Page Contents
Overview
Target Behavior: Healthy Eating
Intervention Type: PSE Change
Intervention Reach and Adoption
Setting: School (Learn)
Target Audience: Elementary School, Middle School
Race/Ethnicity: All
Intervention Components
Intervention Materials
- Healthy School Progress Report (a research-backed assessment tool)
- Action Plan
- School & Community Guide, and related resources.
Click the links below to download the FoodCorps Healthy School Toolkit:
Intervention Costs
Evidence Summary
FoodCorps partnered with evaluators from Columbia University to conduct an evaluation on its programming, for which one of the key goals was to revise the Healthy School Progress Report and test its validity as an evaluative tool used in schools. The results from the development of the Healthy School Progress Reports were:
- The Progress Report is an evidence-informed tool
- It has content validity. It was reviewed by experts who work in school-based nutrition education and gardening
- It is sensitive to change.
- It can be used by schools as a menu of options for programming ideas that support healthy school food environments.
Background research conducted for the Healthy School Progress Report showed that there is evidence to support the following:
- Ongoing cooking, tasting, and garden-based lessons
- Filed trips and farmer/chef visits
- School garden development and maintenance
- Salad bar and meal line design
- Taste tests
- Cafeteria role modelling
- Local sourcing and recipe development
- School-wide healthy food promotion
- Celebration, events, rewards, and snacks
- Family, staff, and community education
Evidence-based Approach: Practice-tested
Evaluation Indicators
Readiness and Capacity – Short Term (ST) | Changes – Medium Term (MT) | Effectiveness and Maintenance – Long Term (LT) | Population Results (R) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Individual | ||||
Environmental Settings | MT5 | |||
Sectors of Influence |
MT5: Nutrition Supports
- MT5a: In the FoodCorps 2018- 2019 program year, 73% of schools (203 of 278) improved their school food environment by implementing research-backed strategies in the Toolkit. Focus areas for making progress towards a better food environment in schools include:
- Knowledge (nutrition education)
- Engagement (school gardens)
- Access (school meals)
- School community (school culture)
Evaluation Materials
Additional Information
Contact Person(s):
Ashley Taylor
Director of Government Partnerships, FoodCorps
Phone: (727) 244-9989
Email: ashley.taylor@foodcorps.org
*Updated as of August 4, 2023