The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) allows high-poverty schools to offer free meals to all students regardless of household income. Conceptualizing universal meal provision as a strategy to alleviate stigma associated with school meals, we hypothesize that CEP implementation reduces the incidence of suspensions, particularly for students…

We study the private market response to the National School Lunch Program, documenting economically meaningful spillovers to non-recipients. We focus on the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), an expansion of the lunch program under the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. Under the CEP, participating schools offer free lunch to all students. We…

Background: Despite the establishment of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) in 2010, child nutrition programs continue to experience challenges impacting participation. Prior qualitative studies have explored how to reduce barriers to implementation of these programs in schools, but few studies have examined attitudes held by students, who…

Background: Despite the establishment of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) in 2010, child nutrition programs continue to experience challenges impacting participation. Prior qualitative studies have explored how to reduce barriers to implementation of these programs in schools, but few studies have examined attitudes held by students, who…

Purpose/Objectives: With the purpose of addressing childhood obesity, the U.S. Congress passed the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act (HHFKA) 2010, which strengthened the mandate and regulations for schools to develop and implement school wellness policies (SWPs) to promote students' health. Transparency and accessibility of SWPs among schools and…

Purpose/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine and discuss common challenges associated with obtaining the correct school meal benefits level from the National School Lunch and School Breakfast program application process. The findings provide insights and policy recommendations for improving school meal processes and reducing the…

Background: The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) of 2010 supported implementation of school gardens for promoting fruit and vegetable consumption. We examined school garden prevalence over time by school-level factors during the period before and after the implementation of HHFKA. Methods: Using data from the New Jersey Child Health Study,…

Background: The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides >30 million meals to children daily; however, the specific nutrient composition of NSLP-selected and consumed meals for students from lower income and racial/ethnic minoritized backgrounds is unknown. Aims: To quantify the nutrients in school lunch selection and consumption among…

In this dissertation I use modern microeconomic methods to examine the impact of K-12 education policy interventions on student outcomes. In the first chapter I explore how increased funding for school policing and sentiment surrounding school policing can have downstream effects on student discipline, and how these effects vary by student and…

The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 allows school districts to provide free meals to all students if over 40 percent of them are directly certified as free-meal eligible. While emerging evidence documents positive effects on student behavior and academics, critics worry that CEP has unintended…

Poverty has an enormous impact on children and their success in school. Children with low socioeconomic status often perform poorly in reading. Poor reading skills often lead to truancy, low rates of high school graduation, low-paying jobs, and cycles of illiteracy in generations of families. Secondary data was collected from the Tennessee…

Background: School nutrition reform continues to be of interest to many due to the potential for widespread benefits for students who eat at school. however, disparities still exist in implementing the mandates resulting from the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate middle school stakeholders'…

Background: School nutrition reform continues to be of interest to many due to the potential for widespread benefits for students who eat at school. however, disparities still exist in implementing the mandates resulting from the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate middle school stakeholders'…

This study explores parental perception of public-school meals related to the healthfulness, tastiness, cost, value, and convenience of participation in the school lunch program and its impact on student participation in the school-provided lunch program. The researcher used data collected from an online distributed survey provided to families…

An estimated 339,000 workers were employed in foodservice operations in the nation's elementary and secondary schools. While news stories often focus on so-called "lunch ladies," the school foodservice workforce encompasses employees ranging from front-line cafeteria workers to chefs and food preparation staff to administrators and…