EntrEval

Partner(s):

SAIE seeks funding from the DG Murray Trust for the EntrEval mixed methods impact assessment tool. The D G Murray Trust focuses its available resources on 7 programmes: Early Childhood Development, Reading and Writing followed by Mathematics, the Sciences and Technology, Programme for a Winning Nation, Orphans and Vulnerable Children and Youth, Conservation and the Environment, General Social Welfare and Philanthropy and The DG Murray Trust Bursary Fund. In general, DGMT programmes are holistic, integrated and function on different levels within a community. They also address a wider audience in their focus community. Programmes often allow the testing and piloting of new approaches to address specific issues. They are always long-term. Thus, SAIE seeks sponsorship from DGMT for the mixed methods impact assessment project called EntrEval.

Our Involvement:

The project involves the development of a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) tool specific to entrepreneurship development.

SAIE is developing an M&E tool – called EntrEval – specific to entrepreneurship education and development to provide its donors with information on the impact of their investment in people. Over the last years, SAIE has measured impact by using quantitative (“what happened”) and qualitative (“how” and “why” things happened) methods. However, the complexities of the classroom environment – teacher qualifications, teacher experience, teacher knowledge of entrepreneurship, teacher motivation and attitudes, classroom implementation of entrepreneurship curriculum, and interaction of teachers, learners, content and environments – call for richer, more sophisticated ways of measuring impact.

A very useful evaluation tool – called EvaluLEAD (developed by the Public Health Institute of California and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in the US) – has emerged recently in the leadership development field, and SAIE is adapting this tool for use in entrepreneurship development. EvaluLEAD involves the investigation of three levels of change: (1) Episodic/Immediate – more predictable, short-term, cause-and-effect results following a programme’s intervention; (2) Developmental – more open-ended and less predictable changes occurring over time, including forward progress and setbacks, and affected by external influences and internal willingness and ability to change; and (3) Transformative – fundamental shifts in individual, organisational, or community values and perspectives that seed the emergence of fundamental shifts in behaviour and performance; often the “prize” to which programmes aspire.

These three levels of change are considered for three domains: individuals, organisations and the broader community being served. The approach leads to a three by three programme results map (see SAIE website on the “Evaluations” page). Two main forms of enquiry – evidential (facts) and evocative (opinions) – are considered for each square in the grid shown below. SAIE intends to use this form of enquiry to evaluate its projects.

Project Progress:

As a standard practice, invariably like any development project, SAIE has conducted pre-project planning while funding for the project is still being sought. A working group with the requisite credentials has been identified. Bibliographies and comparative data have been gathered using basic literature search from different secondary sources as well as SAIE’s primary data from evaluations (in the form of feedback). The team has also suggested a basic work plan that can be operationalised once notice is given to commence full time work. Beyond the background research and strategy, the work of the group has been stalled pending the outcome of the grant application.

Funder:

Product:

Evaluations

Location:

Not specified.

Project Completion: