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68 CHAPTER 04: PRIORITY OUTCOMES, INDICATORS AND MEASURESThe rationale and limitations of selected indicators,outcomes and measures at the research level areoutlined below:• Indicator 1 and related outcomes and measures:Eating breakfast has long been associated withimproved ability for students to concentrate inclass 49–57 . Because student nutrition is one aspectof a child’s readiness to learn, an exploration offarm to school activities’ influence on participationin school breakfast programs is suggested. Existingliterature on farm to school has not yet examinedthe inclusion of activities during breakfast, or theirability to influence breakfast participation. This maybe worth examining further. It could prove mostuseful in determining the educational outcomesfor farm to school activities in children fromvulnerable families who may participate in schoolbreakfast on a regular basis. It should be notedthat this measure is limited by the fact that studentparticipation in any meal program is influencedby factors beyond the influence of farm to schoolactivities.• Indicator 2 and related outcomes and measures:Student engagement and active participation inactivities is an important indicator for academicsuccess. After building on the evidence for thisindicator, further research can be explored onrelated longer-term outcomes such as averagedaily attendance and chronic absenteeism. Farmto school “activity days” are a first step schoolsor early child learning settings can with farm toschool activities to establish success before theybecome more commonplace.• Indicator 3 and related outcomes and measures:Mindset is argued as a basis for the developmentof different learning strategies, supportingtenacity with challenging tasks, and is reinforcedor impeded by academic performance 14 . This isrelated to social and emotional learning that needsto be studied further in relation to farm to schoolactivities.• Indicator 4 and related outcomes and measures:Course grades predict future college successbetter than standardized achievement tests 14 .Academic mindset, engagement and learningbehaviors are precursors to general achievement,and thus research is needed to better understandwhich farm to school activities, or combinationof activities, influence student academicperformance.Research Outcome: Increase food literacy instudents and staffBuilding on efforts at the program level, this outcomeencourages external evaluators and researchers todetermine how farm to school activity affects studentand adult knowledge and skill attainment related togrowing, preparing, cooking and eating healthy, localfoods.• Indicator 5 and related measures 5.1-5.5: Representa spectrum of ways to measure food literacythrough knowledge and skills. Programs focusedon staff professional development, in addition tostudent learning, can apply these measures to bothstudents and adults. Changes in student or adultknowledge can be assessed through pre- andpost-testing in the classroom, or as part of existingtests for nutrition, health or science content. Itis suggested that program practitioners limit thenumber of surveys and tests given to students, andhence framework developers recommend thatwherever possible, questions on these topics bealigned with existing survey efforts to minimizethe burden. Data collection on these measuresmay require the services of an external evaluator,with additional financial resources and technicalsupport for sites.• Measure 5.1: Is focused on the basics of wherefood comes from and how it is grown. This contentis in the Next Generation Science Standards 47 andeducators may be able to use existing tests andhomework assignments to determine how wellstudents are learning this information. See exampleattitude survey from Wisconsin.• Measure 5.2: Extends into how food impactshealth. It can encompass nutrition or other aspectsof food.EVALUATION FOR TRANSFORMATION