Challenges in Evaluating School-Linked Services

Abstract

School-linked services have emerged as one response to the steady decline in children's educational prospects caused by a host of nonschool factors. Given the political, fiscal, and administrative pressures under which these efforts operate, evaluation stands to play a critical role in the development of school-linked services policy and program design. This article identifies the challenges inherent in evaluating these efforts and then analyzes data from 18 school-linked services initiatives to determine whether and how evaluations address these challenges. Using the results of these analyses, the authors present a comprehensive evaluation framework designed to overcome the challenges of evaluating school-linked services and provide a more complete understanding of these initiatives.