New Instrument #10: Program Attendance Data Collection Protocol

Instrument #10
PROGRAM ATTENDANCE data collection PROTOCOL

PROGRAM ATTENDANCE Data Collection PROTOCOL

In order to understand the dosage of program services received in the treatment group, we will collect program attendance data from the IIS sites. Program attendance will be collected either through 1) extractions from pre-existing administrative records data on program attendance already collected by the program or 2) a data collection tool created by Mathematica Policy Research (see Table 10.1). Data will need to be provided for each youth in the evaluation sample, so that it can be linked to the outcome data for analysis. A unique identifier will be assigned for each youth so that no sensitive information will be transmitted. That identifier will be used to match attendance data to outcome data. A unique identifier will also be created for each site, to further protect the identity of participants during electronic transfer of information.

The program will need to provide documentation of the both intended and received program dosage. Specifically, the key pieces of information that the site staff needs to provide are:

• The intended number of sessions

• The intended length of each session (in hours) and the number of hours delivered

• The title and content of each session, indicating which sessions are considered “core” program sessions (if not all)

• The facilitator(s) for each session, and

• For each youth, presence or absence at each session, as well as an indicator of the group in which the youth received programming (e.g. date/time of session).

Table 10.1: Program Attendance Data Collection Tool