Evaluating the Kiwanis ABACUS Program

Abstract

This report was prepared by Research Associates from the McMaster Research Shop on behalf of The Boys and Girls Club of Hamilton (Kiwanis) – a longstanding community resource centre offering a variety of educational and social support systems to local youth. The objective of this project was to assist the staff with an evaluation of the ABACUS program. ABACUS had been collecting pre- and post-program survey data to evaluate their program from 2017-2019. However, due to limitations in the data, the team was unable to draw conclusions about the program’s impact. Future evaluative practices will be important to determine the program’s impact and identify opportunities to improve the program. To build Kiwanis’s capacity for evaluation, the Research Team created an updated online version of the survey along with an updated survey administration process for pre- and post-program assessments to help the organization collect and analyze program data from participants. In addition, the Research Team developed a focus group guide and facilitation procedures to support mixed-methods data collection, along with a guide for synthesizing quantitative and qualitative data. By coupling pre- and post-program surveys with focus groups, staff leading the ABACUS program will be better equipped to evaluate the ABACUS program.