Out-of-school time (OST) programs serve youth from diverse demographic backgrounds. OST programs, whose informal settings provide opportunities for experiential learning, can address this problem by implementing nutrition and food-preparation programming to improve participants' dietary knowledge and behaviors. In this article, the authors…

School-university partnerships (SUPs) have been used for decades to address a variety of university and k-12 school needs, including teacher training and research (Allen et al., 2013; Bebas, 2016; Walsh & Backe, 2013). While beneficial, their use in other areas such as school-based mental health services have largely been neglected.…

Background: Schools of low socioeconomic status (SES) tend to sell fewer healthy competitive foods/beverages. This study examined whether state competitive food laws may reduce such disparities. Methods: School administrators for fifth- and eighth grade reported foods and beverages sold in school. Index measures of the food/beverage environments…

Childhood obesity is emerging as a considerable public health problem with no clear antidote. The school food environment is a potential intervention point for policy makers, with competitive food and beverage regulation as a possible policy lever. This research examines the link between competitive food and beverage availability in school and…

Purpose/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of coordinated in-classroom education and taste-testing activities on fruit and vegetable acceptance in a state-wide sample of third through sixth grade children. Methods: Two taste-testing sessions were a part of six nutrition lessons that were implemented in nine elementary…

In this article, the authors describe how they used student's complaints about limited salad choices in the cafeteria as the focus of a class project. Following steps of the Project Citizen protocol of the Center for Civic Education, the authors facilitated students' efforts, which included researching the problem, talking with adult…

Background: The purpose of this study was to assess the school breakfast environment in rural Appalachian schools to inform school environment intervention and policy change. Methods: A total of 4 rural schools with fourth- and fifth-grade students in East Tennessee were assessed. A cross-sectional descriptive examination of the school food…

This report describes statistical indicators developed by the Council of the Great City Schools and its member districts to measure big-city school performance on a range of operational functions in business, finance, human resources and technology. The report also presents data city-by-city on those indicators. This is the second time that…