Assessing achievements in place-based initiatives – developing a tailor-made tool

Assessing achievements of place-based initiatives (PBIs) has become increasingly important in contemporary evaluation practice. While key characteristics of successful PBIs have been described in the literature, the practicalities of assessing implementation progress across multiple PBIs under the umbrella of a single program invoke complex challenges. This article presents the process used to develop a tool for assessing implementation progress across a 14-site PBI aimed at improving health and education outcomes for First Nations children in Australia. Sites included a mix of metropolitan, regional, remote and very remote locations around Australia and varying levels of PBI maturity. A literature scan identified the attributes of successful PBIs and indicators/measures that could be used to evaluate them. These attributes were condensed into eight domains, and a further two were added due to their importance for this evaluation. The identified indicators and measures were mapped against these domains to generate a question bank. A process of consistently rating sites against the measures relevant to each of them enabled the identification of achievements within each site, comparisons between sites and evaluation of the progress of the program overall. The development of this tool provides a case study for developing a practical, fit-for-purpose tool to evaluate PBIs.