Pasta is a popular grain food served as an entree or side dish in both home and away-from-home settings. In schools, pasta is served less frequently than other entrees. Pasta, especially whole-grain pasta, offers an opportunity to incorporate less expensive, nutritious, and versatile dishes into school meals. A need exists to develop whole-grain…

Guam Department of Education (GDOE) is a single unified school district consisting of grades Kindergarten through 12. Its 26 Elementary Schools, 8 Middle Schools, 5 High Schools, and an alternative school serve over 31,000 students, and is managed by the 11-member Guam Education Board (GEB). Despite the operational and financial challenges the…

For more than 20 years, Advocates for Children of New Jersey has published the Newark Kids Count Data Book, a one-stop source for child well-being data on the state's largest city. Newark Kids Count includes the latest statistics, along with five-year trend data, in the following areas: demographics, family economic security, food insecurity,…

Wisconsin is a state that values cooperation and historically has been willing to invest in providing opportunities for success. But there are troubling signs. Childhood poverty is increasing in Wisconsin faster than the national rate. It is easy to think that making substantive changes in poverty in the communities and the state is just too hard,…

This paper explores the standard traditional summer vacation model; this includes the accompanying food insecurity, loss of nutrition and the lost knowledge that must be re-taught at the beginning of each new academic year. It compares the number of academic days attended in various Industrialized Nations compared to the United States. Also,…

Serving meals and snacks at school is fraught with politics and pitfalls. While the battle rages in school cafeterias over menu choices, beverage sales, vending foods, and outright bans on what students can buy or even bring to school, there is some good news. More school districts are reducing the number of fried foods, increasing the levels of…

The obesity level and related health problems in American children have risen to the point where the Centers for Disease Control predicts the current generation may be the first to die at younger ages than their parents. Ann Cooper, a chef and long-time advocate for healthier food choices and health education for children, argues that child…

The general health of school-age children is in the national spotlight, and school lunches are falling under scrutiny. Many of the food options that schools offer seem to be contributing to the obesity problem. Schools can play a critical role in promoting healthier eating habits through their wellness policies and participation in the National…

The author has spent six years teaching high school science in Southeast Portland. It is located in the heart of the largest immigrant area in the city, and at least 80 percent of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch. Every day she witnesses how poverty and language barriers create serious challenges in her students' lives. Many students…

"The Almanac of American Education" is an easy-to-use, single-volume source designed to help users understand and compare the quality of education at the national, state, and county levels. Compiled from official U.S. government and reliable private sources, "The Almanac" contains historical and current data, insightful…

From 2009 to 2010, the Community Food Security Coalition advocated for more federal support and funding for farm-to-school programs as Congress considered reauthorizing the Child Nutrition Act. Farm-to-school initiatives aim to improve the quality and healthfulness of student meals through the inclusion of more fresh fruits and vegetables provided…

As society's novices, children are becoming more susceptible to advertisers who target them as a profitable demographic. This creates an alarming trend of obesity and exacts a considerable financial, physical and ethical toll on the community. To view obesity as concurrent with malnourishment seems counter-intuitive, this study uses Butler's…

This report takes a look at Colorado's redesigned school-funding system whose fate was decided by Coloradan voters in Fall 2013. Voters were asked to approve a $1.1 billion tax increase to finance Colorado's schools, an approval required for the funding reforms to kick in. The proposed system represented a significant step forward in the push for…

States compel children to attend school; in fact, 98% of all school-age children attend schools--irrespective of conditions. Yet the environmental conditions of decayed facilities or facilities close to hazards can damage children's health and ability to learn. At the same time, it is well documented that healthy school facilities can help…

The Indiana Commission for Higher Education's College Readiness Reports are designed to provide information on students entering college. The reports encompass the first year of college for students who graduated from high school during the previous academic year, and the College Readiness dashboard provides a closer look at longer-term outcomes…