Designs for Measuring How the School Breakfast Program Affects Learning.

摘要

This report describes a study design permitting a scientifically defensible evaluation of the impact of the School Breakfast Program (SBP) on learning and cognitive development among children. Following presentation of a literature review and conceptual framework of the SBPlearning relationship, four alternative designs for measuring this relationship are proposed and assessed, including: (1) the design for an experimental evaluation of the impact of the universal- free SBP; (2) an experimental design involving random assignment of classrooms into the SBP among schools applying to participate in the program for the first time; (3) a nonexperimental design involving analysis of Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS) data; and (4) a nonexperimental design involving analysis of forthcoming National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data. Among these alternatives, the ECLS-based design (with supplemental analysis of 1988-1994 NHANES III data) was selected as most promising, and the report presents further details concerning this design.