The investment partners are at various points as they think more about how to confirm if the sought-after outcomes are making a difference for children and determine how to assess whether these outcomes are being achieved. Most investment partners acknowledged the importance of outcomes, although none had institutionalized outcomes as a fundamental premise of how to execute mission. They now better understand what it means to place greater importance on and orient their efforts around outcomes.

However, converting this outcomes mindset into tangible changes in organizational thinking and behavior is happening in varying degrees across the investment partners.

The leaders of See Forever experienced a fundamental mindshift in the way they look at outcomes measurement and their understanding of how it relates to successfully implementing their theory of change (the explicit understanding of how their programs and services achieve their desired goals for students). See Forever management, board, staff, participated in four, one-day working sessions guided by staff of the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, a co-investor in the See Forever/VPP partnership, where they began to develop the extensive strategies essential to implementing their theory of change. These sessions were instrumental to starting the process and catalyzing new thinking.

"We are true believers in the axiom that you cannot manage what you do not monitor or measure. We are now focused on fine-tuning a range of assessment instruments and processes. We are committed to more effectively gathering and using data in order to improve outcomes for our students."

— David Domenici and James Forman, Co-Founders, See Forever