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ERIC Number: EJ1308687
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 7
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0897-5264
EISSN: N/A
Food for Thought: Assessing the Experimental Impact of Providing Food Prior to Placement Testing at a Community College
Broton, Katharine M.; Katsumoto, Shinji; Monaghan, David B.
Journal of College Student Development, v62 n3 p356-362 May-Jun 2021
Recent evidence indicates that approximately half of community college students are food insecure, indicating reductions in the quality or quantity of their diets due to resource constraints (Goldrick-Rab et al., 2019). In K-12 and higher education settings, food insecurity and hunger are associated with lower levels of academic achievement and attainment (e.g., Henry, 2020; Maroto et al., 2015). The reciprocal and reinforcing relationships between food insecurity and poor physical and mental health can create a negative feedback loop impeding students' ability to reach their full potential which undermines investments in higher education (Cutler & Lleras-Muney, 2006). Concerned about students' well-being and institutional success, thousands of higher education leaders and practitioners are establishing initiatives like campus food pantries, meal voucher programs, and emergency aid programs to help students meet their basic needs (Broton & Cady, 2020). These interventions are based on human development theory and prior empirical evidence showing that providing K-12 students with food tends to improve student academic performance, including on standardized tests (e.g., Frisvold, 2015; Mahoney et al., 2005; Maslow, 1943; Ptomey et al., 2016). However although the intuition of providing food to those who are hungry seems straightforward enough, several rigorous studies do not provide any evidence-- likely due to contextual and implementation factors--that food programs improved students' academic performance (McEwan, 2013; Widenhorn-Muller et al., 2008). In this article, the authors investigated the experimental impact of a Food for Thought initiative at a community college in which a random sample of students were offered food prior to their placement testing session. They compared the test results of those who were offered food to those who were not (i.e., completed the placement tests in a "business as usual" setting). Their analyses does not provide any evidence that the intervention impacted students' math, reading, or English placement test results. [Note: The page range (356-361) on the website is incorrect. The correct page range is p356-362.]
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Two Year Colleges
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: ACCUPLACER
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A