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 issues with measuring success. For example, workers will “Outreach administer the HIV risk assessment tool to at least 100 injection drug users in the population of focus” is a more specific objective than workers will use their “Outreach 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 time frame and with – available program resources. For example, new part-time nutritionist will meet with “The seven teenage mothers each week to design a complete dietary plan” is a more achievable objective than mothers will learn about proper nutrition.” “Teenage Realistic Objectives should be within the scope of the project and propose – reasonable programmatic steps that can be implemented within a specific time frame. For example, ex-gang members will make one school presentation each week for “Two two months to raise community awareness about the presence of gangs” is a more realistic objective than violence in the community will be eliminated.” “Gang-related Time-bound Provide a time frame indicating when the objective will be measured or a – time by when the objective will be met. For example, new peer educators will be “Five recruited by the second quarter of the first funding year” is a better objective than “New peer educators will be hired.” Examples: Objective Critique SMART Objective
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 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 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.” Realistic – Objectives should be within the scope of the project and propose reasonable programmatic steps that can be implemented within a specific time frame. For example, “Two ex-gang members will make one school presentation each week for two months to raise community awareness about the presence of gangs” is a more realistic objective than “Gang-related violence in the community will be eliminated.” Time-bound – Provide a time frame indicating when the objective will be measured or a time by when the objective will be met. For example, “Five new peer educators will be recruited by the second quarter of the first funding year” is a better objective than “New peer educators will be hired.” Examples: Objective Critique SMART Objective
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