Outcome Measures for IECMHC
States, tribes, and communities are building the evidence that IECMHC works in early care and education. A common question is which tools to use to measure impact.
Use this Choose and Use tool to plan how you'll measure IECMHC outcomes. It summarizes 22 measures used in two or more IECMHC program evaluations, covering impact on children, teachers, teacher-child relationships, and classrooms or programs.
Full record
Classroom · Not specifiedGoal Achievement Scale
DetailsClose
- Level
- Classroom
- Type of Tool
- Not specified
- Construct
- Teacher attitudes and beliefs
- Respondent
- Teacher; Center/Program Directors
- Language(s)
- English
- Length
- 13 items
- Description
- A measure designed for IECMHC evaluations to assess teachers’ competencies on general mental health activities or program goals. This measure can be completed by teachers as a self-report measure and/or by directors reporting on their perceptions of the teachers. It has been used to gauge the impact of IECMHC on teachers' knowledge and implementation of positive social-emotional practices.
- Subscales
- N/A
- Published Psychometrics?
- No published psychometrics.
- Citation for Tool
- Alkon, A., Ramler, M., & MacLennon, K. (2003). Evaluation of mental health consultation in child care centers. Early Childhood Education Journal, 31(2), 91-99.
- In the Public Domain?
- Yes - See Alkon et al., 2003
Disclaimers
Don't limit your data collection to these measures. They are outcome measures: they show how IECMHC affects children, classrooms, and programs. Also collect implementation data (how IECMHC is delivered) and process data (the near-term changes that lead to those outcomes).
Many families who use IECMHC face wide racial and ethnic disparities in access to opportunity. Programs and systems leaders should always collect demographic data, and always break down outcome, process, and implementation data by race/ethnicity, income, language, and disability status.
Make evaluation decisions in light of your program's theory of change, setting, and the people you serve. Where you can, choose measures normed on the populations you serve and available in a language families understand.
In addition to using the Choose and Use Guide, we recommend you also contact the CoE to request technical assistance to refine your decisions about which tools to select.
Need help choosing?
Request technical assistance from the Center of Excellence to help you decide which tools to use.