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Session Submission Summary

Hungry Minds: Evaluation of School Feeding and Literacy Interventions

Sun, February 19, 8:00 to 9:30am EST (8:00 to 9:30am EST), Grand Hyatt Washington, Floor: Constitution Level (3B), Constitution D

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

This session synthesizes current work to uncover the benefits of school feeding and literacy programming by examining US Department of Agriculture’s McGovern-Dole (MGD) International Food for Education and Child Nutrition programming in four distinct contexts (Guinea-Bissau, Lao PDR, Liberia, Sierra Leone). Each paper employs distinct methodologies based on the varying country and programmatic contexts to measure the impacts of McGovern-Dole programs on children’s health, nutrition, and literacy outcomes.
Author Debnam presents results from the baseline performance evaluation of the MeREECE MGD program in Guinea-Bissau using a non-experimental design. She finds low levels of student performance prior to program implementation. Similarly, authors Molotsky and Ring exploit a mixed-method design for the baseline performance evaluation of the PALAM/A MGD program in Sri Lanka. They likewise find relatively low levels of student performance and high levels of hunger among students before program implementation. Authors Gulemetova, Balakrishnan, and Zaas examine the midterm impacts of the LEARN MGD program in Liberia using an experimental design. They find that the school feeding program led to significant improvements in key literacy subskills for students in the treatment group, particularly for letter recognition and reading comprehension. They further find evidence of increased knowledge and practice related to proper handwashing in beneficiaries, and suggestive evidence of increased attendance and learning. Lastly, Laesecke and Debnam exploit a non-experimental design to assess the progress of the APFL against key program indicators. While the program did not produce noticeable improvements in students’ literacy knowledge at midline, the team found increases in knowledge and behaviors around infant and young child feeding, health and hygiene, and safe food preparation practices. In addition, there was statistically significant improvement in school infrastructure, distribution of medication, and the proportion of pupils who were not hungry during the school day.
When taken together, the papers constituting this panel illustrate the importance and promise of cross-disciplinary interventions to combat the worldwide learning crisis which is exacerbated by natural disasters which lead to further incidences of food insecurity. The panel’s chief objective is to highlight how programs which target multiple barriers to children’s learning through health, nutrition, and literacy programming simultaneously may be better suited to improve learning outcomes than single discipline interventions.

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