Did it work? Evaluating like a health worker

Health promoters, the people who run programmes like water-only schools or community walking groups, ask the same question you will: did it make a difference? To answer it, they plan how they will measure success before they start.

Start with a baseline

A baseline is a measurement taken before you change anything. If six junior students were alone at lunch before your games club and two were alone afterwards, you have evidence of change. Without the 'before', the 'after' doesn't tell you much.

Measure more than one thing

Numbers show how much; words show why. The strongest evaluations use both.

Look for other explanations

Maybe more people came in week two because it stopped raining, not because of your changes. Honest evaluators ask 'what else could explain this?' and say how sure they are.

Who did it work for?

An initiative can help one group and miss another. If your games club was full of boys but girls stopped coming, that matters as much as the total. Look for who benefited and who didn't, and for unintended effects, good or bad.

What? So what? Now what?

What happened? So what does it mean? Now what should happen next? A result that shows your idea didn't work is still valuable: it saves the next group from repeating the mistake and points to something better.