Assessing the Technology Divide in Education: A Survey of State Laws Nationwide

The purpose of this fact sheet is to identify state laws related to technology plans, internet and equipment accessibility, professional development for school staff, and the introduction of virtual school days at the start of the 2021-2022 school year. This fact sheet will also highlight some key pieces of legislation aimed at addressing existing shortcomings in some states’ laws

Preparing for a return to the classroom: The current status of school vaccination laws as states anticipate a COVID-19 vaccine rollout for children

This fact sheet summarizes the extent to which state laws currently address mandated school vaccinations, exemption policies, and plans for modifications and updates and discusses the potential relevance moving forward for COVID-19 vaccination-related requirements for schools.</p

School is in session: An update to the current status of school vaccination laws as COVID-19 vaccines become available to more school-aged children

State laws governing vaccination of school-aged children and their implications for COVID-19 vaccination

Distribution of volume sold of calorically and noncalorically sweetened beverages: evidence from two U.S. cities

To better understand the extent to which beverages with noncaloric sweeteners are purchased and to what extent they are sweetened with natural substitutes or artificially, this brief describes the volume sold of SSBs and NSBs by sweetener status, based on retail scanner data for Oakland, California, and Sacramento, California, from June 26, 2016 through June 24, 2017

Food and Beverage Environments at Store Checkouts in California: Mostly Unhealthy Products.

BackgroundAs the only place in a store where customers must pass through, checkouts may be especially influential over purchases. Research is needed to understand the healthfulness of checkout environments.ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to classify checkout product facings in California food stores.MethodsIn a cross-sectional study, 102 stores, including chains (dollar stores, drugstores, specialty food stores, supermarkets, and mass merchandisers) and independent supermarkets and grocery stores were sampled from 4 northern California cities. Observational assessments of each checkout product facing were conducted in February 2021 using the Store CheckOUt Tool. Facings were classified by category and healthfulness, defined by meeting Berkeley's Healthy Checkout Ordinance's healthy checkout standards: unsweetened beverages and specific foods containing ≤5 g added sugar and ≤200 mg sodium per serving. Log binomial regressions compared healthfulness by store and checkout characteristics.ResultsOf 26,758 food and beverage checkout facings, the most common categories were candy (31%), gum (18%), sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs; 11%), salty snacks (9%), mints (7%), and sweets (6%). Water represented only 3% and fruits and vegetables 1% of these facings. Only 30% of food and beverage facings met Berkeley's healthy checkout standards, with 70% not meeting the standards. The percentage of food and beverage facings not meeting the standards was even higher (89%) among snack-sized packages (≤2 servings/package). Compared with chain supermarkets, mass merchandisers, and specialty food stores (34%-36%), dollar and independent grocery stores had a lower percentage of food and beverage facings that met the healthy checkout standards (18%-20%; P &lt; 0.05). Compared with lane and register areas (35%), endcaps and snaking sections within checkouts had fewer food and beverage facings that met the standards (21%-23%; P &lt; 0.001).ConclusionsMost foods and beverages at checkout consisted of candy, SSBs, salty snacks, and sweets and failed to meet the healthy checkout standards.Curr Dev Nutr 2023;xx:xx

Facilitating Fresh: State Laws Supporting School Gardens are Associated with Use of Garden-Grown Produce in School Nutrition Services Programs

Objective: To examine whether state laws are associated with the presence of school gardens and the use of garden-grown produce in school nutrition services programs. Design: Nationally representative data from the School Health Policies and Practices Study 2014 were combined with objectively coded state law data regarding school gardens. Main Outcome Measures: Outcomes were: (1) the presence of a school garden at each school (n = 419 schools), and (2) the use of garden-grown items in the school nutrition services program. Analysis: Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine each outcome. Contextual covariates included school level, size, locale, US Census region, student race/ethnic composition, and percentage of students eligible for free and reduced-priced meals. Results: State law was not significantly associated with whether schools had a garden, but it was associated with whether schools used garden-grown items in nutrition services programs (odds ratio, 4.21; P \u3c .05). Adjusted prevalence of using garden-grown items in nutrition services programs was 15.4% among schools in states with a supportive law, vs 4.4% among schools in states with no law. Conclusions and Implications: State laws that support school gardens may facilitate the use of garden-grown items in school nutrition service programs. Additional research is needed regarding the types of messaging that might be most effective for motivating school administrators to appreciate the value of school gardens. In addition, another area for further research pertains to scaling garden programs for broader reach

School District Wellness Policies: Evaluating Progress and Potential for Improving Children’s Health Eight Years after the Federal Mandate. School Years 2006-07 through 2013-14.

This report updates data published in February 2013, and is the most comprehensive, ongoing, nationwide evaluation of written school district wellness policies. It includes data from school years 2006-07 through 2013-14, the first eight years following the required implementation date for wellness policies. Using a nationally representative sample of school districts, this report provides details about the characteristics of these districts as well as the individual components of wellness policies and related provisions. New to this report are data that evaluate the comprehensiveness and strength of wellness policies across all policy categories based on district characteristic. Comprehensiveness and strength scores were computed on a scale of 0 to 100. A comprehensiveness score of 100 indicates that all items for a given topic were addressed, while a strength score of 100 indicates that all items for a given topic were required