Food, Health & Choices: Curriculum and Wellness Program Associated With Improvements in State Test Scores

Abstract

ObjectiveIt has not been well investigated whether good nutrition through nutrition education helps improve standardized test scores in school-aged children, especially low-income, minority students. This study examines of a nutrition education intervention impacts state test scores.Design, Setting and ParticipantsThe study used a pre-post, intervention-control design to compare test scores in a sample of New York City 5th-graders. Students in the five intervention schools received Food Health & Choices (FHC) curriculum (as replacement to the recommended 5th-grade science curriculum) and wellness program. FHC is based on social cognitive and self-determination theories. The five matched control schools were selected from the NYC Department of Education’s (DOE) “peer schools” which have similar student population, taking into account the schools’ location, economic need, race, language, and portion of students with special needs. Peer schools are expected to score similarly on state tests.Outcome Measures and AnalysisSchool-level Math and English test scores were publically available on the DOE database. To examine changes from pre (4th-grade) to post (5th-grade), scores were normalized to account for across state drops in scores, due to test restructuring to meet Common Core Standards. Independent T-tests examined differences in the normalized change scores between intervention and control schools.ResultsThe intervention and control groups’ z-scores for Math (0.8 vs. -0.64) and English (0.2 vs. -0.43) were significantly different (p<0.05), with schools receiving FHC scoring higher.Conclusions and ImplicationsThese findings are promising, indicating nutrition education interventions could positively impact standardized test scores. Further research is warranted.FundingNone. ObjectiveIt has not been well investigated whether good nutrition through nutrition education helps improve standardized test scores in school-aged children, especially low-income, minority students. This study examines of a nutrition education intervention impacts state test scores. It has not been well investigated whether good nutrition through nutrition education helps improve standardized test scores in school-aged children, especially low-income, minority students. This study examines of a nutrition education intervention impacts state test scores. Design, Setting and ParticipantsThe study used a pre-post, intervention-control design to compare test scores in a sample of New York City 5th-graders. Students in the five intervention schools received Food Health & Choices (FHC) curriculum (as replacement to the recommended 5th-grade science curriculum) and wellness program. FHC is based on social cognitive and self-determination theories. The five matched control schools were selected from the NYC Department of Education’s (DOE) “peer schools” which have similar student population, taking into account the schools’ location, economic need, race, language, and portion of students with special needs. Peer schools are expected to score similarly on state tests. The study used a pre-post, intervention-control design to compare test scores in a sample of New York City 5th-graders. Students in the five intervention schools received Food Health & Choices (FHC) curriculum (as replacement to the recommended 5th-grade science curriculum) and wellness program. FHC is based on social cognitive and self-determination theories. The five matched control schools were selected from the NYC Department of Education’s (DOE) “peer schools” which have similar student population, taking into account the schools’ location, economic need, race, language, and portion of students with special needs. Peer schools are expected to score similarly on state tests. Outcome Measures and AnalysisSchool-level Math and English test scores were publically available on the DOE database. To examine changes from pre (4th-grade) to post (5th-grade), scores were normalized to account for across state drops in scores, due to test restructuring to meet Common Core Standards. Independent T-tests examined differences in the normalized change scores between intervention and control schools. School-level Math and English test scores were publically available on the DOE database. To examine changes from pre (4th-grade) to post (5th-grade), scores were normalized to account for across state drops in scores, due to test restructuring to meet Common Core Standards. Independent T-tests examined differences in the normalized change scores between intervention and control schools. ResultsThe intervention and control groups’ z-scores for Math (0.8 vs. -0.64) and English (0.2 vs. -0.43) were significantly different (p<0.05), with schools receiving FHC scoring higher. The intervention and control groups’ z-scores for Math (0.8 vs. -0.64) and English (0.2 vs. -0.43) were significantly different (p<0.05), with schools receiving FHC scoring higher. Conclusions and ImplicationsThese findings are promising, indicating nutrition education interventions could positively impact standardized test scores. Further research is warranted. These findings are promising, indicating nutrition education interventions could positively impact standardized test scores. Further research is warranted.