A FIVE-YEAR IMPACT REPORT
This group is important to help facilitate coordination within our food system. Our top priority is to connect family farms with local community members that need wholesome, safe, and affordable food products that they can easily access in their neighborhoods.” – Michael T. Scuse, Delaware Secretary of Agriculture.
Results
This report summarizes the Council’s role and impact during its first five years and outlines priorities for the next five. The Council will continue its focus on food supply chain initiatives, prioritizing local & state infrastructure, resource integration & partnerships, and coordinating data to inform decisions.
Purpose
In this study, we investigated the effects of a schoolwide program, Bookworms K-5 Reading and Writing, on student achievement.
Method
The study included seven cohorts of students (N = 8,806) in grades 2–5 in 17 elementary schools across three school years. We used a comparative interrupted time-series design, conducting multilevel growth curve models of Measures of Academic Progress reading scores with up to 10 data points per student. By modeling each student’s growth curve, including a time by treatment interaction term, we were able to estimate the change in students’ achievement trajectories corresponding to the implementation of Bookworms.
Results
Results confirm a significant positive impact of Bookworms on
achievement, with gains compounding over time and producing an overall
standardized effect size of .26 by the end of 5th grade. Students who began
third grade with relatively weaker achievement experienced more growth
than those with average achievement, and those with average achievement
experienced more growth than those with the highest achievement.
Documenting Changing Food Prices in New Providence Bahamas 2017-2023
The objective of this study was to compare differences in food availability and food prices between 2017 & 2023, a 5-year span of time, inclusive of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study collected primary data directly from stores, in New Providence, Bahamas. Findings from our study reveal significant increases in the cost of all food items, except for pigeon peas, which remained stable, and sugar, which experienced a decline in price. Previous research has consistently demonstrated that rising food prices have a substantial impact on consumers’ perceptions, lifestyles, and consumption patterns. As a result, many individuals are forced to make compromises in their food choices to adapt to these price increases (Karpyn et al., 2021). These compromises in consumption patterns have far-reaching consequences, particularly for socially and economically marginalized families. For some households, these compromises have led to health crises, increased levels of hunger and malnutrition (Cordero-Ahiman et al., 2018), poor academic performance (Weaver et al., 2020), and low school attendance (Tamiru & Belachew, 2017), among other challenges.
Definitions Brief FINAL
The purpose of this document, which is developed as one component of a larger Colonial Academic Alliance IN/CO Grant Program (PI: Mathew Gendle), is to lend clarity on definitions related to community engagement as one component of the grant entitled “Preparing Students and Institutions to Engage in Community-Based Learning.” We have provided examples of critical terms, including civic engagement, community engagement, outreach, community outreach, academic service learning, service learning, community-engaged teaching and learning, community-engaged research and creative activities, community-based research, community-engaged services and practices, community-engaged commercialized activities, and volunteerism. A model depicting the relationship between terms is also provided. As part of this work, we have critically reviewed definitions from working documents and leading organizations Definitions were determined after a thorough review of literature, including sources from Campus Compact, the Carnegie Foundation’s Community Engagement Classification, the Kellogg Foundation, the Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Principles of Community Engagement, and University partner internal documents.
SevaTruck is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to reducing hunger in
communities by serving free, nutritious, warm meals to children attending Title I
Schools, as well as surrounding community events in the DC Metro area. SevaTruck,
which was founded in 2015, partners with schools, community centers, food banks, and
other organizations to distribute tens of thousands of hot and healthy meals throughout
Fairfax County each year. SevaTruck aims to create opportunities for health equity by
improving diet, reducing food insecurity, and improving the sense of well-being; supporting
the school environment and conditions that promote healthy eating; improving
opportunities for educational equity; and strengthening community connections and
opportunities for social engagement.
Through funding from the Inova Health Equity Grant for the 2022-2023 period,
SevaTruck increased its services at an existing school, Braddock Elementary.
School. Additionally, SevaTruck expanded its reach to an additional DC Metro.
Area school, Sleepy Hollow Elementary School.
Read the report below:
SevaTruck Final Report
Vanesa Simon of Mariposa Arts launched the “Healing Through the Arts” program with the
help of the Delaware Art Museum in 2017, which seeks to use art to help community
members from diverse experiences and backgrounds to experience healing. Currently, the
program delivers art experiences through 12 partners in greater Wilmington. The program
works with a variety of groups, including those experiencing cancer treatment, those who
have served in the military, or youth exposed to violence or other traumatic events. The
University of Delaware CRESP served as an external evaluator for the project during the
2022-2023 year with funding from the University of Delaware / Jessie Ball duPont Fund
Partnership in Arts & Culture Program.
Read the report below:
Delaware Healing Through Mariposa Arts
Pandemic-Era WIC Participation in Wilmington, Delaware: Participants’ Experiences and Challenges
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) participants
faced unprecedented challenges during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic
including financial concerns, a national infant formula shortage, and rising food costs. To mitigate
these challenges, the United States Department of Agriculture implemented WIC program waivers
and flexibilities aiming to simplify program operations (e.g., remote appointments and food package
substitutions). However, little is known about WIC participants’ perceptions of these changes and
their impact on in-store benefit redemption.
This review identifies intervention strategies implemented within U.S. grocery retail stores
that are effective in improving the healthfulness of shoppers’ food and beverage purchasing
and consumption. Results from our review demonstrate that nutritional scoring and
nutritional messaging were the most rigorously tested and effective interventions. Additionally,
simple interventions yield the most successful results and minimize shopper burden.
Summary of Findings:
This report represents a partnership across University of Delaware departments, including the Center for Research in Education and Social Policy (CRESP) in the College of Education; the Institute for Public Administration in the Biden School of Public Policy and Administration; and Behavioral Health and Nutrition in the College of Health Sciences.
Innovative Title III Senior Healthcare Program: Year 3 Final Report
