Impact Statements
Impact Statements are brief narrative statements which summarize significant outcomes of Extension programming. In general, Impact Statements should communicate impacts of programs at the SEEC, Practice, or KOSA level. The information collected through these reports is used to document the impact that Extension programs are having across the state on the issues and needs of the people of Kentucky. The target audience for these narrative reports is external stakeholders including legislators, local officials, volunteer leaders, clientele, and the general public.
In general, Impact Statements will be roughly a third of a page in length and focus on a single theme or program. Impact Statements should include a discussion of (1) the importance of the issue being addressed, (2) the role of Extension in achieving the results (3) the nature of the educational program that was conducted, and (4) the impact realized and the evaluation method used to measure it. They may or may not focus directly on outcomes resulting from work related to the C-MAPs. Impact Statements are written by County Extension Agents and may be submitted at any time of the year. Generally, agents are expected to submit approximately 5 to 8 Impact Statements per year.
Elements of a Impact Statement
Impact Statements should include a discussion of (1) the importance of the issue being addressed, (2) the role of Extension, (3) the nature of the educational program that was conducted, and (4) the impact that was realized (including a description of the evaluation method used to assess the impact). Although the impact of the program is the most important of these four elements, discussion of the other elements is necessary to help the reader fully understand the significance of the accomplishment. The sections below more fully describe the four elements of an impact statement.
Importance of the Issue Being Addressed - Extension programs are often developed in response to needs identified through local program development processes. During that process, local citizens are involved in setting program priorities and designing programs that meet local needs. Briefly describing how the issue was identified at the local level is one way of communicating importance. Other times, research findings help communicate the importance of an issue. For example, field trials may reveal that a new soybean variety is resistant to a common agricultural pest. Or we have learned that certain preventive health practices substantially reduce the risk of contracting a particular disease. In these cases, citing these research findings may be enough to legitimize your program with stakeholders. But our relevance and credibility are greatest when we can show how applied research is being used to address local needs and issues.
Example - A recent study revealed that our county ranked third out of 120 Kentucky counties in the incidence of colon cancer. While environmental factors, family history, and diet have all been identified as being associated with the development of the disease, diet is seen as the factor that is most able to be controlled by the individual. After learning of this information, the County Extension Council recommended that Extension initiate a major community campaign encouraging a healthy diet and early detection as a way of reducing the deaths attributed to this disease.
Role of Extension - Extension can serve in a number of different program-related roles. There are times when a program is solely sponsored and conducted by Extension. Other times Extension is the lead agency in a multi-organizational effort. Other times we are simply a partner in a collaborative effort. In others our role is minimal. So, in communicating the impact of programs we must do the best job we can in spelling out Extensions role in producing the results. We shortchange ourselves when we fail to take credit for that which we were uniquely responsible. But when we claim credit for accomplishments we had no part in, we damage the organization's image and credibility. Be bold, but fair.
Example - The Cooperative Extension Service recruited representatives to serve as members of a community coalition to address this issue. The coalition included representatives of Extension, the county health department, three civic organizations, four physicians, and two registered dieticians. Extension was the lead agency in the portion of the campaign which focused on diet while the county health department took the lead in the campaign for screening and early detection. Each agency led a team to develop the curricular elements for their respective part of the campaign.
Nature of the Educational Program - It is also important to briefly describe what it was that produced the impact being reported. Therefore, it is important to make sure that the text of the impact statement includes adequate description of the program. Was it a six week training school or a home visitation program? How was it implemented? What was taught? Who participated in the program? How was the program linked to achievement of the outcome? As you write, be careful of using terms and jargon that the reader doesn't understand. Don't assume that a reader will know what a program is all about simply by it's title.
Example - The work of the two teams was integrated into a multi-faceted awareness campaign targeting adults ages 40 and over. The campaign featured educational programs at regular meetings of local clubs and organizations, radio PSAs by colon cancer survivors urging regular screenings and exams, newspaper articles, and informational flyers placed in grocery bags during the entire month of February.
Impact and Evaluation Method - Bennett and Rockwell (1995) have developed a model that identifies seven types of information that we can collect about a program. The data collected at each level of the model communicates greater evidence of a programs effectiveness than the preceding level. The seven levels of their model are from highest to lowest:
There are many definitions of the word impact. The Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service has defined impact as KOSA, Practice or SEEC level changes that can be directly attributed to the program being evaluated. An impact statement, therefore, must include a discussion of at least one of these types of program impact. Furthermore, it is assumed that some sort of purposeful and systematic process was used to generate the information being reported as impact. There are various ways to determine a program's impact. These include interviews, questionnaires, systematic observation, testing, examination of secondary data, and use of key informants. Be sure to include a brief description of the evaluation procedure used in each impact statement.
Example - A total of 414 different individuals participated in the educational programs conducted at regular meetings of civic clubs, Homemaker clubs, and church groups. Eight weeks after the program each of the 414 individuals received a mailed questionnaire asking them whether or not they have either scheduled or received a screening or exam and if they have changed their dietary habits as a result of the campaign. 341 individuals returned the questionnaire for a response rate of 82%. 121 of the respondents (35%) said they had either scheduled or received appropriate screenings. 261 (71%) said they had taken steps to eat a healthier diet. Doctors have confirmed that screenings and exams have resulted in two cases of cancer being detected in early stages of development that otherwise would have gone unnoticed.
Tagging Impact Statements with C-MAP and PAC Codes
When preparing Impact Statements, you will be asked to identify the Major Area of Programming and Program Accomplishment Code to which an accomplishment is related.
As you will probably remember, County Major Areas of Programming (C-MAPs) are high priority programming thrusts identified at the county level designed to address local issues or needs. In the Plan of Work module of this suite, you identified your county's C-MAPs, specified desired outcomes for each C-MAP, and identified the specific strategies you would use to achieve the outcomes specified. You probably identified 5-8 different C-MAPs upon which your work would focus. If the accomplishment you are describing is directly related to one of the county's C-MAPs, report the accomplishment under the appropriate C-MAP.
But not all of your work falls within the bounds of the county's C-MAPs. Consequently, not all of the impacts you will choose to report will be directly related to the C-MAPs. Since all of the work done by an Extension employee does not necessarily fall under one of these program thrusts, a special code included in the reporting software allows a user to specify that the accomplishment being reported is not directly related to one of the C-MAPs.
Program Accomplishment Codes (PACs) are numerical code numbers associated with the strategic goals and outcomes of the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service's strategic plan. In the Plan of Work module you identified the PACs most closely related to the each of the county's C-MAPs.
In addition to codes for each of the strategic goals and outcomes special PACs are assigned for staff development, administrative functions, and several specially-funded programs. In theory and in practice, all of the accomplishments reported should be able to be linked to one of the Program Accomplishment Codes.
Tagging Impact Statements with C-MAP and PAC Codes allows viewers of the Impact Statement database to quickly identify accomplishments related to a particular program thrust. In addition to searching Impact Statements by these codes, full text word searches allow for even more specific retrieval of accomplishment information.