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Resource | Research and Data | Assessing/Improving Operations Regional Office Review of Applications for School Meals 2013

The study generates national estimates of administrative error in eligibility determinations and benefit issuance for free or reduced-price school meals.  For school year 2012-2013, local education agencies correctly certified 96.4% of students who applied for meal benefits.  LEAs assigned the correct free, reduced-price, or paid status to a slightly smaller 96.2% of students. 

08/27/2014
Resource | Research and Data | Assessing/Improving Operations School Foodservice Indirect Cost Study

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act directed USDA to study the extent to which school food authorities  participating in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs pay indirect costs to local education agencies. It specifically requested an assessment of the methodologies used to establish indirect costs, the types and amounts of indirect costs that are charged and not charged to the school foodservice account, and the types and amounts of indirect costs recovered by LEAs.

03/31/2014
Resource | Research and Data | Impacts/Evaluations Community Eligibility Provision Evaluation

Under the Community Eligibility Provision, schools do not collect or process meal applications for free and reduced-price meals served in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program. Schools must serve all meals at no cost with any costs in excess of the federal reimbursement paid from non-federal sources. 

02/25/2014
Resource | Research and Data | Assessing/Improving Operations Developing and Evaluating Methods for Using American Community Survey Data to Support the School Meals Programs

This is a report of the National Academies' National Research Council, Committee on National Statistics. It is available here by permission. It may also be obtained through the National Research Council's website. An earlier, prepublication version was made available in May 2010, but should no longer be used.

09/17/2010
Resource | Research and Data | Assessing/Improving Operations Selecting Policy Indicators And Developing Simulation Models for the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs

The third School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study provides the most comprehensive measurement available of: (a) the nutritional quality of reimbursable meals served in the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs, (b) the nutritional quality of the breakfasts and lunches consumed by children who participate in these programs, and (c) student participation rates. The study data enable analyses of school meal policies that were not previously possible. This report describes exploratory work to develop a simulation model to predict the potential implications of changes that may be coming in policies and practices related to school meals and school food environments.

06/25/2010
Resource | Research and Data | Assessing/Improving Operations Analysis of Verification Summary Data SY 2007-08

This report summarizes the results of the school year 2007-08 application verification process for the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program. 

10/20/2009
Resource | Research and Data | Demonstrations Evaluation of the School Breakfast Program Pilot Project: Findings from the First Year of Implementation

The aim of this pilot is to study the impact of the availability of universal-free school breakfast on breakfast participation and measures related to students’ nutritional status and academic performance. This pilot is not intended to evaluate the current SBP or the value of consuming breakfast.

10/01/2002
Resource | Research and Data | Assessing/Improving Operations School Meals Initiative Implementation Study: Third Year Report

Research conducted in the early 1990s indicated that school meals, on balance, were failing to meet certain key nutritional goals. In light of these findings, the USDA launched a far-reaching reform of the school meals programs, a reform aimed at upgrading the nutritional content of school meals. Several elements of this reform are collectively referred to as the School Meals Initiative for Healthy Children (SMI). The status of this initiative, together with an examination of selected operational issues of these programs, are the principal subjects of this report.

06/01/2002
Resource | Research and Data | Assessing/Improving Operations School Meals Initiative Implementation Study: First Year Report

The National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program are central parts of a national policy designed to safeguard the nutritional well-being of the Nation’s children. Despite the progress that has been achieved over the years in enhancing the quality of school meals, results of research conducted in the early 1990s indicated that school meals, on balance, were not meeting certain key nutritional goals. 

11/01/2000
Page updated: May 22, 2025