Beyond the Bell at American Institutes for Research Tool 39 | Page 2
What Are Some of the Key Steps in Developing a TOC?
Determining the purpose of a TOC – Before you start developing your TOC,you’llhavetospendalittletime
thinking about how you want to use it. Is it for evaluation purposes? To communicate your program model to
funders, legislators, and board members? As a guide for program leadership and staff? Determining your
purpose will help you decide how to proceed with the next several steps.
Gathering stakeholder input – It is important to involve a variety of key stakeholders in your TOC process. You
may gather input from them individually or in small groups, or you may involve them in a large group TOC
process.
Identifying assumptions – Every afterschool and expanded learning program is built on a set of assumptions
relating to how and why it is operating. Even before you develop your goals, it is a good idea to identify the
assumptionsthatarebuiltintoyourprogram.Thismightincludethingslike“beinginafterschoolprogramming
isbetterfortheyoungpeopleofourschoolthangoinghomeandbeingaloneafterschool”or“youthinour
schoolwhoarefallingbehindwon’tbeabletocatchupwithoutadditionalacademicsupport.”
Developing goals – Having clearly articulated goals is essential when developing a TOC. You have done this as
part of your goal-setting process by using Tool 37.You’llwanttorevisittheseasyoustart working on your TOC.
Outcome mapping (sometimes called backwards mapping) – Developing an outcome map is often part of
developing a TOC. This step involves brainstorming a list of outcomes (which can be short and long term) and
linking them to specific strategies or program elements.
Creating a narrative to accompany your TOC – Ideally,you’llwantsomekindofnarrativetoaccompanyyour
TOC in order to explain what people are seeing. You want your TOC to be understandable without a narrative,
of course, but a paragraph explaining exactly what you hope will happen with your program can be useful
when distributing the TOC to outside audiences.
Where Can I Learn More?
You Can Get There From Here: Using a Theory of Change Approach to Plan Urban Education Reform
James P. Connell and Adena M. Klem of the Institute for Research and Reform in Education (2000), Journal
of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 11(1), 93–120. This article can be accessed online at
http://www.irre.org/sites/default/files/publication_pdfs/jepc_0.pdf. It provides a definition of a TOC and
explains how it is used, what features it should contain, and other relevant information.
Theory of Change: A Practical Tool for Action, Results and Learning
This document, prepared for the Annie E. Casey Foundation in 2004 by Organizational Research Services,
contains a wealth of information about how to develop a theory of change in partnership with your
community and contains several specific exercises to help you with the process. Learn more by visiting
http://www.aecf.org/upload/publicationfiles/cc2977k440.pdf.
Center for Theory of Change
The Center for Theory of Change is a nonprofit organization established to promote quality standards and
recommendations for the development and implementation of a theory of change, with a particular focus
on its use and application in the areas of international development, sustainability, education, human
rights, and social change. Their website contains a variety of information about defining and building a
TOC, which you can access at http://www.theoryofchange.org.