Head Start's performance standards require that the nutrition programs "serve a variety of foods which consider cultural and ethnic preferences and which broaden the child's food experience" (Head Start Program Performance Standards and Other Regulations, 2006). In this study, food service modifications were made via a participatory…

The NFSMI Research Summary is a continuing series of summaries reporting recently completed research and research-based resources funded by the National Food Service Management Institute. The following research studies are summarized in this article: (1) Succession Planning for Management Level Staff in School Nutrition Programs; (2)…

Purpose: This research aims to add to the literature on Academic Optimism, a composite measure composed of teacher perceptions of trust in students, academic press, and collective efficacy by exploring a similar set of constructs from the student perceptive. The relationships between student trust in teachers, student perceptions of academic…

This study looks at publicly available data on the proportion of pupils eligible and claiming for free school meals (FSM) in the top 500 comprehensive state schools and at how representative they are of their localities and of their school type. We have looked at the top 500 when measured by five good GCSEs including English and Maths and at the…

Previous research, over a decade old, suggests students attending alternative high schools (AHS) engage in high levels of health-risk behaviors. Data from the 2007 Minnesota Student Survey for students attending AHS ("n" = 2,847) and traditional high schools (THS; "n" = 87,468) were used for this cross-sectional analysis to…

Purpose/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of various school personnel who are key participants in child nutrition and wellness regarding the sustainability and use of school gardens. Methods: A convenience sample of staff from schools with school gardens across the United States was established, consisting of:…

This report responds to the legislative requirement of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (P.L.110-246) to assess the effectiveness of State and local efforts to directly certify children for free school meals under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Direct certification is a process conducted by the States and by local…

This report responds to the requirement of Public Law 110-246 to assess the effectiveness of State and local efforts to directly certify children for free school meals. Direct certification is a process conducted by the States and by local educational agencies (LEAs) to certify eligible children for free meals without the need for household…

As with most things in life, managing student meal charges is all about balance. To be successful, the program needs to include a fair and reasonable policy, to serve nutritious and flavorful meals, and to include students as active stakeholders in the program. A plan that acknowledges simple forgetfulness, explains expectations of all…

This study examined the relationship between nonmainstream American English (NMAE) dialect use and various emergent literacy skills among typically developing children in prekindergarten. Correlation and regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between children's production of NMAE forms (i.e., dialect variation [DVAR]) and their…

When lotteries are infeasible, researchers must rely on observational methods to estimate charter effectiveness at raising student test scores. Considerable attention has been paid to observational studies by the Stanford Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO), which have analyzed charter performance in 27 states. However, the…

This study investigated the effects that critical literacy instruction had on comprehension in a seventh grade reading class. Numerous studies have examined critical literacy instruction in the classroom, as well as effective methods of comprehension instruction; however, few studies have combined these two lines of inquiry. Therefore, the purpose…

As charter school waitlists around the United States continue to grow, it is important to analyze the factors that are possibly attracting parents away from the traditional public school setting and into the charter school system. Using waitlist data from Pennsylvania to proxy for parental valuation, the article examines numerous factors that…

SAT participation and performance are milestones on the path to college and career readiness. This report provides the results for SAT participation and performance in Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools (MCPS) for the class of 2014. Analysis of postsecondary outcomes for MCPS graduates indicates that graduates who took the SAT were more…

Educators need clear, actionable data to help them understand students' current levels of performance and students' probable trajectory toward college-and career-readiness in math if they are to make informed programmatic decisions to shape that trajectory. This study explored the relation between CBM-math in Grade 7 as a one-point, teacher…