Jennifer Brown Urban

• PhD
• Professor (Full) at Montclair State University

Evaluation capacity building (ECB) is still an emerging area of study in the field of evaluation. The purpose of ECB is to assist program practitioners with implementing higher‐quality evaluation; however, we need better tools and resources to effectively assess ECB efforts. Existing measures typically depend on self‐report as opposed to assessing...

This modified sequential explanatory mixed methods study explores how the components of purpose (personal meaningfulness and a beyond-the-self orientation) impact youth mental health outcomes (depressive and anxiety symptoms) in the context of COVID-19. We hypothesized that youth with higher scores on the components of purpose (goal-directedness, p...

The purpose of this paper is to offer both theoretical and practical support to evaluation professionals preparing to facilitate the utilization phase of evaluation with a program or organization team. The Systems Evaluation Protocol for Participatory Data Use (SEPPDU) presented here is rooted in a partnership approach to evaluation and is therefor...

Lady health workers (LHWs) provide lifesaving maternal and child health services to >60% of Pakistan’s population but are poorly compensated and overburdened. Moreover, LHWs’ training does not incorporate efforts to nurture attributes necessary for equitable and holistic healthcare delivery. We developed an interdisciplinary humanities curriculum,...

High-adventure programs typically take place outdoors in remote locations and include several days of challenging activities. Research on high-adventure programs consistently finds positive outcomes for youths. Most high-adventure programs feature 10 key principles that are closely aligned and sometimes overlap with the three defining features of p...

This paper reflects on the possibilities and limits of a team-based, multi-site, evaluative ethnography. In this study, a team of qualitative researchers deployed participant ob- servation methods to assess the level of standardization and local adaptation in the training curriculum for adult leaders in the Boy Scouts of America. While the umbrella...

This study elicited the perspectives of youth, caregivers, service providers and researchers to explore how communities can best support the transition to adulthood for youth ages 16–21 with mental health and functional impairments, who are at risk of disconnecting from health and human services. Framed by Relational Systems Evaluation (RSE) and Po...

This paper focuses on data from a study of middle-to upper-middle class Scottish S2 (~seventh grade) students who participated in Inspiring Purpose, a school-based character development program, during the 2016 to 2017 school year. Directed by their teachers, participating youth reflected on values and future aspirations and researched and wrote ab...

Youth purpose was investigated using a two-phase embedded design with youth participating in Scouts BSA ( N = 3,943), ages 9–20 ( M = 14.0, SD = 1.9). Participating Scouts were mostly White (91%) and male (98%). In Phase 1, we conducted a two-step cluster analysis on Scouts’ survey responses to three purpose dimensions (personal meaning, goal-direc...

The purpose of this instrumental, multisite case study is to examine fidelity, adaptation, and differentiation challenges found at Wood Badge, a nationwide Boy Scouts of America training for adult volunteer leaders. Our iterative analysis of more than 900 pages of fieldnotes and 400 pages of documents revealed facilitators often explicitly taught s...

This instrumental case study explored non-formal educators’ lay theories of adolescence using the case of the Boy Scouts of America’s Scouts BSA program, a co-ed program serving youth between the ages of 11 and 17. We conducted an iterative analysis of 110 structured interviews with Scouts BSA adult volunteer leaders who served as scoutmasters or a...

A Positive Youth Development (PYD) perspective emphasizes adolescents’ potential for healthy, successful development. Researchers have introduced a variety of constructs that may promote PYD. For example, Intentional Self-Regulation (ISR) enables youth to seek out and use resources in the environment; purpose can help youth navigate and overcome ob...

Evolutionary Evaluation, Relational Developmental Systems Theory, and Systems Thinking are three broad foundational theoretical perspectives that characterize the shifting paradigm in contemporary evaluation. They are central to the development of Relational Systems Evaluation (RSE). From Evolutionary Evaluation, we focus on the variation and selec...

In this paper, we present six case studies that illustrate the application of the Systems Evaluation Protocol (SEP) in different real‐world implementation conditions. The SEP is a step‐by‐step guide for how to implement Relational Systems Evaluation (RSE), accounting for the complex factors inherent in the larger systems within which a given progra...

This paper presents the results of a study of program participants’ responses to an innovative project called the Partnerships for Advancing Character program Evaluation (PACE), which operationalized a Relational Systems Evaluation (RSE) approach to Evaluation Capacity Building (ECB). We examine which tools and concepts from PACE resonated with par...

In this paper, we introduce Relational Systems Evaluation (RSE), the focal topic of this volume. RSE is a framework for program planning and evaluation that is theoretically grounded, empirically tested and focused on building evaluation capacity. Theoretically, RSE is rooted in an evolutionary approach to program development and evaluation informe...

In this paper, we present empirical findings from a mixed‐methods study of an Evaluation Capacity Building (ECB) initiative called the Partnerships for Advancing Character program Evaluation (PACE) Project that applied the Relational Systems Evaluation (RSE) approach. We focused especially on how participation in this partnership‐based ECB program...

In this paper, we present a comprehensive integrative approach to evaluation planning based on Relational Systems Evaluation (RSE). We describe the major implementation approaches and the tools and resources that support evaluation planning in RSE embodied in the Systems Evaluation Protocol (SEP), a step‐by‐step guide to the tasks that every evalua...

Background: Cognitive interviewing is a pretesting tool used by evaluators to increase item and response option validity. Cognitive interviewing techniques are used to assess the cognitive processes utilized by participants to respond to items. This approach is particularly appropriate for testing items with children and adolescents who have more l...

Positive youth development programs such as those offered by Boy Scouts of America (BSA) provide sources of support and opportunities for leadership and character development. Programmatic experts from BSA collaborated with researchers to develop a visual theory of change (pathway model) for youth development in Scouts BSA and for adult volunteer l...

Through two waves of longitudinal qualitative data, this paper examined emergent forms of key indicators of adolescent thriving: the 5Cs of positive youth development and sense of purpose. Pre- and post-program interviews with 24 S2 (~7th grade) Scottish adolescents who participated in a school-based character program explored the presence, absence...

Though experts agree that diverse stakeholder inclusion enhances quality and equity in 1 evaluation designs and implementation, diverse voices are often omitted. Particularly antithetical to principles of youth character development, evaluations for these programs should strive to include voices from various social, economic, community and demograp...

Too often program evaluation occurs as a process of researchers intervening rather than working with program participants and practitioners. When researchers, practitioners, and participants operate separately, it can diminish the uptake of research findings and preclude the incorporation of valuable information from participants and practitioners...

Character development programs which help youth identify and reflect on inspiring individuals may help youth identify personal positive values and transform them into meaningful action. Inspiring Purpose (IP) is a school-based character development program that aims to translate inspiration into transformative and enduring aspiration. IP has been d...

This career guide examines the rewarding job opportunities outside academia that await those who have earned their doctorates. The chapter authors are experienced professionals who provide an insider's look into a variety of nonacademic fields, including government, consulting, and for-profit and nonprofit companies. They offer advice for leveragin...

Utilizing a relational developmental systems approach to examining character strengths, this article examines the connection between adolescents’ intentional self-regulation (ISR) with youth sense of purpose, using data from a large-scale evaluation of a youth development program in Scotland. Data were triangulated from multiple sources, including...

In the introduction to this special issue on youth purpose, the authors discuss the challenges in assessing purpose in adolescents; purpose is a concept that has more often been studied in adults but not in youth. First, theauthors discuss how purpose has been defined in the literature. The authors then situate purpose in the context of a host of r...

School-based character education (CE) programs provide an opportunity to increase the moral fortitude of adolescents. This study is a preliminary evaluation of Inspire Aspire, a CE program that was implemented with 13- to 14-year-olds in Scotland. A relational developmental systems meta-theoretical approach and person-centered analyses were employe...

The importance of engaging in high quality program evaluation is a generally accepted principle underscored by external pressure from funders. High quality evaluation necessarily begins with good evaluation planning. This paper outlines Evolutionary Evaluation and specifically the Systems Evaluation Protocol, an approach that emphasizes practitione...

Group Concept Mapping (GCM) has been successfully employed in program planning and evaluation for over 25 years. The broader set of systems thinking methodologies (of which GCM is one), have only recently found their way into the field. We present an overview of systems thinking emerging from a System Dynamics (SD) perspective, and illustrate the p...

Self-regulation is a topic of enormous theoretical and empirical interest to developmental scientists, as evidenced by the number of articles, review chapters, and books or monographs pertinent to self-regulatory processes that have appeared in the literature in recent years. Self-regulation refers to the rules or laws governing individual conduct...

Whether discussing the process involved in positive youth development (PYD), articulating an approach (or philosophy) of youth programs associated with PYD, or enacting a program aimed at promoting PYD, ideas derived from relational developmental systems (RDS) metatheory are pertinent. Accordingly, we discuss the RDS metamodel and explain the appro...

In the Systems Evaluation Protocol (SEP) we have integrated principles associated with systems theories into program evaluations in order to assure that programs can use the protocol and incorporate such principles when developing program pathway models , identifying key pathways and nodes (outputs and outcomes), determining the boundary conditions...

Character education programs are mission-aligned with the positive youth development (PYD) perspective, which, in research with American youth suggests that intentional self-regulation (ISR) develops through mutually beneficial interactions between youth and their environment. Cross-cultural studies of Western youth suggest an adolescence-specific...

Despite a heightened emphasis on building evaluation capacity and evaluation quality, there is a lack of tools available to identify high-quality evaluation. In the context of testing the Systems Evaluation Protocol (SEP), quantitative rubrics were designed and tested to assess the quality of evaluation plans and models. Interview data were also co...

Using a mixed methods approach, the connection between Intentional Self Regulation (ISR) and feelings about the chances of achieving future aspirations among 94 Scottish youth (56% female) was examined. Regression analyses demonstrated ISR, as measured by the SOC 9-item scale, was predictive of youths’ feelings about their chances of achieving futu...

Evolutionary theory, developmental systems theory, and evolutionary epistemology provide deep theoretical foundations for understanding programs, their development over time, and the role of evaluation. This paper relates core concepts from these powerful bodies of theory to program evaluation. Evolutionary Evaluation is operationalized in terms of...

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Primary care practitioners (PCPs) have a role in preventing chronic disease through nutrition assessment, education and referral. PCPs tend to have positive attitudes about nutrition, but many do not engage in these nutrition-related practice behaviors. Improving PCPs’ access to evidence-based nutrition information may increase their nutrition prac...

Participation in high quality out-of-school-time activities constitutes a significant portion of the time that many youth spend away from their families or school settings, and current theory and research suggests that activity participation can be an influential contextual asset for promoting adaptive outcomes for youth. Therefore, the purpose of...

The present research used data from Grades 8, 9, and 10 of the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development, a longitudinal study involving U.S. adolescents, in order to better elucidate the process through which the strengths of youth and the ecological resources promoting healthy development (such as out-of-school-time programs) may contribute to thri...

Both organismic and intentional self-regulation processes must be integrated across childhood and adolescence for adaptive developmental regulations to exist and for the developing person to thrive, both during the first two decades of life and through the adult years. To date, such an integrated, life-span approach to self-regulation during childh...

The positive youth development (PYD) perspective emphasizes that thriving occurs when individual ↔context relations involve the alignment of adolescent strengths with the resources in their contexts. The authors propose that a key component of this relational process is the strength that youth possess in the form of self-regulatory processes; these...

Developmental science theorists fully acknowledge the wide array of complex interactions among biology, behavior, and environment that together give rise to development. However, despite this conceptual understanding of development as a system, developmental science has not fully applied analytic methods commensurate with this systems perspective....

Extracurricular activities provide a key context for youth development, and participation has been linked with positive developmental outcomes. Using data from the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development (PYD), this study explored how the intentional self regulation ability of youth interacted with participation in extracurricular activities to aff...

Program evaluation and planning is at the heart of efforts to integrate the domains of practice and research. Traditionally, research and practice have operated in independent spheres with practitioners focused on the implementation of programs that affect individual behavior and researchers focused on the development and testing of theory. Evidenc...

Developmental system theories recognize that variables from multiple levels of organization within the bioecology of human development contribute to adolescent development, including individual factors, family factors and the neighborhood which includes extracurricular activities. Extracurricular activities provide a context for youth development,...

Due to its increasing popularity, youth development (YD) has become a buzzword that is attached to a variety of programs. Several attempts have been made to articulate a unified definition of YD that would enable the field to progress toward measuring the effectiveness of YD programs. In order to determine what constitutes a YD program, we must est...