Baselines and monitoring: More than a means to measure the end

Monitoring is largely ignored in its capacity to provide a distinct contribution to evaluation. It is often thought of as a process of collecting data to feed into an evaluation, rather than for its own powerful transformative potential. Evaluation is considered a mechanism for producing findings that enable learning, improvement and decision-making; but what if monitoring could produce these same outcomes with, in some cases, greater alignment to quality characteristics of utility, timeliness, feasibility, propriety, accuracy, completeness and monitoring accountability? This article examines the utilisation and value of monitoring through a case study of a government funded 12-month rural health project in Victoria, Australia. The project initially commissioned a baseline to assess against post-project outcomes. However, adopting a utilisation-focused perspective to prepare for use and support stakeholder engagement enabled implementation of a multipurpose monitoring framework. The case study provides examples of monitoring in action with timely learning, decision-making and improvements resulting in incremental system and behaviour changes, rather than relying on periodic outcome recommendations at evaluation completion. This article adds to evaluation theory and practice through highlighting monitoring as a significant mechanism for enabling learning, decision-making, and improvement.