Title page
Contents
1. HOW CENTERS DESIGNED THEIR TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 4
2. HOW CENTERS IMPLEMENTED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 6
3. WHAT OUTCOMES CENTERS ACHIEVED 10
4. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE COMPREHENSIVE CENTERS PROGRAM 13
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 17
APPENDIX A: ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND OF THE EVALUATION 23
APPENDIX B: EVALUATION METHODS 31
APPENDIX C: EVALUATION INSTRUMENTS AND CODEBOOKS 44
APPENDIX D: ADDITIONAL ANALYSES 97
APPENDIX E: PROJECT PROFILES 121
Exhibits
Exhibit 1. Evaluation Questions 3
Exhibit 2. Data Sources 4
Exhibit 3. Affiliations of TA Recipients of Center Projects 6
Exhibit 4. Collaboration Between Centers 7
Exhibit 5. Project Challenges Reported by Center Staff 8
Exhibit 6. Challenges in Working with Centers Reported by TA Recipients 9
Exhibit 7. Center Staff Ratings of the Extent to which Center Projects Contributed to the Overall Capacity of Constituents 10
Exhibit 8. TA Recipient Ratings of the Extent to Which Centers Contributed to Specific Types of Capacity 11
Exhibit 9. TA Recipient Actions Reported 12
Exhibit 10. TA Recipient Accomplishments Enabled by the Centers 12
Exhibit 11. How Comprehensive Centers Build SEA Capacity 14
Appendix Exhibits
Exhibit B-1. Research Questions and Data Sources 33
Exhibit B-2. Project Sample in Surveys 35
Exhibit B-3. Projects in Survey Data Across Three Years 36
Exhibit B-4. Projects Discussed in Implementation Interviews 39
Exhibit B-5. Projects Discussed in Outcomes Interviews 40
Exhibit B-6. Codebook Refinement and Intercoder Reliability Testing 41
Exhibit B-7. Activity Report Collection Schedule 43
Exhibit B-8. Projects in Activity Reports 43
Exhibit D-1. Centers' Capacity Building Definitions: Dimensions of Capacity 98
Exhibit D-2. Centers' Capacity Building Definitions: Principles of Capacity Building 99
Exhibit D-3. How Centers Assessed SEA Needs 100
Exhibit D-4. Affiliations of TA Recipients of Center Projects 100
Exhibit D-5. Implementation of Broad TA Strategies: Interview Results 101
Exhibit D-6. Types of TA Activities in Center Projects 102
Exhibit D-7. Mix of TA Activity Types per Project 103
Exhibit D-8. Content Focus of Projects 103
Exhibit D-9. Non-Center Organizations Collaborating on Center Projects 104
Exhibit D-10. All Project Challenges Reported by Center Staff 105
Exhibit D-11. Challenges Reported by TA Recipients, by Year 106
Exhibit D-12. TA Recipients' Ratings of the Extent to which Centers Contributed to Specific Types of Capacity, All Centers, By Year 107
Exhibit D-13. TA Recipients' Ratings of the Extent to which Centers Contributed to Specific Types of Capacity, by Center Type, by Year 108
Exhibit D-14. TA Recipients' Item-Level Ratings of Centers' Contributions by Year: Knowledge and Skills 110
Exhibit D-15. TA Recipients' Item-Level Ratings of Centers' Contributions: Organizational Capacity 111
Exhibit D-16. TA Recipients' Item-Level Ratings of Centers' Contributions: Capacity for Policy Design 112
Exhibit D-17. TA Recipients' Item-Level Ratings of Centers' Contributions: Capacity for Policy Implementation 113
Exhibit D-18. TA Recipient Actions Reported, by Year 114
Exhibit D-19. Centers' Sources of Evidence for Project Outcomes As Reported in Center Staff Interviews 115
Exhibit D-20. Outcome Measures Used in Centers' Evaluation Reports, 2016 116
Exhibit D-21. Effective Strategies and Activities as Reported by Interview Respondents 117
Exhibit D-22. Most Helpful Center Services Reported by TA Recipients, By Year 118
Exhibit D-23. TA Recipient Reports on Least Helpful Services of Centers 119
Exhibit D-24. TA Recipient Reports on Needs Not Met by Center 119
Exhibit D-25. Project Supports Reported by Center Staff 120