DATES : 02nd to 04th April 2021 (9AM– 5PM)

Venue : University of Rwanda, CBE Gikondo Campus

1. About the course

The recent emphasis on accountability and results-based management has stimulated interest in evaluating not just the process, outputs and outcomes of development programmes, but also their impact (ultimate effect) on people’s lives. Impact evaluations go beyond documenting change to assess the effects of interventions on individual households, institutions, and the environment, relative to what would have happened without them – thereby establishing the counterfactual and allowing more accurate attribution to interventions. Impact evaluation assesses the changes that can be attributed to a particular intervention, such as a project, program or policy, both the intended ones, as well as ideally the unintended ones.

This course is designed to equip the participants with adequate skills to conduct rigorous impact evaluations for their interventions. The course covers all aspects of planning, designing and implementing an impact evaluation. By the end of the course, the participants will be experts who can carry out impact assessment assignments for their organizations or as consultants.

2. Target Participants

This course is targeted at researchers, project staff, managers, and development practitioners, policy makers in government, NGOs and development organizations who want to determine the impact of their interventions.

3. Course Outline

Overview of M&E Fundamentals for Impact Evaluation
• Results Framework
• M&E Project Indicators
• Logical Framework
• Performance Evaluation

Introduction to Impact Evaluation
• Defining impact evaluation
• Deciding whether to evaluate
• Attribution in impact evaluation
• Contribution vs attribution

Determining points of Impact Evaluation
• Types of evaluation questions
• Theories of Change
• The results chain
• Evaluation hypothesis

Counterfactuals in Impact Evaluation
• Causal reference
• Comparison groups and counterfactuals
• Estimating counterfactual in impact evaluation
• Impact Evaluation when a Comparison and Baseline Data are not available

Impact Evaluation Research Designs
• Experimental Design
o Randomized Control Trials
• Quasi experimental designs
o Regression Discontinuity
o Difference-in-Difference
o Matching
• Non-experimental designs

Sampling in Impact Evaluation
• Sampling techniques in Impact Evaluation
• Sample size calculation,
• Sampling weight
• Statistical power
• Constructing valid comparison groups

Quantitative Data Analysis for Impact Evaluation/Randomized Impact Evaluation
• Setting the counterfactual
• Statistical Design of Randomization
• Impacts of Program Placement
• Impacts of Program Participation
• Capturing Both Program Placement and Participation
• Measuring Spillover Effects

Difference in Difference Method
• What is DID ?
• Application of DID in Impact Evaluation
• Estimating DID estimator : Single DID, DID with covariates, Quantile DID
• DID for Cross-Sectional Data
• Balancing Tests
• Diff-in-Diff with Propensity Score Matching

Qualitative Approaches in Impact Evaluation
• Most Significant Change
• Outcome Mapping
• Outcome Harvesting
• Appreciative Inquiry

Producing and Disseminating Impact Evaluation findings
• Impact Evaluation Plan (applying OECD criteria)
• Impact Evaluation Reports : Baseline report, Impact Evaluation Reports
• Case studies
• What Can Program Managers Do To Strengthen Impact Evaluations ?

4. Expected output

By the end of this course, the participants will be able to :
• Learn about theories and practices of impact evaluation
• Learn about evaluation problem : Attribution, selection and placement biases
• Understand IE designs : randomized, quasi and non-experimental
• Conduct a rigorous impact evaluation of a project
• Conduct sampling and power calculation
• Learn and practice econometric techniques for impact evaluation
• Carry out impact data analysis using Propensity Matching and Difference-in -Difference
• Report and disseminate impact evaluation findings

5. Training Approach

This course is delivered by our trainer who has vast experience as expert professional in the respective fields of practice. The course is taught through a mix of practical activities, theory, group works and case studies.

Training manuals and additional reference materials are provided to the participants.

6. Certification

EPRN will issue completion certificates to participants who will successfully attend the course and pass the test.

Note : At the end of the course, the trainer will deliver a test, and ONLY participants who pass the course with at least 60% will get the certificate. Others will be advised to wait until another training opportunity for the same course (free of charge).

7. Training Fees

• Members : 60,000 Rwf
• Non-members : 100,000 Rwf

8. Application process

Interested applicants are encouraged to pay the registration fees through the following bank details :
• Bank Account : 00040 06945750 07 RWF (Bank of Kigali)
• Title of the Account : Economic Policy Research Network

Scan the bank slip and send it to : info@eprnrwanda.org and copy to : coordinator@eprnrwanda.org OR bring the hard copy of bank slip to EPRN office at University of Rwanda-CBE Gikondo (former SFB).

NB : Tailor-Made Course

We can also do this as tailor-made course to meet organization-wide needs. Contact us to find out more : info@eprnrwanda.org
Register here

If you need further clarifications, call us through : 0788357648 or write to us : info@eprnrwanda.org

Download the full document

Kigali, 19/03/2021

Doc 1