Sitting down and developing a logic model is challenging. However, there are ways to complete this without the stress. What many people do is design the logic model backward by considering the outcomes they want and then developing activities that lead to the desired outcomes. In education, we call this Backward Design which is a model for developing curriculum. In this post, we will look at how to design a logic model using this system that is similar to Backward Design.

The Problem

Although it was stated that you need to begin with the outcomes and impact this is not completely correct. When developing a logic model, one of the first things to consider is what problem you want your program to address. Once this is determined along with the target population you can then move to the outcomes.

Focusing on the problem, for example, you may notice at a school that there are struggles with reading comprehension. You would now find literature to see how this problem has been addressed in other places as well as document how your organization has addressed this problem. It is important that the problem is thoroughly explained and grounded in your mind and is convincing to potential grant funders. The problem is the heart of the program and if it is shaking the program will not be able to get off the ground.

Target Population, Outcomes & Impact

The next step is to determine who the target population is. For the reading comprehension example, we have to determine specifically who is struggling with reading comprehension. Is it all students, a specific grade, a minority population, etc? The target population is the people who will experience the program. In addition, different funders prefer to fund different target populations.

Once a problem is defined many people want to rush to determine activities to solve the problem. This is not correct in many instances. Instead, we want to define our outcomes and impacts. Outcomes are changes we want to see in our target population as a result of our program and impacts are changes in the community as a result of our program. For example, we might want reading scores among 6th graders to improve one grade level on average for each student. The impact of this would be higher graduation rates when these kids get near the end of high school thanks to their improved reading skills.

The next step still does not involve activities. We now need to consider factors that influence the community concerning this program. These factors can be helpful or detrimental to our program’s influence. For example, our reading program can be helped by using school computers (positive factor) however, student motivation may be lacking in developing reading skills (negative factor). Understanding the factors your program faces helps you to be aware of roadblocks and support for your program.

Activities & Assumptions

Now it is time to address activities. Sometimes this section is called strategies. In this section, you identify best practices for solving your problem. this is all grounded in literature and should be supported with references. For example, using reading software to encourage kids to read would help to improve reading comprehension (desired outcome) while also motivating them through gamification (motivation was a negative factor to overcome).

Assumptions are another critical part of the planning process. With assumptions, you explain how and why tour strategies will work in the target population. The purpose here is to sit down and think about why your program is such a great idea. You need to be aware of things you are assuming without knowing you are assuming them. For example, for the reading comprehension example, you might be assuming that the current school computers are adequate for use with reading comprehension software.

Conclusion

The best advice that could be given about this process is to focus on the end in mind. Start with what you want to see, and the impact you want to make, and from there develop the outcomes and activities appropriately. Once this process is completed you can begin to input information into a logic model.