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 field generated by using a mixed methods community-based participatory research (MMCBPR) design. We integrated quantitative findings from an evaluation capacity needs assessment toolwith qualitative themes from community consultations. Findings highlight the pressingneed for practices aimed at enhancing individual capacity through skills-based training, shifting organizational learning culture through resource investment, and cultivating interdependencies between organizational evaluation culture and individual evaluation capacity through engagement and collaborations.