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Training Needs for School Nutrition Staff

Jessica Donze Black Stephanie Scarmo

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Setting the Stage • 2010 Child Nutrition Reauthorization

– Significant changes to workload and responsibilities at all levels of the program

– Professional standards • NET funding long gone • Significant variability in state capacity to address

training needs. • Interest in growing resources for training and TA,

but what do we need???

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Kitchen Infrastructure and Training for Schools (KITS)

Study

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KITS Study

• First-ever nationally representative, quantitative study assessing equipment, infrastructure, and training needs of school food authorities (SFAs)

• Data is representative at both the national and state level for all 50 states and the District of Columbia

• National reports on SFAs’ readiness to meet USDA’s updated meal standards and on kitchen equipment and infrastructure needs

• State equipment fact sheets

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Data Collection

• Engaged a panel of child nutrition and food service experts to develop questionnaire

• Web-based survey, self-administered by SFAs • Survey focused on SFAs perceived needs in relation to

meeting the updated lunch requirements

• Data were collected in SY 2012-13

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Data Analysis

• 3,372 SFAs completed the survey

• All data were weighted to be representative of all public SFAs

• Key findings were examined for statistically significant differences among subgroups of SFAs:

– Size – Community type – FNS region of the country – Poverty category

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Background Characteristics of Public SFAs

• Most SFAs are small – Half of all SFAs have fewer than 1,000 enrolled students

• More than half (55%) have 1 to 3 schools – Fewer large districts:

• Only 11% SFAs have 12 or more schools • Large districts (>10,000 students) make up just 7% of

SFAs, yet they serve 55% of all public school students.

• About six in ten SFAs (62%) characterize their location as rural

• SFAs are fairly evenly distributed by poverty category

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Key Findings

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Education, Credentials, and Experience of Respondents, by Position

59

29

14 13

29 25

10 8

76

7 3

11 18

27

9 1

49

10

20

3 8

12

25

3 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

On-the-JobTraining

Bachelor’s Degree in a

Related Field

AdvancedDegree in a

Related Field

Associate'sDegree in a

Related Field

School NutritionSpecialist or

SNA Certified

State FoodService

Certificate

Other RegisteredDietitian

Perc

enta

ge o

f Res

pond

ents

SFA Directors Food Service Managers All Other Respondents

Note: Multiple responses were allowed. Source: Kitchen Infrastructure and Training for Schools Survey, 2012

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Changes SFA Made/Planned to Make in Production Approach to Meet Lunch Requirements

80

55

28

6 3

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Implement StandardRecipes/Work Methods

Move to More CookingFrom Scratch

Move to Buying Ready-to-Eat Foods From

Vendors*

Other Move to CentralKitchen/Commissary or

Production Kitchen

Perc

enta

ge o

f SFA

s

Source: Kitchen Infrastructure and Training for Schools Survey, 2012. Note: Multiple responses were allowed. *This questionnaire item had a nonresponse rate of 6 percent.

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Staff Training Needs

• Survey respondents were asked to: – Report training needs for three groups of staff

• SFA directors and food management teams • Kitchen and cafeteria managers • Cooks and frontline servers

– Identify areas of training most needed to “successfully operate your school nutrition program, including implementing the new meal requirements”

• The questionnaire asked about 13 different types of training areas

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Training Needs of SFA Directors and Food Service Management Teams

Training Type Percentage of SFAs

Completing applications/paperwork for additional reimbursement and Coordinated Review Effort (CRE) reviews 68.9

Developing or modifying menus 68.2

Understanding compliance with meal pattern and nutrient requirements 62.5

Marketing and promoting the new meal requirements 61.3

Revising food purchasing specifications 58.8

Modifying and/or standardizing recipes 57.1 Source: Kitchen Infrastructure and Training for Schools Survey, 2012.

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Training Needs of Kitchen and Cafeteria Managers

Training Type Percentage of SFAs

Understanding compliance with meal pattern and nutrient requirements 67.2

Completing production records 65.1

Basic nutrition training 54.8

Modifying and/or standardizing recipes 53.8

Basic cooking skills 51.7

Source: Kitchen Infrastructure and Training for Schools Survey, 2012.

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Training Needs of Cooks and Frontline Servers

Training Type Percentage of SFAs

Understanding compliance with meal pattern and nutrient requirements 62.8

Basic cooking skills 58.4

Basic nutrition training 54.8

Basic food safety/ServSafe training 51.9

Completing production records 41.2

Source: Kitchen Infrastructure and Training for Schools Survey, 2012.

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Budget Availability and Adequacy for Staff Training and Development

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Conclusions

• SFAs across the country initially faced challenges as they worked to implement the updated meal requirements.

• A gap exists between a SFA’s perceived training needs and the available budget to cover those needs.

• These findings support the need for policymakers, including school administrators, to recognize the need for and value of training and technical assistance and consider it a priority in their continuing education planning.

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So now what?

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KSHF Recommendations

• School officials should prioritize and plan opportunities for staff development and training of school food service personnel.

• Federal, state, and local policymakers should make funds available to help school food service personnel complete staff development training.

• Nonprofit and for-profit organizations that have an interest in improving community wellness and children’s health and education should work collaboratively with schools and leverage community resources to increase and enhance training opportunities for school nutrition staff.

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But what does that mean at the local

level?

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Summer 2013 Convening

• More than 75 people from 31 states

• Food service directors, school administrators, industry representatives, nonprofit organizations, foundations and

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Challenges in Meeting Training Needs

Finding the time, tools, and financial resources to conduct meaningful trainings.

– Need training during working hours or need resources to pay for additional time.

– Generally not included in any district inservice or training plan.

Identifying qualified and appropriate trainers who take a compelling, collegial approach to teaching adults who might have varying levels of education and proficiency in English.

– Wide range of needs from technical skills to nutrition education to marketing and promotion to food safety.

Motivating staff to participate in training, embrace the content, and stay in their positions.

– Significant staff turnover

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1. Gain support of food service staff. • Modify outdated job descriptions to better incorporate and link to

trainings, and making training requirements and expectations clear to food service staff upon hiring.

• Offer incentives and affirmation for food service personnel to participate in voluntary trainings and provide greater visibility and opportunities to those who have participated in such trainings, such as advancement, offering raises and/or bonuses, selecting employees of the month, creating new titles for employees (salad bar ambassadors, team lead, etc.), and offering fun trainings (e.g., celebrity chefs, graduation ceremonies, contests).

• Engage those who are motivated and willing to be trained, thus encouraging others to follow.

• Hold staff accountable for material/skills learned in mandatory trainings.

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2. Earn buy-in from other stakeholders (administration, unions, parents, etc.)

• Explain to/Educate/Lobby administrators on why training is important and how school meal programs play an important role in the health, well-being, and academic success of students.

• “Train up” by educating administrators and policymakers on the importance of training and food service operations to their goals and bottom lines. (Use annual reports, host a session with management, create newspapers/newsletters, hold or attend regular meetings.)

• Work with the union representing food service workers to offer useful training and support services (e.g., transportation, child care) to help make training more accessible and affordable.

• Develop ways to assist customers—students and parents—in understanding changes and improvements needed and being implemented (consider incorporating into “back-to-school” night).

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3. Make training more available and accessible

• Schedule trainings based on the availability of the staff (brief trainings first thing in the morning, provide substitute staff during the school day so personnel can allocate time for training).

• Train staff in their kitchens with their equipment (rather than off-site training).

• Consider different approaches, such as “popcorn sessions”—15-minute modules—to introduce and reinforce lessons throughout the year.

• Develop and circulate training resources—especially instructional materials with images—that personnel can use as a reference between formal training sessions (e.g., training manuals, training videos, online training modules, equipment maintenance instructions, information on the latest regulations and policies, menu development or options).

• Consider peer to peer network or “buddy” programs

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4. Improve the Quality of Training Sessions • Determine training needs based on district or departmental goals. • Conduct needs assessments and consult with personnel to understand

the scope of training needed and modalities preferred for different personnel.

• Partner with other school districts to identify key training needs and to simultaneously train food service personnel.

• Identify trainers who understand the material, know how to train and motivate adults, and leave trainees feeling satisfied by the experience.

• Involve industry representatives in training (e.g., maintain and repair equipment, sharing tips on how to evaluate return on investment, adapting menus to correspond with available equipment).

• Bolster professionalism, morale, and confidence by offering trainings on topics such as communications, cultural differences, conflict resolution, marketing, advocacy, customer service, and financial management.

• Analyze which trainings provide the biggest return on investment and change as needed.

•

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5. Network with Community • Leverage community for trainers, locations, financial

support. • Hospitals/clinics: Dietitians and pediatricians to teach

nutrition, child health, and help staff understand the critical importance of their work.

• Universities/community colleges: interns, graduate students, professors in nutrition, restaurant management, marketing, PR, business management.

• Chefs: “Chefs move to Schools” or other basic skill building for staff and students.

• USDA Extension • Non-profit organizations

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Resources to Explore

• The Institute of Child Nutrition (formerly National Foodservice Management Institute) http://www.nfsmi.org/

• The Alliance for a Healthier Generation

(www.healthiergeneration.org) • School Nutrition Association

https://schoolnutrition.org/education/ • USDA http://professionalstandards.nal.usda.gov/

• State Agencies

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Professional Standards are an Opportunity • Child Nutrition IS a great Profession!! • Working in school nutrition means working

in a restaurant, a PR agency, a classroom, and a government agency all with tight budgets and limited time and resources.

• We need to advocate for access to quality training and TA that will cultivate continuous improvement of those in the profession today and those wishing to be in it tomorrow!

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Questions and Discussion! Stephanie Scarmo Jessica Donze Black sscarmo@pewtrusts.org jblack@pewtrusts.org @jdonzeblack_pew

www.healthyschoolfoodsnow.org