The use of complexity-based evaluation methods remains relatively underexplored in the field of evaluation. While increasingly employed to assess complex interventions, Contribution Analysis (CA) continues to suffer from a lack of operationalization. In this article, we propose enhancing the implementation of CA by leveraging Participatory Systems…

As institutions implement more comprehensive hazing prevention efforts, assessment is a necessary strategy for ensuring that programs and services for students are achieving their intended outcomes, especially as hazing behaviors change and evolve. Using a multi-stage student learning and development outcomes cycle, this article outlines steps to…

Background: Mainstream economic evaluations methods may not be appropriate to capture the range of effects triggered by interventions for people with intellectual disabilities. In this systematic review, we aimed to identify, assess and synthesise the arguments in the literature on how the effects of interventions for people with intellectual…

The Campbellian validity typology has been used as a foundation for outcome evaluation and for developing evidence-based interventions for decades. As such, randomized control trials were preferred for outcome evaluation. However, some evaluators disagree with the validity typology's argument that randomized controlled trials as the best design…

Schools are a critical setting for improving child nutrition and food security and preventing obesity in the United States. The U.S. Department of Agriculture mandates that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program--Education, known as CalFresh Healthy Living (CFHL) in California, implements obesity prevention efforts that utilize…

Purpose: Assessment of agricultural advisory services is crucial to improve their quality and effectiveness. Farmer Field Schools (FFS) have been adapted to meet context specific needs in crop or farm management. This article investigates whether the diversity of FFS interventions is reflected in the assessment methods used to evaluate them.…

This article shares the results from a quasi-experimental mixed-methods study of a promising transition-focused professional development approach. The 12-week team-based intervention resulted in positive outcomes among intervention group participants' knowledge and capacities. The intervention group exhibited statistically significant changes in…

Program evaluations that lack experimental design often fail to produce evidence of impact because there is no available control group. Theory-based evaluations can generate evidence of a program's causal effects if evaluators collect evidence along the theorized causal chain and identify possible competing causes. However, few methods are…

Intervention programs are open systems that must withstand the disturbances of the environments in which they are implemented if they are to thrive. Stakeholders can benefit from proactive insights related to potential program malfunction or failure. Evaluators have not developed approaches to serve this preventive function. This study proposes…

Conducting classroom-based educational research trials is important for establishing the efficacy and effectiveness of specific instructional interventions. Such endeavours, however, are challenging to implement. This was made evident during a recent independent evaluation of the efficacy of the MiniLit program, wherein various difficulties…

The purpose of this study was to systematically map and synthesise literature on interventions that promote the involvement of parents of school-aged children with disabilities in education. The study focused on peer-reviewed, primary intervention studies published in English between 2000 and 2021. Nine databases were searched, and 21 articles…

Recent meta-analyses confirm that social-emotional learning (SEL) interventions are effective in increasing academic, social, and emotional outcomes via direct skills instruction. With skill development serving as a primary mechanism of change in SEL interventions, we argue for the accurate measurement of skills as an important component of SEL…

Purpose: This paper evaluates the implementation of a school-based physical activity intervention and discusses how the intervention outcomes can be influenced by the implementation. Design/methodology/approach: In four of the nine lower secondary schools in which the intervention was conducted, the authors examined implementation fidelity,…

Treatment fidelity assessment is critical to evaluating the extent to which interventions, such as the Good Behavior Game, are implemented as intended and impact student outcomes. The assessment methods by which treatment fidelity data are collected vary, with direct observation being the most popular and widely recommended. The current study…

Education decisionmakers need access to the best evidence about the effectiveness of education interventions, including practices, products, programs, and policies. It can be difficult, time consuming, and costly to access and draw conclusions from relevant studies about the effectiveness of interventions. The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC)…