Abstract:
Educational interventions that have a multidisciplinary conceptual base and that aim to capture the elements of whole school change, require evaluation designs and methods that can capture and provide evidence of change, not only in the components parts but also in their interaction. In the dynamic environment of schools, evaluation designs that engage participants and are respectful of school conditions can support and enhance desired outcomes. In this context, evaluation of school mental health promotion needs to provide evidence of both mental health and educational outcomes. The challenge is how to focus on what evidence is valued - evidence based practice and/or practice based evidence. This presentation will describe how the multiple perspectives and approaches employed in the evaluation of MindMatters addressed these challenges, and provide some recommendations for future practice.