Research About Kidpower
What proof is there that Kidpower actually works?
The feedback our workshop participants give in self-reports and evaluations has been overwhelmingly positive since our establishment, and almost everyone who has had direct experience with our services gives Kidpower a very high rating for relevance, effectiveness, and competence.
Formal Evaluations and Research
Kidpower programs are rigorously and continuously reviewed to ensure that they align with evidence-based prevention and positive child/youth development best practices. In addition to regular participant evaluations, Kidpower programs have undergone multiple formal evaluations by independent evaluation professionals in the US, Canada, and New Zealand. We continue to conduct evaluation studies in order to ensure that our services accomplish our objectives, have lasting impact for our participants, and maintain a high level of quality as we grow.
In 2002, Kim Leisey, Ph.D., conducted her doctoral dissertation on the effects of self-protection training of early adolescent girls trained by Kidpower and another organization. Her research indicated that Kidpower has all of the elements that the girls defined as being important to help them feel and be safer.
"Kidpower trainings effectively increase safety awareness and provide skills both children and adult participants can use in their everyday lives."
Kidpower Evaluation Report
Executive Summary 2004
In 2004, LaFrance Associates, with funding from the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health, evaluated our services for young children.
- Almost 95% of the parents and caregivers of over 550 Head Start children from multi-cultural, low-income families observed that their children were safer because of their Kidpower training.
- Parents and caregivers reported that most of these three- to five-year-old children remembered most of the skills four to nine months after the training.
- Over 90% reported that they personally felt better prepared to explain safety skills to their children.
Read the summary of the Head Start study (PDF 300k)
In 2005, thanks to funding from the Todd Foundation, a similar study with children aged 8-12 was conducted in New Zealand. Teachers and children reported after three months that the students used the skills to reduce conflict, that learning the skills increased their confidence and reduced their anxiety, and that they found that the program was “fun.”
Read the summary of the New Zealand study
In 2006, Sylvaine Raymond, an independent university researcher in Quebec, carried out a quantitative scientific evaluation with 130 four- and five-year-olds in daycare in the Vieux-Longueuil borough.
The evaluation clearly demonstrated Kidpower’s ability to implement a program throughout different groups and daycares successfully and consistently with great satisfaction from all parties involved. The evaluation also demonstrated that Kidpower skills produce a globally positive effect on children, beyond their natural learning over time, as well as a positive modification of children’s behavior. It was noted that the children improved particularly in their ability to set boundaries, better handle conflict situations, and adopt safer behaviors.
In the school years of 2009-11, thanks to a grant from the Ruddie Memorial Youth Foundation,the evaluation firm of Shattuck & Associates will carry out extensive work including :
- Conducting a review of our current and former evaluations and organizing this information in a way that helps to documents our effectiveness
- Preparing a five-year evaluation plan that builds on the work already done and is realistic within our current resources
- Designing and implementing a formative evaluation study for the organization as a whole
- Designing and implementing a local outcome evaluation study
Our objective is to align Kidpower with evidence-based programs in the prevention program community and in the positive child/youth development community. This will help us expand our program to more settings and become a stronger candidate for foundation and government funding.