Step 2: Clarify Program Logic

To create evidence of your program’s success, it helps to have a solid understanding of what the program is trying to accomplish and how you believe the program is achieving these goals. Creating a logic model helps you articulate how the program is intended to work and consequently, helps you identify which aspects to focus your evaluation on.

Table of Contents

• What is a logic model?
• Why should I develop a logic model?
• How do I get started?

What is a logic model?

A logic model is a diagram that illustrates the rationale behind your program. It shows the relationships between the resources you invest (inputs), the activities you carry out (outputs), and the benefits you expect (outcomes).

You can read a logic model as a series of if/then statements that connect the different components of your program. For example:

• If we have resources (inputs), we can carry out activities (outputs).
  (e.g., If we have funding for staff and appropriate materials, we can carry out after school EE programs.)
• If we carry out activities (outputs), we create changes in participants (outcomes).
  (e.g., If we carry out after school EE programs, students' environmental literacy will increase.)
  
  

  (Adapted from W. K. Kellogg Foundation, 2004)

(Please click on the logic model image below for a larger view.)

Unique Resource

Examples of EE program logic models:

• MEERA Logic Model
• Sustainable Schools Project Logic Model (.pdf)
• CO-SEED Logic Model (.pdf)

Logic Models

...specifically ones for small programs and ones that reflect a variety of EE programs. Please forward your examples to Dr. Michaela Zint.

To learn more about logic models see:

• Logic Models
  Usable Knowledge, LLC
  Beginner
  This 15-minute tutorial (with audio) walks users through the basic components of a logic model.

Why should I develop a logic model?

Logic models are valuable tools for both program management and evaluation. They can help you:

• Communicate to funders, staff, policymakers, and the media what your program does;
• Create common language and reference points for everyone involved in the program;
• Identify gaps in your program’s offerings and aid in the planning of future program initiatives; and
• Identify assumptions about how your program works.
  
  (Adapted from Schmitz and Parsons, 1999).

The process of constructing a logic model can also help to narrow the focus of your evaluation efforts. Thinking through and clarifying how your inputs, outputs, and outcomes are connected should help you identify which program components are most worthy of evaluating as well as the types of questions you would like your evaluation to answer (See Step 3).

For more on the benefits of creating a logic model, see:

• Logic Model Development Guide (.pdf)
  W.K. Kellogg Foundation (2004).
  Beginner Intermediate
  This guide describes what a logic model is, how to create one, and how to use it to frame your evaluation questions. The appendix offers logic model templates and checklists of important things to consider when constructing each part of the model.

How do I get started?

The first step in developing a logic model is to set the parameters of what it should depict. For the purposes of conducting an evaluation, consider questions such as:

• What is the scale of the program you are evaluating? Are you looking at a single focused activity such as an after-school program or are you evaluating several activities that fall under one broad program?

• What do you want to know about your program? Are you concerned with how well the program is being implemented? Are you interested in knowing whether your program is changing participants’ attitudes toward the environment and their intention to take actions to protect it? Or are you looking at the long-term impact your program has had over several years, such as the extent to which it has helped to improve environmental quality?

The answers to these questions will help you determine which components of your logic model require more attention and detail. For example, if you are interested in program implementation and participant satisfaction (i.e., formative evaluation), you will likely focus on the inputs and outputs sections of your model. In contrast, a summative evaluation of a long-standing program might place greater emphasis on the relations between activities and intermediate-term outcomes.

Once you have determined the focus of your logic model, the final step is to organize information in a way that allows you to see the connections between specific inputs, outputs, and outcomes. Remember that these connections are causal statements.

You will have a stronger logic model if you critically examine the underlying assumption. For example, what experience, research, or other evidence do you have to indicate that your environmental education program is reaching its intended audience or resulting in the changes you expect? (University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension, 2006).

These resources provide guidance and tools for creating your logic model:

• Logic Model Template (.pdf)
  California Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET)
  Beginner Intermediate
  The first template in this document is specific to the California B-WET Program. The second template, however, is blank and can be used for any EE program. This template includes columns for objectives, resources, activities, outputs, short-term outcomes, and mid-to long-term outcomes and impacts.

• Logic Model Development Guide (.pdf)
  W.K. Kellogg Foundation (2004).
  Beginner Intermediate
  This guide describes what a logic model is, how to create one, and how to use it to frame your evaluation questions. The appendix offers logic model templates and checklists of important things to consider when constructing each part of the model.
• Enhancing Program Performance with Logic Models
  University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension
  

  Intermediate Advanced
  This self-paced tutorial combines audio and detailed text to offer an in-depth lesson on logic models. Users work through the process of constructing and using a logic model.

• Logic Model Builder
  Innovation Network
  Advanced
  Visitors who register at the site (for free) gain access to Point K, a collection of web-based tools for planning evaluations, developing logic models, and creating surveys. Registered users are asked step-by-step questions about their program's goals, resources, intended outputs, and outcomes. Point K then transforms that information into print-ready logic models and evaluation plans.

References:

Schmitz, C. and B. Parsons. (1999). "Everything you wanted to know about logic models but were afraid to ask." Retrieved June 2007 from http://www.insites.org/documents/logmod.htm.

University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension. (2006). Enhancing Program Performance with Logic Models. Retrieved October 2006 from http://www.uwex.edu/ces/lmcourse/.

Usable Knowledge. (2006). Logic Models. Retrieved October 2006 from http://www.usablellc.net/Logic%20Model%20%28Online%29/Presentation_Files/
index.html.

W. K. Kellogg Foundation. (2004). Logic Model Development Guide. Retrieved August 2006 from http://www.wkkf.org/knowledge-center/resources/2006/02/WK-Kellogg-Foundation-Logic-Model-Development-Guide.aspx.