A nutrition knowledge test for elementary school teachers

Abstract

A test was designed to assess the nutrition knowledge of preservice and inservice elementary school teachers. The test is comprised of two parts. The first calls for true or false answers with degree-of-certainty responses. The second requires the reading of selected short paragraphs from lay literature on nutrition. The respondent must then choose from one of several true or false answers, each of which includes a reason for the particular selection. Data from the initial use of this test suggest that it discriminates between groups already knowledgeable in nutrition and those who are not and that it further measures different levels of nutrition knowledge. The results are viewed as modest but promising. Work is continuing to evaluate this test, intended to be a useful tool in diagnosis of needs for preservice and inservice teacher-training programs in nutrition.