On this page, find the Policy, Systems, and Environmental (PSE) Needs and Environmental Assessments used by the CalFresh Healthy Living, UC SNAP-Ed program.
The PSE strategies most commonly supported by CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE teams statewide were edible gardening; physical activity integration such as structured physical activity, physical activity breaks, and physical education; and improved school food environments.
Evaluation Resources for Smarter Lunchrooms Movement and Smarter Mealtimes
Environmental assessment scorecards developed by the Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Programs for use in school lunchroom and child care settings. Visit the Smarter Lunchrooms and Mealtimes Movement page for more information.
- Smarter Lunchrooms Movement
- The Smarter Lunchrooms Scorecard contains 60 simple, no-cost or low-cost strategies that lunchrooms can use to increase participation, improve consumption of healthy food, and reduce food waste. The strategies are based on research from the Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Programs and partners and other behavioral science research.
- Smarter Mealtimes
- Smarter Mealtimes is an adaptation of the Smarter Lunchrooms Movement for child care environments. The scorecard has 20 items.
Site Level Assessment Questionnaires (SLAQs)
Site-Level Assessment Questionnaires (SLAQs) were developed in 2018-2019 by the Nutrition Policy Institute for use by CalFresh Healthy Living programs. SLAQs are designed to provide comprehensive annual site assessment data for program planning and evaluation in the following settings: School, Early Care and Education (ECE), Out-of-School Time, School District, and Retail.
Evaluation Resources for CATCH and Playground Stencils
Assessment tools to either build capacity for Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) lesson delivery or assess pre/post changes related to playground stencils. Visit the Physical Activity page for more information.
- CATCH Lesson Observation Tool (LOT)
- This tool provides a support structure for observing CATCH Champions to build capacity and identify training and technical assistance needs. The CATCH LOT assesses the delivery of facilitated CATCH lessons and identifies useful feedback for CATCH champions. The goal is to support the delivery of the key components of CATCH to ensure high quality physical activity (PA) education practices. It can be used by teachers to conduct self-assessments following CATCH training and by other program staff to observe CATCH delivery in order to support professional development.
- Playground Stencil Assessment
- This pre/post assessment, which includes an environmental scan and teacher surveys, was designed to assess changes in the physical environment and number of students physically active, not active, and actively playing on the playground overall and in the stencils space. It also collects teaching staffs’ training, practices, and promotion of physical activity. Detailed recommendations for implementing the stencil assessment are included in the Stencil Tip Sheet.
School Garden Assessment Tool
The School Garden Assessment Tool should be used to identify and track areas of improvement in school garden programming. This tool should be used by programs who are currently implementing school garden projects and are ready to assess the current state of the garden in order to expand and/or improve garden-related programming, as well as to track efforts through reassessment.
Visit the Gardening page for more information.