1. Instructions for Using the Program Evaluation Toolkit

2. Overview of the Program Evaluation Toolkit
Purpose: Use this set of tools assembled by Mindful Schools to evaluate your mindfulness program.
The toolkit contains 2 types of evaluation tools:
Classroom teacher and student evaluations to gather qualitative feedback during or after a program.
Scientifically validated survey scales to gather quantitative feedback to assess statistically significant improvements on pre-post surveys.
Why do program evaluation? Evaluation can help you learn how to improve your program and demonstrate accountability/effectiveness

3. Step 1: Plan your Evaluation Procedure
Start this planning process early – end of the last school year or summer, at least
When and where will you assess students?
Will you print survey forms or create and use a computerized version?
Inform key stakeholders of your evaluation plans (parents, administrators)

4. Step 2: Choose Evaluation Tools
Click here for a link to the Program Evaluation Toolkit.
Look inside the folders relevant to you:
Start with the Introductory “Read me” doc, which describes all the tools
If you teach mindfulness outside your own classroom, you can use classroom teacher evaluation
Program evaluation toolkit
Choose student evaluation tools by age group

5. Choose tools - Example
Suppose I will visit two classrooms to teach mindfulness -- one 3rd grade and one 5th grade. I might choose tools as follows:
Both classroom teachers fill out evaluation after program ends
All students fill out:
-Evaluation after program ends
-Externalizing and Internalizing scales from Grades 2-5 “Self-Descriptive Questionnaire” before and after program
Program evaluation toolkit
The School Climate scale in this folder is more relevant to the 5th graders, so they fill out before and after program

6. Step 3: Collect pre-post data in a spreadsheet and get results
First, find the student’s average score on a given pre and post survey (follow scoring instructions in Toolkit)
Then, make your own copy of this spreadsheet and input scores from the pre and post survey. For example --
The spreadsheet automatically calculates percentage changes and whether changes from pre to post are statistically significant.
Student ID #
Pre-score
Post-score 15 16 12 17

7. Step 4. Share results
Report on which pre-post surveys found significant improvements
The spreadsheet makes bar graphs of pre vs post scores that you can use to show significant improvements
Describe patterns and themes in the data
Add compelling anecdotal evidence from the evaluations
* Link to example