Assessing Community Change
Tenacious Change provides an evaluation instrument developed specifically for the purpose of monitoring and assessing community change in response to the “movement building” activities of the approach. The Tenacious Change Assessment & Monitoring (TCAM) tool was developed and field tested by Tom Klaus and Ed Saunders. They described it under its “working title” (Continuous System Learning and Improvement Tool) in Community Development (Klaus & Saunders, 2016).
The TCAM is a developmental evaluation tool. Developmental evaluation is “an approach to understanding the activities of a program operating in dynamic, novel environments with complex interactions…it focuses on innovation and strategic learning rather than standard outcomes and is as much a way of thinking about programs-in-context and the feedback they produce” (Norman, 2011). As a developmental evaluation tool, it is also useful for “fidelity monitoring” to ensure faithful implementation of Tenacious Change. It is not designed for outcome evaluation.
The TCAM is a developmental evaluation tool. Developmental evaluation is “an approach to understanding the activities of a program operating in dynamic, novel environments with complex interactions…it focuses on innovation and strategic learning rather than standard outcomes and is as much a way of thinking about programs-in-context and the feedback they produce” (Norman, 2011). As a developmental evaluation tool, it is also useful for “fidelity monitoring” to ensure faithful implementation of Tenacious Change. It is not designed for outcome evaluation.
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What does the TCAM measure? Tenacious Change creates or strengthens the foundation for individual change in a community. Therefore, the TCAM assesses community-level culture change, not individual change. To monitor progress, identify areas in need of improvement, and to determine success, the TCAM measures the adoption of social attitudes, policies, practices, and systems which support and sustain the desired community culture change regarding the issue being addressed.
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The TCAM monitors and measures both the orchestrating efforts of the collective change leadership group and the movement building efforts in the Stages of Community Transition. |
How does it work?
Understanding the TCAM Lite and the TCAM Full
Understanding the TCAM Lite and the TCAM Full
Two complementary versions of the TCAM have emerged, each intended to be used at different times, for slightly different purposes, and requiring different levels of effort.
Either the TCAM Lite or TCAM Full can be used alone, though they are ideally used in tandem. Doing so provides a more complete understanding of what and how change is occurring. When used in tandem, the TCAM Full is administered in the early days of a community initiative to establish a baseline with follow ups conducted every 12-24 months to capture indications of change. The TCAM Lite is used every six months to provide a general assessment of direction and progress, identify change factors needing additional attention by the initiative, and provide an opportunity for stakeholders to strategize and implement needed improvements to their efforts .
Either the TCAM Lite or TCAM Full can be used alone, though they are ideally used in tandem. Doing so provides a more complete understanding of what and how change is occurring. When used in tandem, the TCAM Full is administered in the early days of a community initiative to establish a baseline with follow ups conducted every 12-24 months to capture indications of change. The TCAM Lite is used every six months to provide a general assessment of direction and progress, identify change factors needing additional attention by the initiative, and provide an opportunity for stakeholders to strategize and implement needed improvements to their efforts .
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TCAM Full More rigorous, requires more time and resources. Produces more robust data pinpointing areas for improvement and can offer insight on how to make those improvements.
- Administered by Tenacious Change, LLC - Approximately 97 questions - Used at baseline, then at 12 to 24 months - Good to high reliability |
TCAM Lite Shorter, simpler, less rigorous. Provides community change leaders with a sense of whether the initiative is tracking in a positive direction.
- Self-administered (requires tailoring, training by Tenacious Change, LLC) - Approximately 16 questions - Used at six to 12 months after baseline - Reliability unknown |
Both the TCAM Full and TCAM Lite need to be tailored to each initiative for which they are used.
Tailoring and consultation are provided exclusively by Tenacious Change, LLC. Data collection, analysis, and reporting services are also available. The TCAM Full or TCAM Lite can be used separately though they are designed to be used together. On large scale projects, either the TCAM Full or TCAM Lite can be included with the use of Tenacious Change. Cost information is available upon request.
Tailoring and consultation are provided exclusively by Tenacious Change, LLC. Data collection, analysis, and reporting services are also available. The TCAM Full or TCAM Lite can be used separately though they are designed to be used together. On large scale projects, either the TCAM Full or TCAM Lite can be included with the use of Tenacious Change. Cost information is available upon request.
