Background: Education has much in common with professions that are using positive psychology and positive organizational scholarship to transform practice, yet the science behind peak human and group functioning has been slow to displace deficit-based framing of reform policies and improvement strategies in education. Purpose of the Study: This…

The purpose of this paper is to open the methods, construction and assumptions of a new performance benchmark to examination, critique, and improvement by technical experts. The paper begins with known technical questions about this new benchmark. In includes suggestions made by technical advisors. It then details the construction of the…

Since 1997, Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) 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, child health, child…

Objective: Identify disparities by race/ethnicity and obesity status in the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and other beverages among United States schoolchildren to help tailor interventions to reduce childhood obesity. Design: Secondary data analysis using beverage intake data from 24-hour dietary recalls and measured height and…

Purpose/Objectives: This study investigates the effect of meal component changes by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) on school lunch quality and consumption in elementary school students, grade 2-5 before and after the HHFKA guidelines were implemented in July 2012 using the Healthy Eating Index. Methods: In Spring 2012, before…

In Slovenia there is a unitary system of early education for all preschool-aged children. Since the vast majority of children attend full-day programmes, the daily routine represents a significant part of life for children in kindergarten. When systemic and curricular reform of preschools was introduced at the end of the twentieth century, lot of…

This report demonstrates the effects of the Arkansas Better Chance program (ABC) on late elementary and middle school outcomes. End of year assessments, which varied over the course of the study years, were examined for students of three preschool cohorts. Students included in the statewide study received free lunch all years and were enrolled in…

Section 104(a) of the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act (HHFKA) of 2010 made the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) available to Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) and schools in high poverty areas. Under the CEP, families are not required to submit applications for free or reduced-price meals, and schools must provide free lunch and breakfast to…

This report presents findings from the Access Evaluation, a study component that is designed to assess the potential impacts of direct certification-Medicaid (DC-M) on students' access to free school meals by conducting retrospective simulations of DC-M in school year 2011-2012, the year before the demonstration began. For the Access Evaluation,…

Purpose/Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the nutrient content of National School Lunch Program (NSLP) lunches and lunches brought from home (LBFH) lunches in elementary schools participating in the HealthierUS School Challenge (HUSSC). Methods: Participants included students in grades 2-5 in four Washington state HUSSC…

In 2003, when it came to contracting out for common public school services, only outsourcing food provision could be considered a rather common occurrence in Michigan. There was good reason for this: school districts are prohibited from making a profit from their cafeteria, but any deficits created in providing food for students must be covered by…

Many of Michigan's public school districts are under substantial fiscal pressures from a combination of declining enrollment and increasing costs, particularly related to employee benefits, but most districts are responding to these challenges. One of the ways that districts can stretch their resources further is through competitive contracting…

Many schools have recently adopted food policies and replaced unhealthy products by healthy foods. Consequently, adolescents are more likely to consume a healthy meal if they stay in school for lunch to eat a meal either prepared at home or purchased in school cafeterias. However, many continue to eat in nearby fast-food restaurants. The present…

The 2022 edition of the Annual Condition of Education Report (COE) marks the 33rd edition of the report. For over 30 years, the Department has published the COE in order to provide education stakeholders critical data about the status of Iowa's education system. The 2022 COE includes a wide variety of content including information about Iowa's…

Purpose/Objectives: The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 includes pulses as a required component of the school lunch menu standard. Pulses are nutritionally important staple food crops, and include dry beans, dry peas, garbanzo beans, and lentils. This current study examined the short-term effectiveness of a Science, Technology, Engineering,…