What Does It Mean to Be Validated at Standard 3?

Standards 3 - 5: what’s required?

Introduction to the Standards

What does it mean to be validated at Standard 3?

A project that is validated at Standard 3 has undertaken an evaluation using a comparison group. This enables it to draws a consistent link be-tween the project and the change in outcomes, indicating that it has caused the observed changes. The project also has procedures in place to increase the likelihood of it being implemented in the future in ways faithful to its design.

What does it mean to be validated at Standard 4?

A project validated at Standard 4 has undertaken independent evaluation which demonstrates that changes in the outcomes are observed when the project is replicated in other settings. The evaluation provides insight into how these changes come about, and if doing more or less of your project, or parts of it, has better or worse results.

A project suitable for validation at Standard 4 has been replicated at least once.

What does it mean to be validated at Standard 5?

A Standard 5 Validation should include:

•Information on evaluation design

•An evaluation report that outlines a summary of key findings, evaluation design, tools and measurements used, selection methods etc.

•Multiple, independent, evaluations in different settings

Standards checklist

Standard 3 Checklist
1 / Have you included a summary of the key outcomes your programme is trying to achieve?
2 / Have you completed a Theory of Change
3 / Does your evaluation have at least one rigorous evaluation with a comparison or control group?
4 / Does the evidence indicate the project caused the observed changes in outcomes?
5 / Have you described any weaknesses or limitations of your design, and what their effect on results might be?
6 / Have you outlined your systems and uploaded the evidence? These may include：
•Staff training processes and materials
•Manuals for running the project, and how it is implemented in new places
•Templates and resources required to run the project
•Monitoring and quality processes
7 / Have you specified your research question or aim?
8 / Have you included a short description of the project in your evaluation report (i.e. what the activities are, how long it is, who the target group is, and how you recruit them, and what happened at the end of the project)?
9 / Have you included a detailed description of the evaluation design in your report?
10 / Have you included a description of how participants were selected for the evaluation?
11 / Have you attached a description of how the consent of participants was obtained, confidentiality maintained and any other relevant ethical considerations?
12 / Have you used at least 1 validated tool to measure outcomes?
13 / Have you specified the details of the evaluation tools used, for example questionnaires? If these are validated tools, the details of sources should be provided.
14 / Have you provided the details of the processes by which measurement tools were used? For example, if a survey was used, a description includes how and when the survey was distributed and the conditions under which they were filled out.
15 / Have you provided the details of any relevant statistical analyses?
Standard 4 Checklist
As Standard 3 plus the below:
1 / Have you submitted at least two rigorous impact evaluations, at least one of which has been conducted by an external evaluator?
2 / Have you provided evidence on dosage? This means considering how different levels of engagement with your service lead to different outcomes.
3 / Have you provided evidence that supports the casual mechanisms behind your project? This could include a literature review, or a process evaluation.
4 / Have you provided detailed information on the resources (money and people) required to deliver your project?
5 / Have you included a cost-benefit analysis?
6 / Have you included an analysis of the impact of your project on sub-groups in your target population?
Standard 5 Checklist
As Standard 3 & 4 plus the below:
1 / Have you submitted at least three external evaluations of operations in multiple UK locations?
2 / Have you provided detailed information on the place systems and documentation that you use to support large-scale implementation?