Defining and measuring success

Once there is clear agreement to proceed with implementation, there is value in working with core partners to unpack the outcomes and strategies that have been agreed in planning and come to agreement about what success looks like and how progress towards this can be measured over time.

Just as the commitment to a shared vision can help 'hold steady' when times are tough, a shared definition of success aligns core partners towards the agreed outcomes and articulates the many contributing aspects to overall success. It provides a cohesive framework that guides decision-making, resource allocation, and collective efforts as well as being integral to evaluation planning.

Schools as Community Platforms involve an array of core strategies contributing to agreed outcomes which are dependent on multiple factors.  Success can be defined at multiple levels. 

• In the early implementation it may be the establishment of the key enablers; the build, a strong governance group, engagement with core service partners, development of a shared plan and a mechanism for community voice.  
• As implementation progresses indicators may include increases in the range of services and opportunities available on the site, increase parent engagement with the school and site services, evidence of collaborative practices and warm referral.
• In the long term through implementing the Schools as Community Platforms approach is about changes in key indicators such as early development, student attendance, student achievement, adult participation in education or employment pathways, increased family cohesion and functioning and improved ways of working.  The long-term indicators should always be front of mind for all partners.  

Long term Success measures relate directly to the agreed outcomes for the Schools as Community Platforms. Defining them early allows for the time needed to collect baseline information about the measures, assessing the suitability of available data sets held by partners, develop data sharing arrangements and/or putting in place additional data collection systems to support ongoing measurement.

The evaluation design should match the implementation timeframe and complexity using a combination of early, medium and longer-term indicators. It is important to define progressive success indicators within such a long-term approach

Our Experience/Learning

While there are some regularly collected data sets that can help in measurement, time needs to be invested in developing the appropriate trust and authorisation to share this information with other partners.  Development of data sharing agreements and protocols will happen in early implementation, however in the pre-establishment phase it is important that partners recognise the shared responsibility for this, investigate its feasibility and commit to supporting its progress where it is deemed possible.

Avoid developing evaluation indicators that are impossible or too onerous to collect data for in the local context and be open to a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods of measuring and reporting impact.  A few well aligned indicators may be all that is possible with the resources available.

As implementation progresses, it is Important to be able to tell a story of impact to keep stakeholders engaged and reflect on progress towards the longer-term outcomes.  Consider using external expertise to guide evaluation planning early in implementation so that data collection arrangements and systems can be incorporated into normal site operations and data informed planning is made easy.