Our Current and Previous Projects

SCALES: Supporting Community Agriculture and Local Education Systems (2023 to 2028)

We are just getting started with Project SCALES! For more information, please see the project page.

RK-12: Rural Schools Research

RK-12 was supported by a $5.7 million grant from the National Institute of Justice. The project tested strategies to meet the needs of rural schools for implementing educational best-practices. We conducted a randomized controlled trial with 40 rural Idaho schools. Schools received standard training for implementing Schoolwide Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (SWPBIS), or training plus additional supports.

School Nutrition Research (ongoing)

With funding from a variety of sponsors (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, USDA, and others), we are continuing a series of studies examining factors associated with school meal participation, including school breakfast and lunch programs. These programs play a huge role in providing nutritious foods and reducing food insecurity for millions of children and adolescents across the country, but many disparities exist in student participation. We study the impact of programs such as summer meals programs, the Community Eligibility Provision, and state-level efforts to expand or continue policies to provide Healthy School Meals for All (HSMFA) through various funding provisions. In addition, we are exploring the ways that school nutrition programs support academic outcomes such as attendance and test scores, as well as student behavior, and physical and mental health.

WIRES: Wellness in Rural Education Systems (2019 to 2021)

With funding from the Healthy Eating Research program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, we conducted a mixed method study with national surveys and follow-up interviews in school systems across the US. A particular focus was to understand the needs and strengths of school food systems in rural locations. Conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, we also gathered data about how the rapid efforts to address food insecurity during the pandemic period impacted school nutrition programs, and how educators mobilized rapidly to meet community needs.

PACE: Physically Active Classrooms Energize! (2015 to 2019)

With funding from the Institute of Education Sciences, we spent five years studying the implementation of activity breaks in elementary school classrooms. In collaboration with local schools and teachers, we were able to learn more about how teachers use brief breaks during the school day to help their students stay on-task and focused on learning. We also developed and tested supports to help teachers incorporate these techniques into their classrooms.

School Wellness Policies and Practices (2008 to 2016)

Lindsey was a co-investigator on Bridging the Gap, a large ongoing project funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The project examined how policies impact children’s health, and Lindsey’s work focused on examining how schools implement local wellness policies (developed at the school district level), as well as state laws and national policies relevant to school health. Research from Bridging the Gap has provided ongoing contributions to the national discussions around revisions to federal school meal standards, and Lindsey’s work documented widespread improvements in school lunches, which have resulted in healthier meals for millions of elementary school children. Lindsey was also a co-investigator on a continuation project, the National Wellness Policy Study (2017 to 2020), supported by a cooperative agreement from the USDA.

Physical Activity and Academic Achievement (2018 to 2022)

Lindsey and Hannah were co-investigators on a study with collaborators at Emory University and HealthMPowers. Through a randomized controlled trial with 40 elementary schools in Georgia, the project examined physical activity at school and students’ academic outcomes.

Promise Partnerships – The Transforming Communities Initiative (2016 to 2020)

This community collaboration was funded by Trinity Health and Saint Alphonsus Health System, and coordinated by the United Way of Treasure Valley. In the Treasure Valley (Boise, Nampa, and Caldwell, ID), the project builds collaborative and innovative partnerships to improve the social determinants of health. Local work focused on community schools, school wellness, policies to support breastfeeding, active transportation and safe walking/biking, and supporting a state law to increase the age limit for purchasing tobacco from 18 to 21.