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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Welcome back: I
hope everyone had a restful Christmas Break, while we were busy
preparing the Phase 1 and Phase 2 data ready for analysis.
With a 70% response rate across schools and almost 5000
participating families from around Australia, this evaluation
really is a landmark.
Well done to everyone in achieving this monumental outcome
todate. |
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Phase 3 Questionnaires
are now being administered in schools and the first boxes
have even been returned. Teachers and parents will be asked to participate,
but it will only involve those parents that participated in
Phase 1. So we hope schools will administer and collect
the questionnaire early in Term 2 to avoid the extra pressures
that end-of-term presents. |
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 2008
Planner and the Case-study project: A planner is now
available to map the timelines of data collection events happening during
2008. It features school term start and end dates in each
state, along with major public holidays, and will be updated
as collection dates are confirmed.
In addition to the last two rounds of questionnaires in
Term 2 and Term 4 2008, another aspect of this landmark
evaluation will commence in Term 3 2008. It will involve the
selection of 10 case-study schools where interviews and focus
group discussions will be conducted with students, parents and
school leaders, to allow schools to tell their stories about
the successes and challenges in implementing the KidsMatter
Initiative.
Access the KidsMatter 2008 Planner (last
updated 27.02.08):
Excel version - to download and
edit the planner
PDF version
- to view the planner
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Welcome Grace: We
would like to
welcome a new member on the Evaluation Team, Grace Skrzypiec. Her exceptional knowledge as a
teacher, statistician and researcher brings the perfect mix of
talents for undertaking the case-study component of the
evaluation. |
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Meeting with the
Project Officers during February 2008 in Adelaide.
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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 Australian Principals Associations Professional
Development Council and is supported by the Australian Rotary Health Research
Fund.
The evaluation process
Information for the evaluation will be collected on four
occasions commencing in April 2007, and continuing in November
2007, April 2008 and November 2008.
Most of the information will come from responses to a
questionnaire to be completed by the parents and teachers of a
randomly selected sample of 75 students in each school. The
questionnaire will measure outcomes from the KidsMatter initiative
for staff, students, and parents. The questionnaire will also
focus on some aspects of the implementation of KidsMatter.
A small number of teachers and students from some schools will
attend a focus group discussion or an interview.
A small amount of funding is 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 |
|
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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 |
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May 2008 |
Questionnaire Phase 3: Term 2
2008 |
|
Oct 2008 |
Questionnaire Phase 4: Term 4
2008 |
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Term 3 2008 |
Focus groups and interviews in
a few selected schools |
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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