FoodCorps Healthy School Toolkit

FoodCorps Healthy School Toolkit is designed for implementation in K-8 schools. Schools are a primary driver in young people's knowledge of, attitudes about, and access to food. By creating healthy food environments, schools can start all students on a healthy path to success. The FoodCorps Healthy School Toolkit can be used by school teams in any school setting across diverse communities and geographies to create a customized vision and action plan. The Toolkit was developed, piloted, revised, and implemented through thoughtful engagement with and feedback from our service members and partners in the field.   Settings:  Schools   Age/Population Group:  Elementary School, Middle School  Race: All Ethnicity:  All

The FoodCorps Healthy School Toolkit includes the Healthy School Progress Report and Action Plan. These intervention components provide an opportunity assessment tool and action planning guide and template that provides a framework for school teams to put in place research-backed programming and practices across three program areas (hands-on learning, healthy school meals, and school-wide culture of health) and track improvements over time to the physical, cultural, and educational environment, collectively referred to as the "school food environment." The specific activities that each school chooses to implement will vary based on the results of their Progress Report and the goals they set forth in their Action Plan.

The FoodCorps Healthy School Toolkit is a set of resources designed to take a snapshot of your current school food environment, guide your school community in creating a vision for the future, document your action plan for working toward that vision, and evaluate and celebrate your school community's history and progress over time. Included within the Toolkit are the:  Healthy School Progress Report (a research-backed assessment tool) Action Plan School & Community Guide, and related resources. Click the link below to download the FoodCorps Healthy School Toolkit:   English:  https://foodcorps.org/cms/assets/uploads/2019/11/Healthy-School-Toolkit-%E2%80%93-English-Final-11.13.19.pdf

When the FoodCorps developed the Healthy School Progress Report, they tested it with FoodCorps service members who were piloting the tool in schools. They continue to collect feedback from FoodCorps service members on an annual basis on all the tools used in the field including the FoodCorps Healthy School Toolkit along with all the components included in it such as the Healthy School Progress Report.  FoodCorps partnered with evaluators from Columbia University to conduct an evaluation on its programming, for which one of the key goals was to revise the Healthy School Progress Report and test its validity as an evaluative tool used in schools. The results from the development of the Healthy School Progress Reports were:   The Progress Report is an evidence-informed tool It has content validity. It was reviewed by experts who work in school-based nutrition education and gardening It is sensitive to change. It can be used by schools as a menu of options for programming ideas that support healthy school food environments.   Background research conducted for the Healthy School Progress Report showed that there is evidence to support the following:   Ongoing cooking, tasting, and garden-based lessons Filed trips and farmer/chef visits School garden development and maintenance Salad bar and meal line design Taste tests Cafeteria role modelling Local sourcing and recipe development School-wide healthy food promotion Celebration, events, rewards, and snacks Family, staff, and community education      Evidence Base:  Practice-tested

Based on the SNAP-Ed Evaluation Framework, the following outcome indicators can be used to evaluate intervention progress and success.   Readiness and Capacity - Short Term (ST) Changes - Medium Term (MT) Effectiveness and Maintenance - Long Term (LT) Population Results (R) Individual         Environmental Settings   MT5   Sectors of Influence       MT5: Nutrition Supports   MT5a:  In the FoodCorps 2018- 2019 program year, 73% of schools (203 of 278) improved their school food environment by implementing research-backed strategies in the Toolkit. Focus areas for making progress towards a better food environment in schools include:  Knowledge (nutrition education) Engagement (school gardens) Access (school meals) School community (school culture)

The primary performance measurement and outcome evaluation tool for the Toolkit is the Healthy School Progress Report. Healthy School Progress Report guides and measures changes in the physical and cultural practices that are shown to influence what kids eat within in the school environment. The Healthy School Progress Report is included in the Healthy School Toolkit.

Website:  The FoodCorps Healthy School Toolkit website, www.foodcorps.org ,  includes program resources and materials as well as more about the impact and vision of the intervention.    Contact Person(s): Ashley Taylor Director of Government Partnerships, FoodCorps Phone: (727) 244-9989 Email: ashley.taylor@foodcorps.org       *Updated as of August 4, 2023