protection Act
All the information you need on the Data Protection Act.

Data Protection for Evaluation
Aimhigher East Midlands considers data protection to be of paramount importance to its Monitoring and Evaluation Database. As such, safeguards are in place to protect any personal information ...

Early Years Self Evaluation Collaborative
This report highlights the first stage of a three-stage pilot programme commissioned by Community Food and Health Scotland and led by Evaluation Support Scotland to support six groups to show ...

Effective Interventions Unit Evaluation Guide 1: Definitions and Common Concepts
Produced by the Scottish Executive's Effective Interventions Unit, each guide in this series provides straightforward guidance on the topic which is supplemented by a range of ...

Effective Interventions Unit Evaluation Guide 2: Planning an Evaluation
This is the second in the Scottish Executive Effective Intervention Unit's Evaluation series. This Guide aims to explain the planning stage of an evaluation by describing the steps necessary ...

Effective Interventions Unit Evaluation Guide 3: Designing an Evaluation
This is the third in the Scottish Executive Effective Interventions Unit Evaluation series. This Guide aims to explain the planning stage of an evaluation by describing the steps necessary in ...

Effective Interventions Unit Evaluation Guide 4: Implementing an Evaluation
This is the fourth in the Scottish Executive Effective Intervention Unit's Evaluation series. This Guide aims to explain the implementation stage of an evaluation.  

Effective Interventions Unit Evaluation Guide 5: Reporting and dissemination
This is the fifth in the series of Scottish Executive Effective Intervention Unit's Evaluation guides. This Guide sets out how to write up and disseminate your evaluation and highlights why ...

Effective Interventions Unit Evaluation Guide 6: Designing an Economic Evaluation
This is the sixth in the Scottish Executive Effective Intervention Unit's Evaluation series. This guide to Economic Evaluation relates inputs and outputs to costs and outcomes to ...

Effective Interventions Unit Evaluation Guide 7: Using Assessment Data for Evaluation
This is the seventh in the Scottish Executive Effective Interventions Unit Evaluation series. It examines when and how assessment data collected by drug services can be used as part of an ...

Effective Interventions Unit Evaluation Guide 8: Evaluating Outreach Services
This is the eighth in the Scottish Executive Effective Interventions Unit Evaluation series. The guide looks at evaluating outreach work. It discusses the definition of outreach, ...

Effective Interventions Unit Evaluation Guide 9: Evaluating Employability Programmes
This is the ninth in the Scottish Executive Effective Interventions Unit Evaluation series. It explains the aims and objectives of employability projects and associated evaluations. It focuses ...

Effective Interventions Unit Evaluation Guide10: Evaluating Community Engagement
This is the tenth guide in the Scottish Executive Effective Interventions Unit Evaluation series. It looks at evaluating community engagement strategies and activities. It discusses the ...

Effective Interventions Unit Evaluation Guide11: Evaluating Arrest Referral Schemes
This is the eleventh guide in the Scottish Executive Effective Interpretation Unit's (EIU) Evaluation series. It is a very specific guide, designed to offer guidance on how to develop and ...

Effective Interventions Unit Evaluation Guide12: Intensive interventions with young people
This is the twelfth in the Scottish Executive Effective Interventions Unit (EIU) Evaluation series. It follows EIU’s research and guidance on working with young people, particularly ...

Effective Interventions Unit Evaluation Guide13: Supporting carers and families of drug users.
This is the thirteenth in the Scottish executive Effective Interventions Unit Evaluation series. It follows the publication of the review ‘Supporting Families and Carers of Drug Users’ ...

Environmental Action Fund project evaluations: Good practice handbook
This fairly dense handbook can be downloaded for free.  It was developed from work with projects funded by the Environmental Action Fund, supporting them help evaluate their work.  It ...

Equality Monitoring
This page gives useful guidance on appropriate questions for equalities monitoring in relation to transgender individuals.  The website provides additional information on equalities ...

ESS Support Guide 1.2 - Developing a Logic Model
This guide comes out of work that we did with funding from NHS Health Scotland to help build understanding about logic modelling.   For that ...

ESS Support Guide 3.4 - Using Qualitative Information for Evaluation
This guide will help you to think through how you can make use of qualitative information in evaluation.   It looks at what qualitative information you might ...

Ethical Evaluation
Advice for ethical evaluation, specifically of interest to those involved in learning and teaching but with wider relevance.

Evaluating Community Projects - A Practical Guide
by Marilyn Taylor, Derrick Purdue, Mandy Wilson and Pete Wilde These guidelines were developed as part of a Joseph Rowntree Foundation Programme to help 20 community and voluntary ...

Evaluating Interpretation
A good basic guide to evaluating interpretation at outdoor attractions and museums.

Evaluating Websites for Accessibility
A multi-page resource that outlines different approaches for evaluating Web sites for accessibility. It offers general procedures and tips for evaluation in different situations, from ...

Evaluation Cookbook
A practical guide, aimed at lecturers who are interested in evaluating materials for their effectiveness in achieving specific learning objectives.  Cookbook contributors were selected on the ...

Evaluation Guidance for Practitioners: A Practical Guide to Evaluating Drug Education and Prevention Services for Young People (by Richard Ives)
This guide introduces the process of evaluation. It looks at the basics (what is the difference between monitoring and evaluation) as well as specifics of evaluating drug education and ...

Evaluation Journey
This is an introductory guide to evaluation in Plain English with a good number of case studies. Published by Ash Scotland it focuses on health work but is useful for anyone who needs a good ...

Evaluation Ladder (Drugs and Housing)
This ladder was adapted by Kevin Callaghan from Cyrenians in West Lothian to use with the service users he works with. This is an excellent example of how tools can be adapted to different ...

Evaluation of effectiveness of interpretation at six visitor centres
Scottish Natural Heritage funds or part-funds interpretive facilities at several visitor centres in Scotland. This evaluation assessed the extent to which a sample of six visitor centres met the ...

Evaluation Support for Funders
This is the ESS Introductory leaflet for funders. it outlines the support we can give to funding organisations.

Explaining the difference your project makes: A big guide to using an outcomes approach
The guide aims to help you cover the following aspects: identifying, understanding and explaining the need you want to meet being clear about your overall aim and the ...

First Steps in Monitoring and Evaluation; Helping you do better what you do best
This guide has been developed particularly for small voluntary organisations and those with limited experience of monitoring and evaluation. It introduces a five-step approach based ...

Forest Schools Scotland - an Evaluation
This report is in two parts reflecting the two distinct elements of the research. • using evidence from two case study Forest Schools, and other collated data, to analyse and ...

From Access to Action - Impact Pathways for the IDS Knowledge Services
IDS Knowledge Services do not view access to information as an end in itself but as a contributor to development processes and social change. Individual stories from users of the IDS Knowledge ...

Funders singing the same song!
We’ve worked with members of the Scotland Funders Forum to produce the Evaluation Declaration. This has 5 statements that describe why monitoring, evaluation and reporting are important ...

General Evaluation Advice for learning and Teaching
This group of resources from the University of Sheffield provides general advice for those planning to undertake an evaluation of change in their learning and teaching who have little or no ...

Guidance on Equality Monitoring Sexual Orientation
Free downloadable guide on good practice monitoring in relation to sexual orientation.  There are additional resources on the website in relation to monitoring transgender issues, ...

guide to measuring advocacy and policy
This American publication gives a sound overview to the issues surrounding evaluating advocacy and policy work, alongside guidance on developing an appropriate evaluation plan.  There is a ...

Guide to Social Return on Investment
Published in May 2009, this free downloadable guide explains what Social Return on Investment (SROI) is, and what the process involves. It was prepared as part of the Office of the Third ...

Guide to Supported Self Evaluation
This guide, produced by the Social Work Inspection Agency, supports social work agencies to self evaluate their work.   January 2009    

Health Impact Assessment of Greenspace
This free, downloadable guide contains a straightforward guide to conducting a health impact assessment on greenspace.  There are a range of case studies to illustrate the process ...

I Can - soft outcomes for homeless and vulnerable adult learners
This research project looked at the key soft outcomes of learning for homeless and vulnerable adults, and developed a measurement tool for these. They used an action research ...

LEAP - A model for participatory planning and evaluation in community learning and development
LEAP stands for learning, Evaluation and Planning. There are a number of versions of the LEAP framework. This online resource looks at LEAP for Community Learning and Development. ...

LEAP for Greenspace projects
LEAP stands for Learning, Evaluation and Planning. There are a number of versions of the LEAP framework. LEAP Greenspace has been designed for organisations working in the environmental sector. ...

LEAP for Health
LEAP  stands for Learning, Evaluation and Planning. There are a number of versions of the LEAP framework.  LEAP for Health aims to help those who work in community health ...

LEAP for Volunteering
Leap stands for Learning, Evaluation and Planning. There are a number of versions of the LEAP framework. LEAP for Volunteering  was developed by Scottish Community Development Centre for ...

Making measures work for your outcomes and evaluation
This free downloadable guide is one of a series for funders on evaluation produced by this American organisation.  Others include Mapping Change using a theory of change to guide planning ...

Making the Case - Social Added Value Guide
The guide helps organisations in the social economy to demonstrate the social added value that is intrinsic to services they deliver. It offers a recognised way to measure the ...

Managing for Impact in Rural Development
This Guide has been written to help project managers and M&E staff improve the quality of M&E in projects supported by IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development). It is ...

Managing Outcomes - A Guide for Homelessness Organisations
This guide has been written for people working in the homelessness field. It provides definitions and examples of identifying outcomes, explores the different perspectives of stakeholder groups ...

Mapping Change using a theory of change to guide planning and evaluation
 This free downloadable guide is one in a series for funders on evaluation produced by this American organisation.  Others include, making measures work for you outcomes and ...

Measuring Effectiveness: Self-evaluation Toolkit for the national network of Councils for Voluntary Services
This toolkit was devised for (English) Councils of ...

Measuring Impact Toolkit
A free, downloadable, colourful and visual guide that covers all aspects of getting to grips with measuring impact.  It is particularly relevant to organisations working with children and ...

Mental Health Improvement: Evidence and Practice - Guide 1: Evidence Based Practice
This is the first in a series of Evaluation Guides that aim to encourage, support and improve standards in the evaluation of mental health improvement initiatives. This guide aims to help ...

Mental Health Improvement: Evidence and Practice - Guide 2: Measuring Success
This guide aims to help develop indicators to gauge progress and assess the effectiveness of mental health improvement interventions. Covers the use of consultation to develop robust, valid and ...

Mental Health Improvement: Evidence and Practice - Guide 3: Getting Results
This is the third in a series of Evaluation Guides, which aim to encourage, support and improve standards in the evaluation of mental health improvement initiatives. This guide gives an overview ...

Mental Health Improvement: Evidence and Practice - Guide 4: Making an Impact
This is the fourth in a series of Evaluation Guides, which aim to encourage, support and improve standards in the evaluation of mental health improvement initiatives. impact. This guide discusses ...

Mental health Improvement: evidence and practice Guide 5 Selecting scales to assess
This is the fifth in the series of evaluation guides and focuses on how to select a validated scale to assess aspects of mental well being.  In the guide approximately 50 scales are ...

Monitoring and Evaluating: Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Programme
This is an introductory guide to monitoring and evaluation for workers in the field of youth substance abuse prevention.  It is not a detailed guide on how to evaluate but contains useful ...

Monitoring and Evaluation for Paths to Health Projects
This guide, produced by Paths for All outlines the evaluation and monitoring needs of Paths to Health projects. It also outlines how to evaluate an overall programme of Paths for All projects.

Outcomes Star for Homelessness
This tool measures the outcomes of work with homeless people. It was developed by Triangle Consulting, originally for  St Mungo’s, and subsequently widely tested and revised for the ...

Outcomes Star website
The Outcomes Star™ is a unique tool for supporting and measuring change when working with vulnerable people. It is widely used and is: Underpinned by an explicit model of change

Participatory Arts Evaluation Approach Project Report
This is the report from a piece of joint work between The Mental Health Foundation in Scotland, Artful and ESS.  The project supported six participatory arts organisations to pilot a self ...

Passport to Evaluation
This guide produced by the Home Office and updated May 2009, looks at the basic techniques used to evaluate crime reduction projects. It explains  evaluation within a ...

Paul Hamlyn Foundation Evaluation Resource Pack
This comprehensive pack from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation takesd the reader through the whole process of evaluation. It is clearly written and well explained, covering the pros and cons of a ...

PQASSO (Practical Quality Assurance System for Small Organisations)
PQASSO is CES's practical quality assurance system for small organisations, or for projects within larger organisations. It's a low-cost, straightforward quality system, written ...

Practical Guidelines: Evaluation
This guide has been developed for projects that work to engage public audiences in science, social science, engineering and technology. It is a general overview that helps plan evaluation, ...

Practical Monitoring and Evaluation (Book) By the Charities Evaluation Services
This publication is described by CES as ‘a comprehensive and definitive guide to monitoring and evaluation for voluntary and community organisations.’ It ...

Primer for Evaluating Outcomes
This is a free downloadable guide on measuring outcomes.  It is primarily aimed at those running self-management programmes but has useful guidance and tips for anyone considering using or ...

PROJECT: engaging artists in the built environment
Comedia was commissioned by Public Art South West to evaluate PROJECT: engaging artists in the built environment in July 2004, before any awards had been made. The research ...

Prove and Improve
This guide offers a starting point for exploring evaluation - and in particular, self evaluation of outcomes. Published by Community Evaluation Northern Ireland and funded by the Big Lottery.

Prove it - Measuring the effect of neighbourhood renewal on local people.
The handbook addresses questions such as ‘whether and what to measure’. It also looks at the benefits and pitfalls of involving local people. The handbook ...

Rural Proofing
This guide and a more detailed evaluation tool can be downloaded from this website.  While an English publication it helps organisations think ...

Sample Equalities Monitoring Form
This free downloadable form gives sample questions for monitoring gender, age, ethnic origin and disability. 

Self Evaluation and Enterprise in Schools
Self-evaluation is vital for educational establishments to appraise the quality of pupils' experiences of enterprise in education, and to support planning for improvement. The ...

Small-Scale Evaluation: Principles and Practice
This book by Colin Robson is a comprehensive and accessible short guide to evaluations published in 2000, once again aimed at social science students. It explains what evaluations are, how they ...

Social Accounting and Audit - The Manual
By John Pearce, Alan Kay (Social Audit Network) published in 2005  This Manual is aimed at organisations that wish to measure their performance and impacts.  The manual ...

SROI (Social Return on Investment)
Everyone seems to be talking about SROI (Social Return on Investment) at the moment. To find out more about this approach, and Evaluation Support Scotland’s involvement with the ...

Step it Up - Charting Young People's Progress
This document contains a report of work commissioned by the Scottish Executive Education Department in 2001 and materials developed for evaluating youth work. The report identifies ...

Talking Points - A Personal Outcomes Approach
An outcomes approach to assessment, planning & review aims to shift engagement with people who use services away from service-led approaches.  This webpage offers links to ...

Tear up your Tick Boxes
This is a colourful publication which can help get you started to think about more making information collection more interesting and fun.   Free to download from the link ...

Ten steps to a Results Based Monitoring and Evaluation System
An international publication aimed at public sector officials who have to monitor and report on outcomes.  It presents a 10 step process to be followed to first assess readiness then ...

The Child at the Centre - Scottish Government
This self evaluation guide is for centres offering pre-school education & day care to children aged 3-5. It includes performance indicators used in the inspection of centres for ...

The Community's Toolbox
The idea, methods and tools for participatory assessment, monitoring and evaluation in community forestry A free downloadable guide of tools developed for use in an international context ...

The Confidence Research System
An on-line resource, that can be used to measure baseline and progress in relation to aspects of confidence in adults and children.  These are self-efficacy, optimism, resilience, mindset, ...

The Evidence Guide
The Evidence guide pack contains five modules: Using research evidence in practice: an introduction Locating research evidence  in five steps Appraising and ...

The Gate experience
Is it possible to join up reporting to different funders?   ESS's new report  "Joined up reporting to funders - The Gate Experience" was ...

The Measure of Success: Developing a Balanced Scorecard to measure performance
This report introduces the Balanced Scorecard as a comprehensive view of an organisation’s performance, tying long term goals and priorities with the actions required to achieve them. A ...

The Power of Proof - An Evaluation Primer
This is an online resource from the USA based Tobacco Technical Assistance Consortium. It coers the whole process of evaluation from planning to reporting. It uses examples from tobacco control ...

The Program Manager's Guide to Evaluation
This is a very clearly written guide to the evaluation process, covering self evaluation and external evaluation. It takes the reader through the whole process and includes lots of useful ...

The Programme Managers Guide to Evaluation (Children's Services)
  Nine chapters cover what, why and how to evaluate and learn from evaluation.  By US Department of Health & Human Services (December 2003) Chapter 1 looks at ...

The UNFPA Programme Managers' Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Toolkit
The toolkit is a supplement to the UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) programming guidelines. It provides guidance and options for UNFPA Country Office staff to improve planning, monitoring ...

The Volunteering Impact Assessment Toolkit
Provides a comprehensive selection of methods and tools which measure and assess the effects of volunteering. The toolkit measures the impact of volunteering under the following areas; ...

The W.K Kellogg Foundation Evaluation Handbook
This handbook provides a fairly in-depth look at some basic questions, such as the limitations of scientific methods in evaluation.  One of the key aims of evaluation for the Kellogg ...

Toolkit to Measure The Added Value of Voluntary and Community Based Activity
The toolkit is intended to enable both funders and ...

Your Project and its Outcomes
This booklet provides a glossary explaining what outcomes and impacts are and provides examples of what these might be for different groups. The booklet also looks at the benefits of collecting ...