Skip to main content

Currently Skimming:

6 USAID Program Cycle and STI P: Monitoring and Evaluation
Pages 109-122

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.


From page 109...
... 1 The value of the agency's M&E investment can only be confirmed if the organization learns from evaluations about what works and what does not, and why -- and then applies the evaluation findings to implement more agile, midcourse corrections and development of new tools and approaches. A key challenge relates to the evaluation culture itself -- ensuring the right evaluation approach and the appropriate indicators for the project 1 USAID Evaluation Policy, January 2011, https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/ files/documents/1868/USAIDEvaluationPolicy.pdf.
From page 110...
... Accountability includes ensuring funds are used efficiently, measuring effectiveness, disclosing findings, and using evaluation findings to inform budget decisions. To the extent possible from current methodologies, evaluation can help the agency to better understand which kinds of investments, including in STI, yield the greatest benefits.
From page 111...
... As the policy states, "Research priorities help formulate and refine impact evaluation questions so that these can advance the state of knowledge around a particular subject. In turn, impact evaluations ground-truth research findings: they test innovative strategies and approaches in a real-world setting before they are scaled up with USAID funding, and in doing so, reveal new areas of research." 5 Evaluations can also reveal how development is helping or hurting women or other target groups.
From page 112...
... 6 The role of gender in STI evaluation also provides an example of the challenge in ensuring the entire organization plays a role in implementing a strategic priority. In a 2015 external study of how USAID and other international development organizations are implementing gender as a mainstream issue, the authors found donors performed well in setting out strategies over the last decade, but had accomplished little in incorporating gender into their evaluation cultures.
From page 113...
... expansion of impact evaluation clinics to enable missions to fill gaps in the appropriate use of randomized controlled trials; (2) expansion of training so program managers gain more in-depth competence in evaluation oversight; (3)
From page 114...
... establishment of country-level learning plans to use evaluation findings within the CDCS process. USAID is updating its evaluation policy based on the experiences of the last five years and the external review.
From page 115...
... SOURCES: Feed the Future Learning Agenda Literature Review: Improving Research and Development, 2013; Synthesis of Evaluations for the Feed the Future Learning Agenda, March 2016. The Global Development Lab has assumed a role to advance stateof-the-art evaluation approaches and tools throughout the agency, many of which have particular application to science, technology, and innovation, and partnerships (STIP)
From page 116...
... Adaptive Management Approach The USAID program cycle (planning, project design and implementation, and evaluation and monitoring) acknowledges that development is rarely linear, and therefore stresses the need to assess and reassess through regular monitoring, evaluation, and learning.
From page 117...
... 14 Aid agencies, multinational nongovernmental organizations, and international organizations have the adaptive management approach. 15 The Global Development Lab developed evaluation approaches based on adaptive management, especially for STI+P projects.
From page 118...
... 18 Box 6-2 MERLIN Mechanisms Developed for the Global Development Lab Development Evaluation Pilot Activity (DEPA-MERL) Tests the effectiveness of a developmental evaluation approach, as well as accompanying M&E tools and flexible contracting mechanisms, in achieving effective programming for innovative interventions, untested theories of change, and/or implementation in complex contexts.
From page 119...
... Establishing advanced evaluation systems can develop local capacity to collect appropriate evidence and use this to make evidence-based decisions about development. Impact evaluations can broaden the suite of questions asked about STI projects and the extent of follow-on gains, if
From page 120...
... has responded to this challenge by developing a shared framework for M&E of innovation that includes modeling future outcomes. In 2015, the IDIA published "A Call for Innovation in International Development," outlining the need for innovation to address pressing development challenges and laying out six core principles to facilitate development innovation.
From page 121...
... RECOMMENDATIONS Recommendation 6.1: With agency evaluation policies in place, the leadership needs to emphasize implementation and push for greater testing of new tools and lessons from recent experience in evaluation. USAID needs to ensure compliance with its policies on collecting relevant baseline data, and that midcourse reviews are fully utilized to enable managers to adapt or pivot in order to achieve success.
From page 122...
... Recommendation 6.3: USAID should, perhaps with other development agencies and institutions, develop robust, state-of-the-art methods for assessing the impact of longer-term interventions, including investments in adaptive research and human and institutional capacity development.


This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More information on Chapter Skim is available.