Section Overview

Welcome to Section 2 : “More about Outcomes.”

Outcomes are an important part of our education and outreach programs. We are being held accountable for outcomes, not just for doing “good work” and it is this focus on outcomes that has fueled the popularity of logic models. Needing to measure outcomes or plan programs to achieve outcomes is probably one reason why many of you have come to this course. Logic models help us focus on outcomes and build programs to achieve those outcomes.

This section is really about helping you better understand outcomes. Aspects of measuring, or evaluating, outcomes will be discussed in Section 7. Please take a moment to look at the section outline and see what will be covered. We encourage you to take advantage of all the additional links and other information embedded in the course.

Section Goal

When you complete this section, you will understand outcomes more fully and see how they are an integral part of a logic model. More specifically, you will:

• Be able to differentiate between outputs and outcomes.
• Recognize that outcomes fall along a continuum from shorter- to longer-term to form an “outcome chain” that is the backbone of the logic model.
• Know that outcomes may focus on the individual, group (family), agency, systems, or community.
• Understand the importance of involving others in identifying outcomes.
• Know the criteria for assessing outcomes.
• Be able to write an outcome statement.

Section Outline

You can use this outline to move through the topics in this section.

1. The importance of Outcomes
2. So what?
3. Outputs vs. Outcomes
4. Examples of Outputs vs. Outcomes
5. Focus of Outcomes
6. Identifying Outcomes
7. Let’s practice! Who chooses Outcomes?
8. Chain of Outcomes
9. Intermediary Outcomes
10. Let’s practice! Constructing an “Outcome Chain”
11. Determining where to stop
12. Outcome criteria
13. Outcome statements
14. Let’s practice! Writing Outcome statements
15. Targets for Outcomes
16. Unintended Outcomes
17. Considerations when defining outcomes
18. Section summary

---