Monday, December 07, 2009

Educators See More Hungry Students in Their Classrooms

Educators across the nation report that, with increasing frequency, they are witnessing hunger among their students—which affects the ability to concentrate and learn—despite government and private nutrition programs intended to ensure children have enough to eat in and out of school, according to a new survey of classroom instructors released on Nov. 23.

AFT members—who include paraprofessionals, classified staff and food service workers, as well as teachers—will continue to track hunger in their schools by responding to an online question—giving examples of how the problem affects their students and identifying steps they believe would alleviate it. In addition to what the Share Our Strength survey found about teachers' responses to hungry students, AFT members have related other stories of cafeteria workers handing out extra food and classified staff keeping a snack drawer in the school office.

The survey of 740 elementary and middle school teachers was commissioned by Share Our Strength. It was conducted by Lake Research Partners through an online questionnaire Oct. 21-28. The results were released during an SOS-organized webinar that featured the stories of teachers who participated in the survey.


Download full pdf publication | Link to online summary

No comments: