May 2023

Developing a Theory of Change (ToC) is the first step in TASO’s Monitoring and Evaluation Framework and the foundation of all evaluations.

TASO has a two-strand approach to Theory of Change development:

  • Strand one – Core Theory of Change – is used for simplicity and to assist HE providers with planning interventions and evaluation activities. The Core ToC guidance follows a simple model of mapping inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes and impact. It provides a high-level snapshot of how we expect an activity to lead to impact.
  • Strand two – Enhanced Theory of Change – is used for evaluability and to assist HE providers with robustly evaluating interventions and activities. The Enhanced ToC guidance provides a format for capturing much more information about activities and mechanisms by which we expect change to happen. It includes: context; mapping of links between activities and outcomes; and assumptions and change mechanisms.

You can access the Core and Enhanced ToC resources to plan your interventions and evaluation activities below.