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34 CHAPTER 04: PRIORITY OUTCOMES, INDICATORS AND MEASURESProgram Articulation’s Relationship with Evaluationand ResearchThis framework suggests farm to school sites beginconsistently describing and documenting theiractivities in a way that makes sense in their contextto support program evaluation. In this framework theintention is for program-level outcomes to be easiestto measure, connected to a specific program’s goalsand program plan, and require the least amount ofresources to conduct. Similar to starting farm toschool programs in one core element and buildingon success, it is unrealistic for external evaluators orresearchers to expect program participants begindocumenting every core and supporting elementright away. The number of participants at a schooland in a school district varies widely based on theprogram elements and who receives which activities.For example, it is often the case that one grade, orone class will receive more hours of garden activitiesthat may be connected to a public health goal,while all students eating school meals potentiallybenefit from procurement activities. The purpose ofTables 3 is to propose that programs and researchersdocument and report what is needed to help describeoutcomes, and the suggestions are aligned withpriority outcomes and measures discussed in the restof Chapter 4.similar program activity inputs. Consistent programarticulation is crucial at the program level becauseevaluators and researchers need this information. Theresearch level outcomes, indicators and measureswill need a strong theoretical basis, often requiresophisticated data collection and analysis, and requiremore resources and longer time periods in orderto answer research questions. Long-term outcomeevaluation, surveillance and monitoring to examinechanges in systems or people’s health status isbeyond the scope of an individual farm to schoolsite evaluation, and needs additional support fromresearchers and funders.Program evaluation uses systematic methods tocollect, analyze and report information about aprogram in order to improve, or further develop it. Itcan be simple or complex; for example, one action, ifit is intended to improve outcomes, can be evaluated.Program evaluation serves as a feedback loop forprogram coordinators, partners or participants. Thedifferences between where evaluation leaves off andresearch begins can be hard to distinguish. Whileresearchers use similar methods as evaluators forconducting interviews, surveys or quantitative datacollection, unlike evaluation, the focus of research isto advance theory or what is known about a specifictopic.Researchers can build on the efforts of programevaluators by conducting cross-site studies andexamining multiple outcomes across sectors fromEVALUATION FOR TRANSFORMATION