The Applied Research Division of the Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN) recently developed a research based resource to assist school nutrition (SN) professionals in identifying and utilizing 12 standard SN Key Performance indicators for managing and evaluating the following areas of their programs:

  • Meal Counts and Participation
  • Financial and Inventory Management
  • Productivity and Labor

The resource title is Key Performance Indicators for Success. A hyperlink for this resource on ICN’s website is: https://theicn.org/documentlibraryfiles/PDF/20170329015554.pdf

 The Institute is in the process of developing a set of Excel Spreadsheets that will assist SN professionals in calculating and tracking each KPI in the resource for a 12 month period. We hope to have these finished and available on our website by Spring of 2018.

We are very proud of this resource, which will be valuable for anyone tasked with managing or evaluating any business aspect of a SN program.

Another valuable resource developed by ARD is Competencies, Knowledge, and Skills for Child Care Providers in CACFP Operations.  While the Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN) ARD has been on the forefront of conducting research to address competencies, knowledge, and skills for child nutrition professionals at the local and state level, this resource is the first one at ICN to address Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) professionals.  The Competencies, Knowledge, and Skills for Child Care Providers in CACFP Operations resource focuses on the six identified functional areas and the competencies, knowledge, and skills associated with each functional area that are needed for child care providers to effectively work within a CACFP operation. The functional areas include:

  • Administration
  • Procurement
  • Compliance
  • Health and Safety
  • Nutrition and Meal Management
  • Education and Training

The Competencies, Knowledge, and Skills for Child Care Providers in CACFP Operations resource can be found on ICN’s website at https://theicn.org/documentlibraryfiles/PDF/20160323095712.pdf .

Expert Panel Meeting at ARD

On October 17-18, 2017, key school nutrition (SN) stakeholders met at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, MS to participate in an expert work group to evaluate competencies, knowledge and skills needed for SN managers. This group of 12 individuals represented state agency personnel, SN directors, SN managers, SN manager trainers, SN supervisors, and researchers from across the seven USDA regions. The involvement of these stakeholders in the applied research process with the Applied Research Division of ICN is pivotal for successful development of Competency, Knowledge and Skills for the SN manager’s resource.