1 Overview of Evaluation Indicators
Categories of Indicators Organized by Level of Influence and Evaluation Type
The following table provides an overview of key indicators that can be used to evaluate school food programs, organized by Level of Influence (based on the socio-ecological model) and Evaluation Type (outcome or process). The table is designed to help schools easily identify relevant indicators aligned with their priorities and evaluation focus. Each Level of Influence is hyperlinked to a detailed chapter later in the resource, where you’ll find a breakdown of specific tools and research associated with each indicator. These tools can support evidence-informed planning, improvement, and reporting of your program’s impact. Use this table as a starting point to explore what is measurable, where gaps in data may exist, and how you might track change over time.
| Categories of Indicators Organized by Level of Influence and Evaluation Type |
| Level of Influence |
Outcome Evaluation |
Process Evaluation |
| Individual/Personal |
Food literacy:
- Food and nutrition knowledge
- Food skills
- Food system knowledge
Health and wellbeing:
- Considering special diets/food allergies
- Food and nutrition beliefs
- Food preferences
- Mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health and well-being
- Nutrition behaviours
- Vegetable and fruit consumption
School success:
- Academic performance
- Academic motivation
- Attendance
- In-class behaviours
|
- Cultural responsiveness
- Food waste
- Program equity
- Program success
- Student connection (feeling a sense of being cared for and not stigmatized)
- Student demographics to assess reach
- Student participation and engagement
|
| Relationships |
Family:
- Family consumption of vegetables and fruit
- Family knowledge of food and nutrition
- Family nutrition behaviours
- Household food security
School staff:
- Teachers’ capacity to teach food skills
- Teachers’ consumption of vegetables and fruit
Peers:
- Peers’ consumption of vegetables and fruit
|
- Family awareness of the school food program
- Family engagement in the school food program
- Relationships including those between students and community members
- Eating context – social environment
- Program access method
- Program delivery model
|
| School Level |
- Cost of meal served per student
- Cost of serving meals
- Number of food options offered
- Sustainability of food produced
|
- Adequate time allocated for eating
- Amount of food waste produced by the school
- Institutional support and resources for food skills education
- Number of paid staff hours to run the program/ hours of staff training
- Hours/capacity of staff, volunteers, student helpers
- Quality/amount of kitchen and service equipment
- Payment models
- Program delivery (universal vs targeted)
- School/community infrastructure
- School food quality policy adherence
- Supportive eating environment
|
| Community |
The following could also be included in a process evaluation:
- Amount of local food procured
- Amount of program food budget spent on local food
- Amount of sales by local food providers
- Amount of sustainably produced foods purchased
- Cost to families
- Funding and diversity of food sources
- Job creation and satisfaction
- Sales/program engagement by underrepresented food providers
|
- Conflict of Interest safeguards
- Diversity of funding
- Food procurement sources, e.g. local, retail, caterer
- Number of community partners/volunteers involved in the school food program
- School participation
|
| Policy |
- Provincial/Territorial Investment in School Food Programs
- Adequate funding to support nutritious, local and culturally relevant foods
|
- Existence and quality of curriculum regarding various aspects of food literacy
- Existence and quality of institutional policies that support access to and consumption of healthy and culturally appropriate food in schools
- Existence and quality of local food procurement policies
- Existence and quality of procurement policies for sustainably produced food
|
