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Overview
Overview
This module gives some basics on the ideas of action frameworks.
What is an action framework? An action framework lays out a community vision, and what needs to happen to make that vision a reality. There are five steps that we will take to creating our action frameworks. 1) Define our vision; 2) Define our mission; 3) Create objectives to accomplish that mission; 4) Create a strategy or choose actions to achieve each objective; and, 5) Do the actions!
Why action frameworks? One part of exploring the "how" behind credible messenger mentoring's impact is developing a visual representation of how your mentoring programs work!
Learning outcomes: You will be able to discuss action frameworks with your mentees and fellow mentors. From this understanding, you can begin to develop your own action frameworks to reflect the intricacies and unique characteristics of your community, your programming, and your experiences.
What we will do: We will take a look at some graphics (made in-house by Urban!!), read ideas behind action frameworks and theories of change, and contemplate our expectations for creating our own.
Defining Action Frameworks: Theories of Change and Logic Models
Defining Action Frameworks: Theories of Change and Logic Models
All Toyotas and Hondas are cars, but not all cars are a Toyota or a Honda. This is how we want to think of action frameworks versus logic models and theories of change. Logic models and theories of change are a particular kind of action framework.
As we are doing our program evaluation, we will create an action framework to visualize the pieces of our Credible Messenger mentoring programs. The models of our programs we create will inform our program evaluation. We need the frameworks to be able to compare how our programs are being done in line with our plans and theory.
Overview
Action Frameworks are a visual representation of how we make our vision for our community a reality.
Logic Models visually present the inner workings of a program by illustrating the components of it. This includes the resources available, the offered programming, and the intended outcomes of programming.
Theories of Change do similar work, presenting a representation of the theory behind a program. The intentions of a program are made clear by showing the idea behind the change is seeks to enact.
In the image on the right, we see one way we can present different levels in a society which influence the decisions and actions of a singular person.
While this is a useful way to see how nested pieces of our world are, it may not be the best representation of the resources available, programming offered, and intended outcomes of our CM mentoring.
Image courtesy of: SAM BACHMAN'S GRAPHIC DESIGN SKILLS
Image courtesy of: Early Intervention Foundation; Evaluation Hub https://evaluationhub.eif.org.uk/theory-of-change/
Typically, a theory of change includes a visual of how the intervention works and what is the expected outcome. The visual can be more detailed to include who the population or participants are and why the intervention is needed. See the example to the left.
Take a look at some real examples of action framework models below:
Image courtesy of: Forward Through Ferguson https://forwardthroughferguson.org/about/
Image courtesy of: Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees https://www.gcir.org/resources/GCIR-theory-of-change
Image courtesy of: Accountability Lab https://accountabilitylab.org/what-we-learned-while-updating-our-theory-of-change/
Our Action Frameworks
To create our frameworks, we will go through a series of steps called Action Planning. Action planning makes the steps to achieve your mission and vision concrete.
Action planning steps include:
Creating our vision statement: A vision statement is what your group believes are the ideal conditions for your community – how things would look if the issue important to you were perfectly addressed. It is a unified statement for your effort. It should be a few short phrases or a sentence that conveys your hopes for the future.
Example: An East Baltimore community that is safe for everyone.
Creating our mission statement: Your mission statement is more specific than your vision. As the next step in the action planning process, it shows the "what and how" of your program, describing what your group is going to do to make your vision a reality.
Example: Our mission is to develop a safe and thriving neighborhood through mentorship, community action, and policy advocacy.
Creating objectives: Objectives are focused on achieving your mission. Develop objectives that are SMART: specific, measurable, achievable (eventually), relevant to your mission, and timed (with a date for completion.) Create objective that lay out what and how will be accomplished by when.
Example: By 2028, there will be at least two schools in our community that use a restorative justice model rather than a punitive system to resolve conflict.
Example: By 2026, 85% of our mentees will have graduated high school diploma or have their GED.
Creating strategies: Strategies explain the actions you will take or activities you will use to reach your objectives. Generally, groups will have a wide variety of strategies that include people from all of the different parts of the community (assets).
Example: Our mentoring initiative will connect young people to trusted adults who help them navigate growing up, finishing their schooling, and feeling safe in our community.
Example: We will work with a school to pilot a restorative justice model. This will allow us to make headway on building restorative justice practices within schools.
Doing the actions: Using your strategies, you will act to make your vision a reality.
Given what we just talked about, our action framework need to be developed! What this looks like, what is on it, and, ultimately, how we present it are the unknowns... for now. It is likely that you already have an existing logic model or theory of change for your program. How can the action planning steps help us refine our existing frameworks?
As we learn more about research, think of all the individual components of CM mentoring. What kinds of graphics would best show everything that goes into your programs? Do any of the ones above seem particularly useful?
As a community researcher, you're intimately familiar with the constraints and resources available to your programs. You're likewise alert to the design and goals of your program.
On Discord under Module 10, discuss what components you think should go into the theory of change for the organization you are a mentor or mentee in. Share the why, who, how, and/or what!
The Takeaway: We'll be using some form of these models to create a visualization of how we see our mentoring programs work. This includes one for each site, and one for each of Urban's two CM projects that encompasses all of the program sites. Logic models and theories of change can come in many different forms and be used to visually represent diverse topics. After learning about them, and seeing a few examples, start thinking of how you might develop your own!
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