title: Evaluation development for a physical activity positive youth development program for girls.
abstract: Girls on the Run (GOTR) is an after school program for girls in third through fifth grade which utilizes a physical activity based positive youth development curriculum that culminates with completing a 5K run. Unfortunately, there is little empirical data documenting GOTR participant changes that align with the curriculum and describe the evaluation process. Therefore, this study presents an evaluation of GOTR consisting of three main processes: curriculum content analysis and stakeholder focus groups (N=11) to identify key outcomes of the program; community-based participatory research to collaborate with program personnel to further identify important outcomes; and the design and pilot testing of an instrument (N=104) for assessing changes in the theoretically grounded outcomes over time. Findings demonstrated a positive collaborative process that led to important information to be used for an impact evaluation of Girls on the Run and for future evaluation development efforts for physical activity based positive youth development.
authors.affiliation: Washington State University, United States. Electronic address: sullrich@wsu.edu.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ullrich-French
authors.affiliation: Washington State University, United States.
authors.forename: Amy N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Cole
authors.affiliation: Washington State University, United States.
authors.forename: Anna K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Montgomery
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D002648:Child; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research; D003479:Curriculum; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012420:Running / Q000502:physiology*; D012574:Schools; D020377:Self Efficacy; D014481:United States
keywords: Collaborative evaluation development; Physical activity; Positive youth development