| Abstract: | The study demonstrates how to conduct nonexperimental yet rigorous evaluation of suicide education programs when random assignment with control group design is not feasible under practical or ethical constraints. To achieve this goal, the authors show how rigorous evaluation of a school-based suicide education program (Raising Awareness of Personal Power RAPP]) is conducted by means of three methodological approaches: the rolling group design, the internal referencing strategy, and the minimum competency approach. A total of 779 high school students in seven public high schools in Northern Colorado participated in the current study. Results based on the three approaches provide converging evidence that the RAPP program was effective not only in producing positive change in participants' knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy about suicide and suicide prevention, but also in reaching predetermined levels of knowledge and positive reactions to the program. Furthermore, the three approaches demonstrate practicality, usefulness, and rigorousness for future field evaluations if the formal experimental design could not be conducted in practice. Implications for program evaluation are further discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
