Elizabeth D. Steiner

Diet And Perceptions Change With Supermarket Introduction In A Food Desert, But Not Because Of Supermarket Use

Placing full-service supermarkets in food deserts--areas with limited access to healthy food--has been promoted as a way to reduce inequalities in access to healthy food, improve diet, and reduce the risk of obesity. However, previous studies provide scant evidence of such impacts. We surveyed households in two Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, neighborhoods in 2011 and 2014, one of which received a new supermarket in 2013. Comparing trends in the two neighborhoods, we obtained evidence of multiple positive impacts from new supermarket placement. In the new supermarket neighborhood we found net positive changes in overall dietary quality; average daily intakes of kilocalories and added sugars; and percentage of kilocalories from solid fats, added sugars, and alcohol. However, the only positive outcome in the recipient neighborhood specifically associated with regular use of the new supermarket was improved perceived access to healthy food. We did not observe differential improvement between the neighborhoods in fruit and vegetable intake, whole grain consumption, or body mass index. Incentivizing supermarkets to locate in food deserts is appropriate. However, efforts should proceed with caution, until the mechanisms by which the stores affect diet and their ability to influence weight status are better understood.

Healthy food access for urban food desert residents: examination of the food environment, food purchasing practices, diet and BMI.

OBJECTIVE To provide a richer understanding of food access and purchasing practices among US urban food desert residents and their association with diet and BMI. DESIGN Data on food purchasing practices, dietary intake, height and weight from the primary food shopper in randomly selected households (n 1372) were collected. Audits of all neighbourhood food stores (n 24) and the most-frequented stores outside the neighbourhood (n 16) were conducted. Aspects of food access and purchasing practices and relationships among them were examined and tests of their associations with dietary quality and BMI were conducted. SETTING Two low-income, predominantly African-American neighbourhoods with limited access to healthy food in Pittsburgh, PA, USA. SUBJECTS Household food shoppers. RESULTS Only one neighbourhood outlet sold fresh produce; nearly all respondents did major food shopping outside the neighbourhood. Although the nearest full-service supermarket was an average of 2·6 km from their home, respondents shopped an average of 6·0 km from home. The average trip was by car, took approximately 2 h for the round trip, and occurred two to four times per month. Respondents spent approximately

Using Geographic Information Systems to Match Local Health Needs With Public Health Services and Programs

US 37 per person per week on food. Those who made longer trips had access to cars, shopped less often and spent less money per person. Those who travelled further when they shopped had higher BMI, but most residents already shopped where healthy foods were available, and physical distance from full-service supermarkets was unrelated to weight or dietary quality. CONCLUSIONS Improved access to healthy foods is the target of current policies meant to improve health. However, distance to the closest supermarket might not be as important as previously thought, and thus policy and interventions that focus merely on improving access may not be effective.

Are our actions aligned with our evidence? The skinny on changing the landscape of obesity.

Local health departments (LHDs) play an important role in ensuring essential public health services. Geographic information system (GIS) technology offers a promising means for LHDs to identify geographic gaps between areas of need and the reach of public health services. We examined how large LHDs could better inform planning and investments by using GIS-based methodologies to align community needs and health outcomes with public health programs. We present a framework to drive LHDs in identifying and addressing gaps or mismatches in services or health outcomes.

Ahead of the Curve: Implementation Challenges in Personalized Learning School Models:

Recent debate about the role of food deserts in the United States (i.e., places that lack access to healthy foods) has prompted discussion on policies being enacted, including efforts that encourage the placement of full‐service supermarkets into food deserts. Other initiatives to address obesogenic neighborhood features include land use zoning and parks renovations. Yet, there is little evidence to demonstrate that such policies effect change. While we suspect most researchers and policymakers would agree that effective neighborhood change could be a powerful tool in combating obesity, we desperately need strong and sound evidence to guide decisions about where and how to invest.

Distributing Instructional Leadership: Implementation Lessons from an Urban School Leadership Residency Program

In the current educational context, school models that leverage technology to personalize instruction have proliferated, as has student enrollment in, and funding of, such school models. However, even the best laid plans are subject to challenges in design and practice, particularly in the dynamic context of a school. In this collective case study, we identify challenges, disruptions, and contradictions as they occur across schools engaged in implementing technology-mediated personalized learning. Using cultural historical activity theory—a theoretical framework concerned with the individual and contextual factors influencing school change—to frame the analysis, we also examine some of the structural and contextual sources of these disruptions and contradictions. Our findings enable us to offer recommendations for policymakers and for practitioners engaged in implementing personalized learning models, as well as directions for future research on this topic.

Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching Enhanced How Teachers Are Evaluated But Had Little Effect on Student Outcomes

Using focus group and interview data collected annually over four years with participants in an alternative-route school leadership preparation program, we examine the strengths and challenges of the preparation model as implemented in a small urban district. Representing a partnership between the city school district, local charter school networks, and a large nonprofit organization, the program provided a two-year residency for aspiring administrators working as assistant-level administrators or teacher leaders. By their second program year, most residents reported feeling rigorously prepared for school leadership roles. Amid declining enrollments and school closures, residents’ career paths diverged over time, with two of 42 initially placed residents obtaining principalships within the four-year study period, and about a third receiving promotions to higher positions. Residents reported differing levels of support for their residency roles, especially those teachers in instructional leadership roles. Some program participants reported that residents in their schools were strategically deployed to distribute responsibility for instructional improvement; this was particularly true in schools staffed by program alumni.

Taking Stock: The Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching Through 2013--2014

Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) Partnerships to Uplift Communities (PUC) Schools Green Dot Public Schools Alliance College-Ready Public Schools Aspire Public Schools The initiative involved three school districts and four charter management organizations (CMOs). The Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching initiative, designed and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, was a multiyear effort aimed at increasing students’ access to effective teaching and, as a result, improving student outcomes. It focused particularly on high school graduation and college attendance among low-income minority (LIM) students.

Continued Progress: Promising Evidence on Personalized Learning: Survey Results Addendum

This brief summarizes a RAND Corporation evaluation of the implementation of key reform elements of the Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching in three public school districts and four charter management organizations.

Continued Progress: Promising Evidence on Personalized Learning

The findings and conclusions contained within are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect positions or policies of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving peoples health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Susan Desmond-Hellmann and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.