teachers, and educational approaches to address high risk behaviors, peer pressure, and tobacco use. OBJECTIVES Definition Objectives describe the results to be achieved and the manner in which – they will be achieved. Multiple objectives are generally needed to address a single goal. Well-written objectives help set program priorities and targets for progress and accountability. It is recommended that you avoid verbs that may have vague meanings to describe the intended outcomes, or because it may prove like “understand” “know” difficult to measure them. Instead, use verbs that document action, such as: the “By end of 2018, 75% of program participants will be placed in permanent housing.” In order to be effective, objectives should be clear and leave no room for interpretation. SMART is a helpful acronym for developing objectives that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound: Specific Includes the and of program activities. Use only one action – “who” “what” verb to avoid issues with measuring success. For example, will “Outreach workers administer the HIV risk assessment tool to at least 100 injection drug users in the population of is a more specific objective than will use their focus” “Outreach workers skills to reach out to drug users on the street.” Measurable How much change is expected. It must be possible to count or otherwise – quantify an activity or its results. It also means that the source of and mechanism for collecting measurement data can be identified and that collection of the data is feasible for your program. A baseline measurement is required to document change (e.g., to measure the percentage of increase or decrease). If you plan to use a specific measurement instrument, it is recommended that you incorporate its use into the objective. Example: By 9/18 increase by 10% the number of 8th, 9th, and 10th grade students who disapprove of marijuana use as measured by the annual school youth survey. Achievable Objectives should be attainable within a given time frame and with – available program resources. For example, new part-time nutritionist will meet “The with seven teenage mothers each week to design a complete is a more dietary plan” achievable objective than mothers will learn about “Teenage proper nutrition.”
teachers, and educational approaches to address high risk behaviors, peer pressure, and tobacco use. OBJECTIVES Definition – Objectives describe the results to be achieved and the manner in which they will be achieved. Multiple objectives are generally needed to address a single goal. Well-written objectives help set program priorities and targets for progress and accountability. It is recommended that you avoid verbs that may have vague meanings to describe the intended outcomes, like “understand” or “know” because it may prove difficult to measure them. Instead, use verbs that document action, such as: “By the end of 2018, 75% of program participants will be placed in permanent housing.” In order to be effective, objectives should be clear and leave no room for interpretation. SMART is a helpful acronym for developing objectives that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound: Specific – Includes the “who” and “what” of program activities. Use only one action verb to avoid issues with measuring success. For example, “Outreach workers will administer the HIV risk assessment tool to at least 100 injection drug users in the population of focus” is a more specific objective than “Outreach workers will use their skills to reach out to drug users on the street.” Measurable – How much change is expected. It must be possible to count or otherwise quantify an activity or its results. It also means that the source of and mechanism for collecting measurement data can be identified and that collection of the data is feasible for your program. A baseline measurement is required to document change (e.g., to measure the percentage of increase or decrease). If you plan to use a specific measurement instrument, it is recommended that you incorporate its use into the objective. Example: By 9/18 increase by 10% the number of 8th, 9th, and 10th grade students who disapprove of marijuana use as measured by the annual school youth survey. Achievable – Objectives should be attainable within a given time frame and with available program resources. For example, “The new part-time nutritionist will meet with seven teenage mothers each week to design a complete dietary plan” is a more achievable objective than “Teenage mothers will learn about proper nutrition.”