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Adapting theories of change in the time of COVID

Wed, April 28, 1:45 to 3:15pm PDT (1:45 to 3:15pm PDT), Zoom Room, 115

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

Over the past decade, theories of change (TOCs) have increasingly been used as frameworks for designing and monitoring international education projects (Vogel, 2012; Cao, 2018). While other mechanisms like results frameworks and logframes have guided project monitoring and evaluation, TOCs have been used to examine project designs, especially the assumptions behind the “if-then pathways” between inputs, activities, and outcomes (Brown, 2016). However, the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has created challenges for the use of TOCs. Changing conditions such as school closures and social distancing protocols have required implementers to revise their intervention designs – in particular, by adopting remote learning, school health, and expanded communication strategies. Changing conditions have also required implementers to change their methods for collecting data to test their TOCs, especially when in-person data collection opportunities are limited.
To respond to these challenges, some implementers have adapted their TOCs and data collection strategies, which has raised two important questions:
• Can we incorporate new design elements into our TOC? To adapt to the COVID context, new inputs or outcomes must be added. What if these fundamentally change our TOC? Should we develop a different one?
• Can we test our TOC when in-person data collection strategies are no longer possible? Traditionally, strategies such as random sampling, in-person surveys, and face-to-face assessments have been used to collect representative data, monitor implementation, and measure learning outcomes. But what if social distancing requirements preclude the use of these strategies? Can we test our TOC using non-representative or remote data collection strategies?

This panel will examine how implementers have grappled with these questions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal, and Honduras. The discussion will be facilitated using an innovative thematic format where instead of simply describing each project, panelists provide a brief overview of their project’s design and challenges arising with their TOC during COVID. Then, the panel chair will pose a series of questions to panelists based on themes arising from their experiences. Simultaneously, conference attendees will be encouraged to post their questions and comments via Zoom or Twitter. Panelists will address these questions and comments during the session. This format has been used successfully in a series of webinars on monitoring, evaluation, and learning hosted by the Basic Education Coalition.

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