Eastern Mennonite University / Center for Justice & Peacebuilding Spring 2011; January 10-14 PAX 624 Monitoring & Evaluation Instructor: Mark M. Rogers [email protected] Tel. (360) 734-2702 Course Description:1 This is an introductory monitoring and evaluation course for peacebuilding practitioners and professionals. It assumes that participants are already familiar with the theory and practice of peacebuilding but not monitoring and evaluation. The course approaches monitoring and evaluation from a learning perspective and introduces theories of change, indicators, monitoring, evaluation design, and tools for reflective practice. Its objectives are to enable participants to think evaluatively, design better projects, to monitor and learn from those projects more regularly and effectively, and to enable participants to engage with final evaluations more thoroughly. The course design includes mini-lectures, experiential learning exercises and practical case applications. The course is offered either for training or for one, two or three hours of MA credit. For students taking the course for credit, there are additional requirements. Students are invited to submit a 5-7 page case study of a peacebuilding project to be used in the practicum sessions involving indicator development, monitoring planning and evaluation design. The cases should include a detailed conflict analysis, a goal statement, SMART objectives, targeted results and brief descriptions of the key activities. Two to four case studies will be chosen according to participant interest. Course Objectives: 1. To acquire tools for analysis, reflection and learning that add value to peacebuilding practice. 2. To understand the basic concepts and activities involved in monitoring and evaluating peacebuilding initiatives. 3. To develop skills in evaluative thinking. 4. To develop and practice skills that are important for monitoring and evaluating projects, such as indicator development and evaluation planning. 1 This course syllabus includes segments of training curriculum we have utilized in various workshops. We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of colleagues Reina Neufeldt, Hal Culbertson, Cheyanne Church, Carla Fajardo, Susan Hahn, John Paul Lederach, Grace Ndugu and Jean Baptiste Talla, in the development of various materials and ideas over time.Copyrighted by Mark M. Rogers, 2011. 2 Required Texts: The following references will be used for this course and are available on-line: Carver, Christopher, and Rolf Sartorius. Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning for Fragile States and Peacebuilding Programs. Social Impact/ Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI), 2005. Church, Cheyanne, and Mark M. Rogers. Designing for Results: Integrating Monitoring and Evaluation in Conflict Transformation Programs. Search for Common Ground/United States Institute of Peace (USIP), 2006. (available on-line in two parts at: http://www.sfcg.org/documents/manualpart1.pdf ; http://www.sfcg.org/documents/manualpart2.pdf Lederach, John Paul, Reina Neufeldt and Hal Culbertson. Reflective Peacebuilding: A Planning, Monitoring and Learning Toolkit. The Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame and Catholic Relief Services (CRS), 2007. (available on-line at: http://kroc.nd.edu/documents/crs_reflective_final.pdf). Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Guidance on Evaluating Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding Activities: working draft for application period. DAC Network on Conflict, Peace and Development Co-operation and the DAC Network on Development Evaluation, 2008. Course Reader (to be distributed in class) Recommended Reading: A bibliography of articles and books related to the design, monitoring and evaluation of peacebuilding projects is attached. Students will be required to draw on these and other relevant materials in their written assignments for the course. Course Requirements: In this course, we will engage in a mix of applied work, lectures and discussions in which everyone is expected to participate as a basic core course requirement. Everyone is expected to read required readings and periodically prepare overnight assignments. Additional Course Requirements (for credit students): 1. Self appraisal of class participation (2-3 pages). Required for 1, 2, and 3 credits (35% of grade for three credits) Each student will develop criteria of effective classroom participation (indicators), set participation standards against which to compare their data, collect and use both quantitative and qualitative data to assess their performance, rank their own performance and describe the evidence to support their findings. You will need to begin collecting data on the first day of the workshop. Parts of this exercise can be done in pairs or small groups.Copyrighted by Mark M. Rogers, 2011. 3 2. Critical reflection papers (2 pages each) a.) Required for 2 and 3 credits. (15% of grade for three credits) Given this course is designed to increase the reflective capacities of practitioners, you are required to write a short paper that analytically reflects on course readings for a particular module of material (e.g. indicators, monitoring, evaluation, theories of change). b.) Additionally required for 2 credits only. Critique a professionally prepared, external peacebuilding evaluation of your choice. Identify the strengths and weakness of the evaluation. How is the evaluation useful? Discuss at least one alternative you might have pursued had you been on the evaluation team. 3. Evaluation Project Proposal (16-20 pages) Required for 3 credits only (50% of grade for three credits). Students will develop an evaluation proposal outlining a particular conflict context and a project including the design an evaluation. The paper should include a justification of the focus of the evaluation and proposed methods of evaluation and methods of analysis, drawing on resources from the bibliography. The analysis of the conflict and the justification of the evaluation approach must include references and citations and should not exceed three pages. Class Schedule: Day One Key Issues: What is evaluative thinking? How do we describe the changes peacebuilding seeks to realize? Read for Class: • Confronting War, Part I, Chapters 1 and 2 (pp.7-19)