AIM: The aim of this study was to develop and validate a questionnaire to evaluate the effectiveness of evidence-based practice (EBP) teaching. METHODS: The 152 questionnaires completed by health care professionals with a range of EBP experience were used in this study. Cronbach's alpha for the knowledge and attitude questions indicated a satisfactory level of internal consistency (i.e. >0.60). RESULTS: The discriminative validity was evidenced by a statistically significant difference in the knowledge and attitude scores of 'novices' (i.e. little or no prior EBP education) compared with 'experts' (i.e. health care professionals and academics currently teaching EBP). Moderate to good (> or =0.4) sensitivity index scores were observed for both knowledge and attitude scores as the result of comparing individuals before and after an EBP intervention. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this validation study indicate that the developed questionnaire is a satisfactory tool with which to evaluate the effectiveness of EBP teaching interventions.