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…

School counselors are tasked with many activities, including demonstrating the effectiveness of interventions they use with students. The American School Counselor Association recommends that school counselors include assessment, appraisal, and evaluation of delivery and program management in their school counseling program. Single-case research…

This study explored children's perceptions of a canine-assisted social-emotional learning program developed within the framework of a canine therapy program at a mid-sized Canadian university. Data collection made use of interviews, field notes, and observations. Children (N = 8, 5-11 years) from an after-school program participated in a six-week…

Pressing social problems and inequities call attention to the need for interventions that target root causes and change systems. A significant challenge facing system change efforts is the lack of systems-based evaluation theory and methods. To address this challenge, we conducted an instrumental case study of evaluation within an exemplary…

The major aim of this manuscript is to bring together two important topics that have recently received much attention in child and adolescent research, albeit separately from each other: single-case experimental designs and statistical mediation analysis. Single-case experimental designs (SCEDs) are increasingly recognized as a valuable…

There are currently no old-age specific interventions for autistic adults. Therefore, in this explorative study, we examined the possible effects of a co-designed psychoeducation program for older autistic adults (55+ years), with a multiple case study design (N = 9, age 56-73 years; Netherlands Trial Register (code Trial NL5670)). For each…

Purpose: This study evaluated the effects of an automated, small-group intervention designed to teach preschoolers challenging vocabulary words. Previous studies have provided evidence of efficacy. In this study, we evaluated the effects of the program after doubling the number of words taught from 2 to 4 words per book. Method: Seventeen…

Purpose: This study evaluated the effects of an automated, small-group intervention designed to teach preschoolers challenging vocabulary words. Previous studies have provided evidence of efficacy. In this study, we evaluated the effects of the program after doubling the number of words taught from 2 to 4 words per book. Method: Seventeen…

Single-case research methods provide the basis for evaluating effective instructional approaches in special education. The purpose of this article is to provide special educators an overview of single-case research methods, with an emphasis on how these designs are used to establish whether an instructional practice relates to improved learner…

This article provides the reader with an overview of the literature relating to family support services while highlighting a number of key issues for consideration in evaluating these diverse and complex interventions. Drawing on a case example of a family support service evaluation carried out in Ireland in 2014 by the authors, this article will…

This article explores issues that had to be confronted over a three-year period in terms of two New York State funded grants for which I was the evaluator. Major, critical challenges are presented, described, and discussed. Specifically, the paper addresses issues related to lack of planning at the grant design stage that resulted in challenges…

The purpose of this descriptive embedded case study is to address a reading literacy problem at a rural school district through a principal's instructional leadership and to determine whether student outcomes improved. Campus principals are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring every student receives high-quality instruction that aligns with…

HIV continues to significantly impact the health of communities, particularly affecting racially and ethnically diverse men who have sex with men and transgender women. In response, health departments often fund a number of community organizations to provide each of these subgroups with comprehensive and culturally responsive services. To this…

Research on the importance of complete mental health has led to increased focus on students' subjective well-being (i.e., happiness and life satisfaction) coupled with the traditional attention to psychopathology. Although screeners for psychopathology abound, the present project is novel in applying best practices in universal screening to grade…

This case study sought to explore the perceptions of classroom teachers and an instructional support team regarding the effectiveness of an established reading Response to Intervention model. It compared the perceptions of both groups regarding the model's effectiveness, focusing on its strengths and weaknesses. The similarities and differences…