Background: Incorporating scratch-cooked, organic, and locally grown foods into school meal programs can enhance meal quality and support local food systems. Methods: 430 California school food authorities were surveyed to (1) evaluate their use of scratch-cooked, organic, and locally grown foods in their programs; (2) identify demographic and…

Chronic absenteeism rates have become an increasing problem after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic (U.S Department of Education, 2022). There is a need to identify interventions to effectively target the heightened rates of student absences. This study examined the effectiveness of the Dine and Doodle intervention in increasing attendance in a…

Congressional Republicans are reportedly considering spending cuts to balance the cost of extending the tax cuts they enacted in 2017. One proposal is to raise the eligibility threshold for the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which lets schools provide federally reimbursed free meals to all students. This change would cut the number of…

Background: Children residing in households with very low food sufficiency (VLFS), where there is "often" not enough to eat, are more likely to experience academic, health, and psychological challenges. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a temporary universal free school meals (UFSM) policy was implemented, improving food access for children…

This report investigates the link between different 5 percentage point bandings of attendance and attainment for pupils at the end of Key Stage 2 (KS2) and Key Stage 4 (KS4) in state-funded mainstream schools in 2022/23. Absence from school is not the only factor that is likely to affect a pupil's level of attainment. There are a range of pupil,…

Educational inequality and mathematics achievement have been long-term concerns in England. However, most studies of inequalities focus on achievement across multiple-subjects, and studies of mathematics achievement gaps tend to look at a single test in a single year. This study provides an overview of mathematics achievement gaps in the last 13…

Creating a culture of argumentation in the science classroom requires adequate argumentation competence among future teachers. This study analyzes the impact of instruction based on a validated learning progression on the argumentation competence of preservice elementary science teachers. The focus for the instructional module was the…

Purpose/Objectives: Explore principal, foodservice staff, and parent perceptions of implementing reusable serviceware in elementary school lunch settings. Methods: Cross-sectional qualitative study conducted May-June 2024 in one California school district which recently transitioned to reusable serviceware. School staff (n=19) participated in…

Background: School meals were served free of charge to all public school students in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic, but some students still did not participate. Methods: In this mixed-methods study, surveys and interviews were conducted with food service directors (FSDs) from California (n = 556 surveys; n = 29 interviews) and…

Free school meal access has become increasingly intertwined with federal social safety net programs--including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)--to reduce duplicative paperwork for schools. The changes to SNAP that House Republicans have proposed would have downstream effects on free school meal access. The proposed changes to…

Direct certification has been described by policymakers and academics as a tool which may replace National School Lunch Program (NSLP) eligibility data (Douglas Geverdt, National Center for Education Statistics, personal communication, August 28, 2023). It suggests a policy future in which we change the metric of how we identify disadvantage. On…

As the sustainability imperative looms, mainstream educational research in the English-speaking world continues a long tradition of failing to see food as integral to education. Japan's tradition of "Shokuiku" (food education) stands in stark contrast, providing an external reference point to direct critical attention on Anglo-American…

As the COVID-19 crisis disrupted schooling, recovery efforts in California included the adoption of Senate Bill (SB) 98, which mandated local educational agencies to complete Learning Continuity and Attendance Plans (LCPs). These plans act as critical snapshots of sensemaking and local policy implementation during crisis; however, their details…

Health and wellness are foundational to thriving communities, yet many Americans face barriers that impact their access to essential health education and services. This study used a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach to assess the perceived strengths and needs of health and wellness resources of rural and urban Texas…

Many educational policies hinge on the valid measurement of student economic disadvantage at the school level. Measures based on free and reduced-price lunch enrollment are used widely. However, recent research raises questions about their reliability, particularly following the introduction of universal free lunch in certain schools and…