The purpose of this paper is to describe the process evaluation model
for the classroom curricula of the Child and Adolescent Trial for Card
iovascular Health (CATCH) Project. The process evaluation plan specifi
cally targets how much each curriculum was implemented, to what degree
it was implemented as designed, and the barriers to implementation. A
dditionally, the rationale for each of the process evaluation measures
and the instrument development process are presented. Data resulting
from these measures will be essential in order to answer questions reg
arding the internal validity of the main outcomes of the project. Spec
ific examples and sample results are provided from the CATCH third-gra
de classroom curriculum, which was implemented the first year of CATCH
. A discussion also is presented of how the findings from a sample of
these measures were used to gain additional insight on the salient fea
tures of the curriculum, and how those features may be related to stud
ent outcomes.