Monitoring reach & engagement

Identifying who your intervention has reached and engaged

I believe the children need to complete activities and not just be talked to for them to engage properly with the subject. We've had very positive feedback from schools who have taken part in our school award as they've seen a difference in the children's attitudes towards animals in their class.

Jenny

Monitoring is an essential and basic form of evaluation. It is important to document all the work that is carried out as part of an intervention and how many people have taken part. All organisations should have some data of this kind available, so it is really just about putting in place a system to capture this information accurately so it is easy to report.

The following are types of information you might collect as part of a monitoring process:

Attendance rates – the number of children and young people taking part in an intervention.
Retention rates – the length of time children and young people are involved in the programme, and the extent to which they remain engaged.
The type of intervention – whether it is ‘universal’ where everyone receives the same input, or ‘targeted’, including the distinct characteristics of those designed for particular individuals or groups. If there are elements of both, this should also be documented.
Inclusivity – if this information is available to you, the backgrounds of the children and young people taking part in the intervention and the extent to which particular groups are involved (e.g., those who are more vulnerable, are at high risk of causing harm to animals, have special educational needs, live in a disadvantaged area, or are in local authority care).
Variation in delivery – the degree to which it is tailored to particular groups or individuals.
Community involvement – who else in the local community is linked with the intervention either directly or indirectly (e.g., families, schools, youth offending teams, colleges, veterinarians).

The degree to which participants are engaged should also be monitored and documented. This may be based on observations of those delivering the programme, or more formal assessments of engagement via interview or a written questionnaire about the experience of participating. A way to record all information collected should be decided at the outset, so that everyone involved is clear on how and what to document.