Serve Indiana

Serve Indiana, a State Service Commission, oversees the AmeriCorps funding for Indiana State and National AmeriCorps programs. As a State Service Commission, Serve Indiana reviews AmeriCorps grant applications, monitors AmeriCorps programs, and provides trainings to the AmeriCorps programs and AmeriCorps members. In 2017, Serve Indiana sought a consultant to provide training and technical assistance to the AmeriCorps programs in the state, and commission staff, on performance measurement, data collection, and program evaluation.

Prior to engaging TPMA, Serve Indiana staff administered a pre-test to indicate the extent to which grantee Performance Measures met requirements (which was also used as a post-test at the end of the project). Using that information, TPMA conducted introductory calls with each of the programs to better understand each program staff’s knowledge and comfort with data collection and evaluation. Then TPMA facilitated a two-part in-person training session for AmeriCorps program staff and Serve Indiana staff that included two sessions: Performance Measures 101 and Evaluation 201.

After the trainings, TPMA provided customized one-on-one technical assistance consultation sessions with all 16 programs in the state. Topics were selected based on the introductory calls and pre-test data and were focused on a variety of topics related to data collection and analysis, data tool creation, program setup, and program evaluation. Throughout the project year, TPMA staff also provided Serve Indiana staff with coaching and support as they continued to support grantees.

TPMA developed individual program technical assistance session summaries which reviewed all topics covered, recommendations provided by TPMA, and any actions taken during the sessions (e.g., restructured Logic Model to align with theory of change). Additionally, TPMA provided summary findings and recommendations for continued support and training related to data collection and program evaluation.

Upon the completion of this one-year project, Serve Indiana engaged TPMA for an additional year of technical assistance and training, which focused primarily on program evaluation. During the second year, TPMA developed a robust organizational capacity assessment for Serve Indiana, conducted a large group training on evaluation best practices, and conducted a second round of one-on-one technical assistance sessions.

Following the first year of the project, all programs except one reported at least a moderate knowledge gain in identifying the best performance measure for their program and more than half of the program staff reported that they anticipated making or had already made changes to their performance measures. Following the second year, TPMA found that programs had implemented changes based on lessons learned during the first year and programs generally increased their capacity with performance measurement and data collection.