Chapter One Impact Report 2022-23 - Flipbook - Page 29
NEW FOR 2023-24
Measuring the impact of our work is
fundamental to what we do at
Chapter One. We are determined to
provide robust evidence of the
efficacy of our reading volunteer
programme for our school partners,
our corporate partners and our
funders. But finding the best
methodology for understanding how
our reading programme supports the
young children who use it, has been a
journey of discovery.
We’ve been ably supported in that
journey by ImpactEd, our external
evaluation partner for the last four
years, who analysed the data in this
report. With the exciting appointment
of our first in-house Evidence and
Impact Manager in the summer of
2023, we are committed to being
transparent about the challenges we
face in impact measurement and the
improvements we still want to make.
Capturing the voices of our children
In collaboration with Bookmark Reading Programme, we are now working with an
expert in early childhood to help us to collect data about reading enjoyment, and
changes in reading attitudes and behaviours, directly from children. We want to
pilot new approaches and incorporate them into our evaluation framework
Place-based case studies
We are working to collect more place-based case studies
about the impact of our work on individual children in all
geographical areas in which we work, including beginning to
collect more longitudinal data using this case study approach.
Use of a control group
One robust way to demonstrate the impact of our intervention is to compare the
progress made by children who participate in our programme with those who don’t
participate, i.e. by using a control group. Chapter One has used control groups in the
past but with only partial success. For example, it’s difficult, and ethically vexed, for
schools that we work with to identify suitable control pupils. However, we are reconsidering the use of a control group to demonstrate our impact for 2024-25.
Theory of Change
We are beginning a refresh of our Theory of Change reflecting on Chapter One’s activities, outcomes and the
impact we want to achieve.
2022-23 Impact Report: The Future
29
