Early Challenges in Evaluating the KidsMatter National Mental Health Promotion Initiative in Australian Primary Schools

Our team tendered for and was contracted to undertake an evaluation of the implementation and outcomes of the twoyear pilot phase of the KMI. In this paper we set the scene by outlining some of the initial issues and questions generated as we first examined the request to tender for the evaluation. The national initiative, involving 101 schools, is an ambitious project, requiring an equally ambitious schoolbased evaluation. In considering whether or not to commit to a competitive tendering process, the evaluation team first needed to consider whether they could commit to a largescale two-year evaluation. In particular, we contemplated Early Challenges in Evaluating the KidsMatter National Mental Health Promotion Initiative in Australian Primary Schools Helen Askell-Williams, Alan Russell, Katherine L Dix, Phillip T Slee, Barbara A Spears, Michael J Lawson, Laurence D Owens and Kelvin Gregory