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: Few nutrition interventions in kindergarten classes have been evaluated, and none has been tested for program effectiveness, implementation, and dissemination. Building a Healthy Me (BHM) is a nutrition intervention for kindergarteners that is classroom-based and includes a family component. This study evaluated the public health…

Before developing a school- and community-wide work plan around preventing bullying and harassment, school administrators should employ data collection tools to determine their specific areas of focus. Successful bullying prevention efforts must be driven by local data and rooted in research on effective practices. These policies must undergo…

Program evaluation often suffers due to time constraints, imperfect instruments, incomplete data, and the need to report standardized metrics. This article about the evaluation process for the Wi$eUp financial education program showcases the difficulties inherent in evaluation and suggests best practices for assessing program effectiveness. We…

"Entre Familia: Reflejos de Salud" was a successful family-based randomized controlled trial designed to improve dietary behaviors and intake among U.S. Latino families, specifically fruit and vegetable intake. The novel intervention design merged a community health worker ("promotora") model with an entertainment-education…

Process use refers to the ways in which stakeholders and/or evaluands change as a function of participating in evaluation activities. Although the concept of process use has been well discussed in the literature, exploration of methodological strategies for the measurement and assessment of process use has been limited. Typically, empirical…

Extension educators endeavor to create and measure outcomes beyond knowledge gain. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the role of social marketing as a method for creating behavior change within the University of Florida Extension system through key leader opinions. Additionally, the study sought to identify perceptions about…

MyPlate, the icon and multimodal communication plan developed for the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), provides an opportunity to consider new approaches to evaluating the effectiveness of communication initiatives. A review of indicators used in assessments for previous DGA communication initiatives finds gaps in accounting for…

This project tracked the mid-term evaluation processes, practices, and products of a multinational program to reduce at-risk behaviors for HIV/AIDS among children in Kenya, Tanzania, and Haiti. It focused on participant and community perceptions; program effectiveness in promoting abstinence and monogamy decisions; and factors supporting ongoing…

Although there is a strong legislative base and perceived efficacy for multidisciplinary team decision making, limited evidence supports its effectiveness or consistency of implementation in practice. In recent research, we used the Decision Observation, Recording, and Analysis (DORA) tool to document activities and adult behaviors during positive…

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the feasibility of an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) technique in a health behavior change intervention offered within university general health courses. A six-week health behavior change project was used with two groups: video journaling and traditional (pencil and paper) group. Research…

The concept of treatment integrity cuts across a diversity of fields involved with providing treatments or interventions to individuals. In medical treatments, the concept of "treatment compliance" or "treatment adherence" is an important and problematic issue. In the field of nutrition, the concept of "dietary adherence" is important for…

Autism is the fastest growing disability ever. With the growth comes a lot of questions as to the etiologies and treatment of this condition, often putting parents, schools, and traditional medical personnel at odds with what treatments have efficacy. As the popularity of alternative treatments increase, so does the need for research. …

This report focuses on the School Action Effectiveness Study (SAES), the national evaluation of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's Alternative Education Program. It presents the history, start-up activities, successes, and problems encountered during the first year of the 17 action projects. In the first section, the…

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effects of two trainings designed to increase the competencies of professionals to develop high quality positive behavior support plans for students that engage in problem behaviors that interfere with theirs and/or others' ability to learn. Training one consisted of training attendees on six key…