Pilot Projects

A range of projects were identified from the membership of the Development Education Association to test out ways in which they were measuring the effectiveness and impact of programmes. The pilots were in practice work in progress and were used to review what is currently happening. They provide examples of organisations grappling with a range of evaluation dilemmas. They do not provide a blueprint or set of answers on how to evaluate, but they show how organisations have developed workable evaluation models in response to particular challenges and concerns.

Below is a brief introduction to each pilot project and organisation. The Measuring Effectiveness team of consultants worked with the pilots to help them develop their project indicators.

For further information and contact details please use the links on the left below, and also see the discussion document. For more detailed information on the methodologies used with each project, go to Tools.

Development Education Centre South Yorkshire (DECSY)
'Whole School Commitment to Global Citizenship'
DECSY worked on an audit of a whole school commitment to global citizenship. It is a valuable example of looking at how you use types of indicators, in this case impact indicators and process indicators. In terms of process indicators the Centre wanted to explore whether the audit was an effective tool for engaging schools in global citizenship. In terms of impact indicators, they wanted to explore the impact on school policies and practices.

The Workers' Educational Association (WEA)
'WEA accredited development education tutor training'
WEA aims to bring development education into the mainstream of their curriculum through the development of a tutor training programme. This pilot project had the specific aim of identifying development education learning outcomes which could then be incorporated within their broader assessment and accreditation criteria.

Global Connections
'Global perspectives in learning'
Global Connections is a small Development Education Centre in Pembrokeshire in Wales and aims to be an efficient, effective, good quality resource centre for their various constituencies schools, youth and adults. Its evaluation priority was to measure the effectiveness of their work as a resource centre as well as the quality of the partnerships with various organisations.

The Humanities Education Centre
'Global Footprints - steps to a sustainable future'
This pilot project aimed to explore sustainable development issues in school policies and practice. A key feature of this project has been the partnership with a range of other DECs and a number of European and Southern NGOs. A number of critical success factors were identified in the development of the project including how effective the partnerships were with overseas groups, the capacity of a DEC to 'learn and apply the model and level of sharing of good practice.

The Guide Association
'Training of trainers in development education'
The Association recognised that the global perspective has yet to permeate the organisation to a sufficient depth to allow it to be integral to all aspects of the movement. This project therefore aimed to develop training in order to ensure that global perspectives in guiding are carried throughout the Association's structure. The project worked to assist the international section of the GA in the UK, to conceptualise, develop, design and implement a training of trainers programme in line with current global youth work initiatives in the UK.

Inroads Africa
'The Anansi Development Education Project'
Inroads Africa provides Saturday and summer schools to broaden the understanding of young Black people regarding their history and global awareness. The Anansi development education project is Inroads Africa's first encounter with development education. The reason for getting involved with the measuring effectiveness work was to ensure that the correct criteria were being applied to developing and implementing their programme of work with young people in Hackney. The main indicators to be developed were the effectiveness of the summer school and seminars as modes of transmission and the level of knowledge gained by participants.

Passe Partout
'Youth Culture and the Three 'R's, Rights, Race and Responsibilities'
Passe Partout offers an intriguing approach to development education and awareness raising among UK and European (French, German, Dutch) youth. They wished to be involved with the measuring effectiveness work with a view to developing indicators that looked particularly at:

• the level and type of participation of both students and staff
• the effectiveness/efficiency of the partnering process between schools in the UK and mainland Europe
• the merits and challenges of information and other technology, e.g internet and video-conferencing based work.

Norfolk Education and Action for Development (NEAD)
'Labour behind the Label'
NEAD is one of the longest established development education centres (DECs) in the country. Its origins go back over twenty five years. NEAD runs a broad range of programmes including a shop, a library and information service, a schools, community and non-formal sector educational programme. NEAD staff volunteered to take part in the measuring effectiveness project so as to be better able to evaluate project impact. After some discussion is was agreed that it would be most helpful to focus upon defining and measuring learning outcomes (a form of performance indicator) appropriate to the project.