Early Challenges in Evaluating the KidsMatter National Mental Health Promotion Initiative in Australian Primary Schools

Abstract

This article describes, analyses and reflects on the challenges of planning and conducting the evaluation of the KidsMatter Initiative (KMI) in Australian primary schools during the first year of the two-year initiative. The purpose of the evaluation is to inform the Australia-wide rollout of the KMI. The discussion is arranged under four headings: conceptual challenges, design challenges, practical implementation challenges and managing collaborative complexity. Emphasis is placed on how the challenges were theorised as a basis for responding to the requirements of the evaluation. Conclusions include recognising and enabling contributions from diverse stakeholders, using the domain expertise of the evaluation team, operating flexibly to meet the needs and exigencies of the KMI, the clients and the diverse participant groups, maintaining focus on the core conceptual frameworks underlying the KMI and the evaluation, and the implications of the evaluation for developing wider knowledge relating to schools and their effects, as well as about factors contributing to educational change.

Keywords:

• KidsMatter
• evaluation
• mental health promotion
• children's well-being
• Australian primary school initiative