The following are some of the key evaluation outcomes we track and report, as evidence of the BRP's impact in the Shan Burmese refugee community we serve.

Of course, these outcome measures are not mutually exclusive. Increased income, for instance, allows families to keep children in school rather than demand that they act as day laborers to help out the family. Keeping the children in school, in turn, not only improves the students' education attainment, but their physical growth as well; school breakfasts are an essential, nutritious part of their day.

Height and weight

(annual data, beginning in 2002)

Although many of the children suffer from stunted growth due to malnutrition, the BRP's efforts began to make a statistically significant difference in the children's growth by 2005. In 2002, the mean difference in height between Shan children and Thai children of similar age was 7 centimeters. By 2005, that difference had fallen to 4 cm (p<0.005). The difference in weight dropped from 5.5 Kg to 4 Kg (p<0.005).

Educational attainment and student performance

(formal quantitative annual data, beginning in 2002; qualitative data beginning in 2000)

The BRP social workers keep track of all students' grades and scores in school. In addition, they know the strengths and weaknesses of long-residing BRP community children quite well because they also taught the children in an informal school from 1999 to 2001; at this informal school, attendance hovered around 100% every day.

Since 2001, the BRP children have attended public Thai schools, where they have consistently been among the top students. Several have won regional essay contests, many receive straight As, and several have passed the entrance exams into secondary school. In contrast, 77 percent of the children's parents have never attended school.

Literacy and numeracy

(formal quinquennial census for literacy, beginning in 2002; observation data, beginning in 2000)

Approximately 90% of the BRP community's adults are illiterate, and most of the 10% who are literate cannot read and write in Thai. Therefore, it is significant that the children are all reading and writing at grade-appropriate levels. The children help their parents to navigate written instructions for medications, forms, and other paperwork. The children also teach their parents numeracy skills. Some sharecropping families, for instance, have reported that their incomes increased substantially when their children learned about fractions, so that they did not have to sell 1.5 kilos of soybeans for the price of 1 kilo.

Access to sanitation and other basic services

(formal quinquennial census, beginning in 2002; observation data, beginning in 1999)

Access to sanitation increased from 30% to 100% between 2002 and 2007. BRP efforts have also helped the community to gain access to other basic services and rights, such as safe drinking water and birth certificates.

Completion of community-driven initiatives (observation data, beginning in 2001).

At the beginning, the BRP provided the concrete and porcelain for the outhouses, while the families themselves built the outhouses; later, the families pooled funds to build additional latrines themselves. Other community-driven initiatives include access to electricity, with each household's contributions determined by their number of household appliances; counseling about family planning; making tofu for household consumption; and informal tutoring over school vacations.

Knowledge base and available resources for life decisions

(observation data, beginning in 1999)

Community members have sought the advice from the BRP social workers on issues as varied as prenatal care, child vaccinations, child discipline, family planning, the school calendar and curriculum, and negotiating at the market. With a greater knowledge base and more prospects for empowerment, community members lower their rates of medical "noncompliance" (often because they did not know how to comply with vaccination requirements, for example, or were afraid to visit the clinic) and "social pathologies" (such as gambling and alcohol/ drug abuse).

Adult self-reported health status

(formal quinquennial census, beginning in 2002)

The BRP's efforts in preventive care and funding emergency care have helped to lead to markedly higher rates of "good" or "excellent" self-reported health status, up to 96% in 2007 from 58% in 2002.

Mental health

(Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, beginning in 2007; observation data, beginning in 1999)

Using these data, the BRP provides specialized social work and counseling in peer-group bonding, self-esteem, and coping mechanisms.

Other indicators of well-being, including increasing incomes, lower mortality and morbidity, and changing norms (some indicators recorded via the formal quinquennial census, beginning in 2002; observation data, beginning in 1999).

Alongside economic well-being and lower disease rates, the BRP social workers have observed significant and sustained changes in familial expectations regarding the children's educational attainment, future career aspirations, and relations with individuals in the host Thai community.