The Harvard Family Research Project separated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education to become the Global Family Research Project as of January 1, 2017. It is no longer affiliated with Harvard University.
Volume VII, Number 2, Spring 2001
Issue Topic: Out-of-School Time Issue #2
Spotlight
Logic Models in Real Life: After School at the YWCA of Asheville
Cindy McMahon of the YWCA of Ashville, North Carolina, shares how YWCA as a whole, and her after school program as a part of it, used a logic model to show they make a difference for women and families.
The YWCA of Asheville, NC, is not a research organization. The shared vision that drives us is the empowerment of women and their families and the elimination of racism. We work hard every day for and with the people who walk through our doors: we teach them to swim, help them address barriers to financial self-sufficiency, care for their children, and help them prepare for a brighter future. By and large, we are in the trenches and not necessarily at our desks.
We can see and feel that we are making a difference for women and families, but how can we prove it? This is the question that led the YWCA as a whole, and the after school program as a part of it, down the path toward using the logic model as an evaluation tool.
Several of the YWCA’s programs receive generous support from our local United Way, which asked us to provide proof of our impact on those we serve. At the same time, our local United Way was accepted into The United Way of America’s “National Learning Project on Using Program Outcomes.”
The United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County participated in this national project by forming work groups of representatives from many local agencies. The people participating in these groups supported each other in developing logic models, outcome measurement frameworks, and measurement tools for their agencies and programs. This process empowered the agency representatives to teach and learn from each other, thereby giving them a broad understanding of this evaluation tool and how it can be used in many different types of programs.
In the fall of 1999, we brought this working group process home to the YWCA, forming a similar study group within our organization that involved the leaders from the wide range of programs within the YWCA. The program staff met over doughnuts and coffee on a regular basis and helped each other think through the causes and effects of their programs. From this, the program staff came up with logic models to describe their programs.
Our internal study group’s formation coincided with the arrival of our new school age director, who oversees both the after school and summer camp programs. Involvement in the study group gave her the opportunity to think through the programs she was taking on as she was learning about them. The process of developing logic models helped her to articulate what she wanted to accomplish with the programs, and what programmatic changes would be required in order to reach these outcomes.
In order to apply our after school program logic model in practice, we had to wrestle with some data collection challenges such as gaining access to report cards and convincing already busy counselors to track homework completion.
Like any program, we did the best we could with the information we had at hand. We got permission from parents, allowing us to collect report cards from the schools. We worked to get the counselors on board, and the go-getters got with the program. Our final data for the first round of outcomes measurement were a sampling rather than complete, but we thought it was an excellent start.
We have now had these logic models in place for half a year of after school programming and one complete summer camp season. Where are we now? What have we learned?
First, like good scouts, we have learned to be prepared. We now have a report card permission slip in the enrollment packet, so we can easily collect grades from all the schools. As a part of the initial expectations for after school staff this year, we instituted daily homework logs for every group. We are trying to make outcome measurement an integral part of the program, rather than an add-on.
Second, we have become sensitive to the ways in which staffing issues affect outcome measurement. It is important to include outcome measurement discussions in the interview process, during orientation and training, and in staff meetings, to get buy-in and keep the momentum going. All staff need to understand the logic model process and the benefits of engaging in outcome measurement, whether they are the new director of school age programs or staff who have been with the program for years.
We asked ourselves this question: how can we have consistent outcome measurement with solid data, and still give the director the flexibility to adjust the program as she sees fit? Fortunately, logic models are both practical and flexible. The outcomes themselves are fairly common-sense and there is general agreement on what we want to get out of an after school program. There are many possible ways to get there, as many activities could lead to the desired outcomes. So it is easy for a new director to accept the pre-determined outcomes, but exercise her own creativity in designing activities to reach them. In this way, the program can be both fresh and consistent at the same time.
This practicality of the logic model is its greatest asset, not only for after school, but for the YWCA as a whole. We are busy people running licensed programs that already involve plenty of state, federal, and grants-related paperwork. If we are going to design and measure anything, it had better be easy, and it had better make sense. The logic model meets both those criteria, and gives us excellent data to use for improving and marketing our programs.
Acknowledgements: Ann Von Brock, Chief Operating Officer, United Way of Asheville & Buncombe County
Cindy McMahon
Assistant Executive Director
YWCA of Ashville
185 S. French Broad Ave.
Ashville, NC 28801
828-254-7206
cindymcmahon@mindspring.com