Monitoring Evaluation for Public Sector Programmes Training Course

Course overview

Public-sector programmes are expected to demonstrate more than activity delivery: they must show whether services reached intended groups, whether results justify expenditure, and what evidence supports continuation, redesign or scale-up. Programme teams often inherit indicator sets that are too broad, baselines that cannot be verified, fragmented administrative data, and reporting requirements driven by multiple ministries, funders and oversight bodies. This course addresses the practical work of building an M&E system that produces credible, usable evidence for policy, budget and operational decisions.

Participants learn to translate a public programme’s theory of change into results frameworks, SMART indicators, data collection plans and reporting products. They practise developing indicator reference sheets, selecting disaggregation categories, setting baselines and targets, designing monitoring tools, assessing data quality, and applying OECD DAC evaluation criteria. The course also covers sampling, survey and administrative-data methods, evaluation questions, mixed-method designs, Excel-based analysis, dashboard reporting, and communicating findings without overstating causality.

Teaching combines instructor-led briefings with a running public-sector case involving a local service-delivery programme. Participants work with programme documents, indicator data and stakeholder requirements to diagnose weaknesses and build an end-to-end M&E approach. By the final day, each participant leaves with a practical M&E plan: a results framework, indicator matrix, data collection and quality-assurance plan, evaluation questions, and a reporting and learning calendar that can be adapted to their own programme.

The course is designed for professionals who already contribute to programme planning, implementation, reporting, evaluation or performance management and need a stronger technical basis for evidence-led public administration.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Construct a theory of change linking public-sector inputs, outputs, outcomes and assumptions
• Develop a results framework with measurable indicators, baselines, targets and data sources
• Write indicator reference sheets specifying definitions, disaggregation, frequency, ownership and calculation rules
• Design a monitoring plan using administrative records, surveys, field observation and feedback mechanisms
• Apply data-quality assessment procedures for validity, reliability, completeness, timeliness and integrity
• Formulate evaluation questions and a mixed-method evaluation design using OECD DAC criteria
• Analyse programme performance data in Microsoft Excel using disaggregation, variance analysis and visualisation
• Produce an actionable M&E plan and evidence-use briefing for programme managers and oversight stakeholders

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Programme Managers — who need defensible evidence to adjust delivery plans, budgets and implementation priorities
• Monitoring and Evaluation Officers — who design indicators, manage data collection and prepare performance reports
• Policy Officers — who require evidence on whether public interventions are achieving intended policy outcomes
• Project Officers — who coordinate activities and need to track outputs, risks, beneficiaries and delivery bottlenecks
• Planning and Performance Analysts — who consolidate programme results for strategic plans, budgets and accountability reports
• Internal Audit and Compliance Officers — who assess whether performance evidence and reporting controls are reliable

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should understand how a public programme is planned and delivered, including the difference between activities, outputs and outcomes. Familiarity with basic spreadsheets, including entering data, using simple formulas and creating charts in Microsoft Excel, is expected. Experience reading programme documents, logframes, workplans, budgets or performance reports will help participants apply the material quickly. No prior training in statistics, formal evaluation, Power BI, KoboToolbox or advanced research methods is required. Participants do not need to bring an existing M&E framework, although those who do can use it during the course application exercises.

Training methodology

The instructor uses a running case on a public service-delivery programme to connect each technical method to an operational decision. Short expert-led sessions introduce frameworks and standards, followed by guided work on theories of change, indicators, sampling choices, data-quality checks and reporting products. Participants review realistic programme documents, work in small groups to resolve competing stakeholder requirements, and analyse a supplied dataset in Microsoft Excel. Daily feedback improves each component of the final M&E plan, while the final application workshop converts course outputs into actions for participants’ own organisations.

Course outline

Day 1: Public-sector results and M&E architecture

• Public-sector accountability, learning and decision-use functions of M&E
• Results chains: inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes and impacts
• Theory of change development and assumption mapping
• Stakeholder analysis for ministries, delivery agencies, citizens and funders
• Results frameworks and logical framework structure
• OECD DAC Evaluation Criteria in public programme assessment
• Distinguishing monitoring, evaluation, audit, inspection and research

Workshop: Participants map a service-delivery programme theory of change and produce a draft results chain with assumptions and risks.

Day 2: Indicators, baselines and monitoring design

• SMART indicator construction for output, outcome and impact measures
• Indicator reference sheets and calculation protocols
• Baseline, target and milestone setting methods
• Equity-focused disaggregation by sex, age, location, disability and socioeconomic group
• Administrative data sources and service-delivery records
• Monitoring plans, data collection calendars and role assignments
• KoboToolbox form design for field and beneficiary data collection

Workshop: Participants create an indicator matrix and a monitoring plan for the case programme, including collection frequency, responsibilities and disaggregation.

Day 3: Data quality, ethics and performance analysis

• Data-quality dimensions: validity, reliability, completeness, timeliness and integrity
• Data-quality assessment protocols and verification checks
• Data cleaning, coding and missing-data checks in Microsoft Excel
• Descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations and trend analysis
• Target-versus-actual variance analysis and exception reporting
• Data visualisation principles for public-sector performance dashboards
• Ethical data collection, informed consent, confidentiality and data protection

Workshop: Participants conduct a data-quality assessment and analyse a case dataset in Microsoft Excel to produce a short performance dashboard.

Day 4: Evaluation questions and credible evidence

• Evaluation purpose, scope, users and terms of reference
• Evaluation questions aligned to relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability
• Mixed-method evaluation designs and evidence triangulation
• Sampling approaches for surveys, interviews, focus groups and site visits
• Quasi-experimental concepts: comparison groups, contribution and attribution limits
• Qualitative data collection guides and thematic analysis
• Managing evaluator independence, conflicts of interest and stakeholder participation

Workshop: Participants draft an evaluation matrix containing evaluation questions, indicators, methods, sources, sampling choices and analysis plans.

Day 5: Reporting, learning and M&E plan application

• Evidence synthesis and defensible findings statements
• Recommendation design using feasibility, ownership and implementation criteria
• Management responses and action-tracking mechanisms
• Performance reporting for executives, legislatures, funders and citizens
• Power BI dashboard concepts for results communication
• Learning loops, after-action reviews and adaptive programme management
• M&E budgeting, procurement and implementation sequencing

Workshop: Participants assemble and present their end-to-end M&E plan, including a management reporting product and a 90-day implementation roadmap.

Tools & standards covered

Microsoft Excel, KoboToolbox, Microsoft Power BI, OECD DAC Evaluation Criteria

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions