<p>Why do people see the Virgin Mary on a cheese sandwich or hear demonic lyrics in &#8220;Stairway to Heaven&#8221;? Using video and music, skeptic Michael Shermer shows how we convince ourselves to believe — and overlook the facts</p>
<p>Part of the &#8220;Our brains: predictably irrational&#8221; series of 12 videos on TED.com.</p>
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<p>Why do people see the Virgin Mary on a cheese sandwich or hear demonic lyrics in "Stairway to Heaven"? Using video and music, skeptic Michael Shermer shows how we convince ourselves to believe — and overlook the facts.</p>


Why people believe weird things

<p>The Full Service Extended Schools (FSES) initiative in England sought to build the capacity of schools to deploy multiple interventions across a range of child, family, and community contexts in order to improve the lives of children and families, and to enhance the sustainability of the areas where they live. As such, it was part of wider international developments to broaden the role of schools and integrate their work with that of other child and family services. The complexity and indeterminacy of such initiatives present particular challenges to evaluators, and mean that simple input–output approaches to evaluation are inappropriate.</p>
<p>In practice, this approach did not simply replicate standard outcomes evaluation processes in a more context‐sensitive way. Rather, it involved fundamental shifts in what counted as valued outcomes, in a focus on potential rather than effectiveness, and in the roles of actors and evaluators.</p>
<p>The paper concludes that, as the role of schools widens, educational evaluators will also have to rethink their roles.</p>


<p>This paper presents the case of capacity building within schools in England. It shows how a ToC approach can deal with complexity. Such involved fundamental shifts in what outcomes were valued and the roles of actors and evaluators.</p>


Dealing with complexity: Theory of Change evaluation and the full service extended schools initiative

mapping_change-_using_a_theory_of_change

<p>&#8220;What are we doing, and why do we think it&#8217;s going to make a difference? Are we being effective?&#8221; Grantmakers ask evaluation questions like these of their grantees and themselves. This brief guide explains why grantmakers use theories of change to guide their questioning, unearth assumptions that underlie their work, establish common language, and develop strong action plans. Contributors to the guide also describe how a theory of change sets the stage for evaluation by clarifying goals, strategies, and milestones.</p>
<p><span class="gc-subtitle">Highlights</span></p>
<ul>
<li>What a theory of change looks like</li>
<li>Theory of change vs. logic model</li>
<li>Mini-case study: theory of change and strategic planning</li>
</ul>


<p>This brief guide explains why grantmakers use Theories of Change to guide their questioning, unearth assumptions that underlie their work, establish common language, and develop strong action plans.</p>
