Scott Chaplowe on International M&E Training & Capacity Building Modules

Hello, my name is Scott Chaplowe, and I am a Senior M&E Officer with the International Federation Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). I have been working in international monitoring and evaluation for about a decade now, and some of my earliest and most impressionable learning experiences in evaluation were with the AEA at its annual conference. Thus, it is great to see AEA utilize the internet through AE365 and other initiatives for knowledge sharing.

Rad Resources: Field-friendly M&E training and capacity-building modules (Ed. Guy Sharrock). This is a series of nine modules on key aspects of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) for international humanitarian and socioeconomic development programs. They are “field-friendly” in that the module topics were selected to respond to field-identified needs for specific guidance and tools. The intended audience includes managers as well as M&E specialists, and the series can also be used for M&E training and capacity building. The American Red Cross and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) produced the series under their respective USAID/Food for Peace Institutional Capacity Building Grants.

Right now, it seems that the website for Catholic Relief Services is the best location to access the complete series of modules, http://www.crsprogramquality.org/publications/2011/1/17/me-training-and-capacity-building-modules.html, and individual module titles include:

• Capacity-Building Guidance
• Monitoring and Evaluation Planning
• Indicator Performance Tracking Tables
• Hiring M&E Staff
• Preparing for an Evaluation
• Managing and Implementing an Evaluation
• Communicating and Reporting on an Evaluation
• Effective Report Writing
• Success and Learning Stories

In addition to the full modules, there are also very handy “Short Cuts” versions of field-friendly M&E training and capacity-building modules (Ed. Guy Sharrock). The Short Cuts provide a ready reference tool for people already familiar with the full modules, or those who want to fast-track particular skills. They can also be reached at Catholic Relief Services, http://www.crsprogramquality.org/publications/2011/1/14/me-short-cuts.html,  and individual titles include:

• Capacity-Building Guidance
• Monitoring and Evaluation Planning
• Using Indicator Performance Tracking Tables
• Hiring M&E Staff
• Preparing for an Evaluation
• Managing and Implementing an Evaluation
• Communicating and Reporting on an Evaluation
• Writing Human Interest Stories
• M&E and Ethics

I admit that I am a little biased towards the series as I was a contributing author while working as an M&E Advisor with the American Red Cross’ Tsunami Recovery Program. I wrote the module on Monitoring and Evaluation Planning. The other day a colleague sent me a link for an additional website to directly access this particular module:

http://www.stoptb.org/assets/documents/countries/acsm/ME_Planning_CRS.pdf

This contribution is from the aea365 Daily Tips blog, by and for evaluators, from the American Evaluation Association. Please consider contributing – send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org.