The Child Nutrition Program Operations Study II (CN-OPS II) is a multiyear study that provides FNS with information on current state agency and school food authority policies, practices, and needs related to school nutrition service operations, financial management, meal counting, training and professional standards, food service equipment, and technology.
FNS conducted a study of the first two years of this demonstration to describe the implementation process and explore the effects on certification, participation, federal reimbursements, and state administrative costs. This report presents the findings from the first year of the demonstration evaluation, school year 2016–17.
The Evaluation of the School Meal Data Collection Process study describes and evaluates the methodologies and processes used by schools, school food authorities and state agencies to collect and report data on three FNS forms used for the federal school meal programs: the Report of School Program Operations (FNS-10), the SFA Verification Collection Report (FNS-742), and the State Agency Direct Certification Rate Data Element Report (FNS-834). In addition to describing the processes, the study identifies potential sources of error when completing the three forms and provides useful practices and recommendations for improving data collection processes.
The Child Nutrition Reporting Burden Analysis Study was commissioned by FNS in response to a legislative requirement of House Report 114-531. The study examined challenges faced by SAs and SFAs related to child nutrition program administrative and reporting requirements and identifying those that contribute most to the workload for SAs and SFAs that operate CN programs.
This study was designed to provide information on (1) the market availability of foods that meet the sodium standards for school meal programs set by regulation in 2012, (2) the strategies most often used by schools that have met the sodium targets, and (3) the technical assistance needs of schools and districts working to develop lower sodium menus.
This is the fifth in a series of annual reports that examines administrative error incurred during the local educational agency’s (LEA) approval process of applications for free and reduced-price meals in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP).
This report responds to the legislative requirement of PL 110-246 to assess the effectiveness of state and local efforts to directly certify children for free school meals. Under direct certification, children are determined eligible for free school meals without the need for household applications by using data from other means-tested programs.
To ensure program integrity, school districts must sample household applications certified for free or reduced-price meals, contact the households, and verify eligibility. This process (known as household verification) can be burdensome for both school officials and households. Direct verification uses information from certain other means-tested programs to verify eligibility without contacting applicants. Potential benefits include: less burden for households, less work for school officials, and fewer students with school meal benefits terminated because of nonresponse to verification requests.
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.
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.