Responding to the Evaluation Capacity Needs of the Early Childhood Field: Insights from a Mixed Methods Community-based Participatory Design

Abstract

For this special issue, our article provides an illustrative example of data integration in a complex mixed methods design. It advances three mixed insights about the evaluation capacity needs of the early childhood feld generated by using a mixed methods community-based participatory research (MMCBPR) design. We integrated quantitative fndings from an evaluation capacity needs assessment tool with qualitative themes from community consultations. Findings highlight the pressing need for practices aimed at enhancing individual capacity through skills-based training, shifing organizational learning culture through resource investment, and cultivating interdependencies between organizational evaluation culture and individual evaluation capacity through engagement and collaborations.