What is the first step in designing an evaluation plan?

• A. Designing Data Collection Tools.
• B. Designing Evaluation Plan.
• C. Collecting Data.
• D. Planning Program Changes.

Answer: (B)

Starting the evaluation with a plan means clearly defining what you want to learn, for whom, and why. You lay out the evaluation questions, the indicators of success, the data sources, and the methods you’ll use, all within a written plan that also specifies who is involved, the timeline, and how findings will be used. This blueprint guides every later step, including what data to collect and how to analyze it, and how results will inform program improvements. Without this initial plan, data collection tools might not align with meaningful questions, and the path from data to action would be unclear. So the first move is to design the evaluation plan itself, before designing tools, collecting data, or planning changes.