School Wellness Policy Analysis.
Practicum Assignment #2: School Wellness Policy Analysis (5 hours of practicum)
● Background:
○ The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 and the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 requires development and implementation of a school wellness policy in school districts that participate in the National School Lunch Program and/or School Breakfast Program. In addition, school wellness policies must be evaluated every three years. Several related URLs and articles are suggested in this module’s content/resource area.
○ Students should locate a current school wellness policy from a school district in their area, and download the policy or save the URL to provide to the instructor.
● Instructions:
○ Students should develop a 4-5-page paper (approximately 1000-1250 words) that critiques the selected school wellness policy. In the paper, the students should:
Evaluate the policy for completeness and clarity versus ambiguity according to the USDA elements discussed at https://healthymeals.fns.usda.gov/local-wellness-policy-resources/school-nutrition-environment-and-wellness-resources/wellness-policy:
Nutrition education
Nutrition promotion
Physical activity
All foods available on the school campus/property
Other school-based activities
Identify 3 areas for improvement/clarification in the policy and provide specific recommendations. If the policy is considered strong, and weaknesses are not observed, students should instead identify 3 areas of strength and provide rationale.
Consider the usefulness and practicality of the school wellness policy that was evaluated. Does the policy meet the intentions of the legislation requiring school wellness policies? Why or why not?
Do NOT include information on how this has been impacted by COVID-19 as that will be included in a separate assignment.
○ An introduction and conclusion to the paper is required as well as APA format.
○ Students should submit the paper and URL/downloaded policy to the instructor via email by Sunday of week 5.
References no more than 5 years old.