Welcome to KidsMatter Evaluation,
striving to measure the improved mental health of our
children.
This site is designed to keep schools informed about
the progress of the evaluation of the KidsMatter
Initiative and to provide a repository of useful information
to access and download.
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Funding
announced for KidsMatter October 5th, 2009 The Hon Nicola Roxon MP - Minister for Health and Ageing
has today announced that the Australian Government will
provide $12.2 million over the next three years to support the
expansion of the KidsMatter
Primary mental health initiative to more primary schools
across Australia. The Minister also announced funding of $6.5
million to pilot the KidsMatter Early Childhood Initiative.
Speaking at the Monmia Primary School, a KidsMatter pilot
school, Ms Roxon highlighted the positive impacts of
KidsMatter on children's mental health.
A comprehensive evaluation of the KidsMatter Primary was
conducted by Flinders University of South Australia. Results
show many positive impacts for schools, children, parents and
carers.
The KidsMatter
Executive Summary is now available online.
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The KidsMatter Evaluation Team
KidsMatter have appointed an
evaluation team of representatives from Flinders
University, the
University of South Australia and the South Australian Department of Education and
Children's Services.
The purpose of the evaluation
The KidsMatter Evaluation is
gathering information about the initial trial of KidsMatter in
schools across Australia. It will provide information about the
implementation process and whether the initiative leads to improved
mental health for students. The evaluation will inform the
subsequent national roll-out of KidsMatter initiatives.
KidsMatter has been developed in collaboration with
the Australian
Government Department of Health and Ageing, beyondblue: the national
depression initiative, the Australian
Psychological Society, the Principals Australia and is supported by the Australian Rotary Health Research
Fund.
The evaluation process
Information for the evaluation was collected on four
occasions: April 2007, November
2007, April 2008 and November 2008.
Most of the information came from responses to a
questionnaire completed by the parents and teachers of a
randomly selected sample of up to 76 students in each school. The
questionnaire measured outcomes from the KidsMatter initiative
for staff, students, and parents. The questionnaire also
focussed on aspects of the implementation of KidsMatter.
State-based KidsMatter project officers also completed
questionnaires on each of their schools.
School leadership provided an executive summary at the end of
the evaluation.
A small number of teachers and students from some schools
attended a focus group discussion or an interview.
A small amount of funding was available to assist schools with
the cost of participating in the evaluation.
Brief timeline and Research Design
A brief time line is presented below.
Click on the link for details on the conceptual framework and the
research design (may take a moment to load).
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2006 |
Obtain ethics approvals from
all jurisdictions |
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Obtain consents from all
departments and schools |
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Establish Contact Person in
each school |
| Feb 2007 |
Information packages sent to
schools |
|
Mar 2007 |
Obtain (de-identified) student
enrolment lists for random selection of 76 students per school |
|
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Obtain school attendance and
other relevant data |
|
May 2007
|
Obtain teacher, parent and
student consents |
|
|
Questionnaire Phase 1: End of
Term 2 2007 |
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Oct 2007 |
Questionnaire Phase 2: Term 4
2007, does not involve parents/caregivers |
|
May 2008 |
Questionnaire Phase 3: Term 2
2008 |
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Oct 2008 |
Questionnaire Phase 4: Term 4
2008 |
|
Term 3 2008 |
Focus groups and interviews in
10 selected schools |
|
2009 |
Data Analysis and preparation of Final Report |
|
mid-2009 |
KidsMatter Evaluation Final Report |
For further information contact:
The Senior Evaluation Officer
Phone: +61 8 8201 5878
Fax: +61 8 8201 3184
 Email: kidsmatter@flinders.edu.au
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