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Module 5 Sessions 8&9
Sessions 8&9: Practical
Practical: Developing a Monitoring and Evaluation Framework
The second part of Session 8 is a practical activity designed to enable the participants to develop
a monitoring and evaluation matrix based on an actual district development plan.
Participants should be divided into groups of four. All of the instructions and resource material
for the practical are contained in this document. These include:
1. Step by step guide for the practical
2. M&E matrix structure
3. Guidance on the elements of the matrix
4. Elements of the district develop plan to be used in developing the M&E framework.
Guide for the Practical
1. The convenor will go through the materials, describing the M&E matrix, and the
definition of concepts. Particular emphasis will be given to the definition of indicators.
The convenor should allow time for question and answer to ensure that the concepts are
clear (30 minutes)
2. Participants should divide up into groups of four, preferably with people that they have
not worked with before (10 minutes)
3. Each group should then review the Objectives and Outputs for the Masindi District
Development Plan, and attempt to fill in the matrix – creating indicators for the
objective, each output and defining baselines, targets, sources and timing and cost.
Participants should pay particular attention to the quality of the indicators they choose,
e.g. are they numeric; are they objective, specific, relevant and feasible? Is the definition
sufficiently precise; are the units of measurement given?
The teams should also consider whether the indicators will provide useful data, and the
implications for data collection.
This work should be done through discussion and debate, and referring back to the
definitions given (45 minutes).
Each group should report back on their work, highlighting any challenges (40 minutes).
Districts Training Programme
Module 5 Sessions 8&9 – Page 1
Module 5 Sessions 8&9
Annex 1.
Monitoring and Evaluation Matrix
What information?
Objectives
Outcomes
Outputs
Indicator(s)
Each Outcome
and Output
should have at
least one clear
and measurable
indicator
statement
Districts Training Programme
Baseline
Where no
baseline exists,
indicate source
and timing of
exercise to
gather baseline
data
Target
Target setting
should be
conducted
during the final
stages of
preparation of
plan
How and when collected?
For what
purpose?
With what
resources?
Source(s)
Timing
Rationale
Resources
The timing and
regularity of
data collection
(with reference
to rationale)
This should
describe the
uses
of the
information
(e.g
performance
monitoring,
evaluation) and
the users of the
information (as
distinct from
the
sources)
Indicative
statement of
resources
required and the
source(s) of
funding
Institutions/
Agencies/
Partners
responsible for
data collection
and the
instruments to
be used
Module 5 Sessions 8&9 – Page 2
Module 5 Sessions 8&9
Definition of Concepts
Objective: The intended physical, financial, institutional, social, environmental, or other
development results to which a project or programme is expected to contribute.
Outcome: Actual or intended changes in development conditions that an intervention(s) seeks to
support. The contribution of several partners is usually required to achieve an outcome. Using the
same example an outcome is the improvement in the judicial process as evidenced by a reduction
in the backlog of cases.
Output: Tangible product (including services) of an intervention that is directly attributable to
the initiative. Outputs relate to the completion (rather than the conduct) of activities and are the
type of results over which managers have most influence. An example of an output for a project
for judicial reform is the number of judges trained and qualified.
Indicator: Indicators are signposts of change along the path to development. Indicators are what
we observe in order to verify whether – or to what extent – it is true that progress is being made
towards our goals, which define what we want to achieve. Indicators make it possible to
demonstrate results. Indicators can also help in producing results by providing a reference point
for monitoring, decision-making, stakeholder consultations and evaluation. In particular,
indicators can help to:




Measure progress and achievements;
Clarify consistency between activities, outputs, outcomes and goals;
Ensure legitimacy and accountability to all stakeholders by demonstrating progress;
Assess project and staff performance.
By verifying change, indicators help us demonstrate progress when things go right and provide
early warning signals when things go wrong. This assists in identifying changes that need to be
made in organizational strategy and practice. The continuous monitoring of indicators also
facilitates effective evaluation.
The purpose of indicators is to support effectiveness throughout the processes of planning,
implementation, monitoring, reporting and evaluation – in other words, throughout the full
spectrum of results-based management.
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Indicators may be used at any point along the results chain of inputs, activities, outputs,
outcomes and impacts. They may relate to the actual achievement of the result (target), to the
current situation the partners are trying to change (baseline) or to progress or process (annual
targets, intermediary benchmarks). Country offices (CO) may apply indicators to any other
process or product that is useful to measure (e.g., the formation of new partnerships, the time
spent on soft assistance initiatives or the delivery of activities in project work plans).
Types of Indicators
Factual indicators
� Factual (yes/no)
� Existence (yes/no)
� Classes (x/y/z)
Numeric indicators
� Number
� Percentage
� Ratio
� Policy recommendation submitted
� Constitution passed by Parliament
� Chamber of Commerce established
� Freedom House indicator: free, partly free, not free
� Nr. of entrepreneurs trained
� Nr. of new jobs created by small enterprise sector
� % of government budget devoted to social sectors
� % of rural population with access to basic health care
� Ratio of doctors per 1.000 people
� Ratio of female to male school enrolment
Indicator Specification
Good indicators have the following five characteristics:

Numeric. While not always more objective, numerical precision lends itself better to an
agreement over the future interpretation of data. On the other hand, factual indicators
provide only a very crude “measurement” due to their limited scale (mostly yes/no). For a
set of factual indicators, no monitoring system is needed, since the status is mostly known
by stakeholders (e.g.: law passed by parliament: yes or no). If it not possible to avoid
factual indicators due to the nature of the project, factual indicators should be at least be
supplemented by numeric indicators in a comprehensive set.

Objective. An indicator which involves a subjective judgement by somebody is not
objective. For a good indicator, there has to be a general agreement over interpretation of
data.

Specific. The indicator needs to be as specific as possible in terms of quantity, quality, time,
location, target groups, baseline, targets etc.
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
Relevant. The indicator needs to relate directly to the respective output, outcome or
impact. In other words, a good indicator is a relevant “measure” for the objective.

Feasible. Even if an indicator fulfils all other criteria, it is not useful if the data collection
for the indicator is not feasible. First, data for the indicator needs to be easily available.
Baseline. The situation or status prior to a development intervention, against which progress can
be assessed or comparisons made.
Target. The quantified estimate of achievement of a particular indicator or set of indicators
against which the development interevention’s performance will be judged. The target should
reflect a value situated against the base value, and may include final target and intermediate targets
as measures of progress.
Districts Training Programme
Module 5 Sessions 8&9 – Page 5
Module 5 Sessions 8&9
Annex 2.
Masindi District Three-Year Local Government Development Plan
2007/08 – 2009/10
The following text is abstracted from section 4. of the Masindi LGDP.
Forestry sector
Goal: To promote sustainable social and economic development and utilization of forest
resources in the district
Objective
1. To regulate forest resource exploitation
2. To increase awareness on sustainable forest
management and conservation
3. Improve management of forests within
communities
Districts Training Programme
Output
Community tree nursery beds for tree planting
established and maintained
Communities mobilized and sensitized on
sustainable use of forest resources
Community forest inventories conducted
Community forest management plans prepared
External forest boundaries of local and
community forest reserves re-surveyed and
demarcated
Communities sensitized on community and
private forest management
Laws enforced
Legislative materials on natural resource
management publicised and disseminated
Aforestation programmes conducted in schools
and other institutions
Talks shows conducted on local FM radio
stations
Formation of communal land associations for
management of communal forests promoted
Commercial tree planting on hill reserves and
private lands promoted
More forest extension staff recruited
Module 5 Sessions 8&9 – Page 6