Research
What the data is telling us
We have compiled a range of research that demonstrates the huge difference that your contributions are making to students across Toronto, through programs such as beyond 3:30, our successful after-school program for middle-school aged kids. Find out more below.
beyond 3:30
| beyond 3:30: Summative Evaluation, Phase 3 2024 | ||
The Phase III summative evaluation of B3:30 studied students’ experiences with B3:30, its impacts and ripple effects, and conditions for program effectiveness, while expanding upon the findings from the Phase I and Phase II Evaluations. The evaluation revealed that students benefitted from this program across the following domains: academics, mental health and emotional well-being, social development, and healthy lifestyle, among others. Conditions associated with the efficacy and sustainability of the B3:30 program were program design and delivery, engaging and responsive programming, caring and approachable program staff, promoting high expectations and confidence, safe and positive environment, and collaborative team structure and approach. Against a longstanding background of program evaluations, B3:30 has provided students with enriching after-school programming which has been associated with holistic benefits. |
| Find out more about our beyond 3:30 program by clicking here. |
| beyond 3:30: Formative Evaluation, Phase 2 2023 | ||
The Phase II formative evaluation of B3:30 examined program delivery, challenges, and preliminary outcomes in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic recovery as the program pivoted back to in-person delivery amidst the pandemic. Preliminary outcomes from a mixed-methods research approach showed that the return to in-person programming positively impacted students’ social-emotional well-being, academic perceptions, and reading achievement, among other benefits. |
| Find out more about our beyond 3:30 program by clicking here. |
| beyond 3:30: Evaluation, Phase 1 May 2022 | ||
The focus of the Phase I formative evaluation was to extend the learnings from previous B3:30 evaluations (Yau & Presley, 2012; Yau et al., 2013, 2014, 2015) within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and with a particular focus on the program expansion to Grades 3-5. Using mixed methods, preliminary program outcomes included modest gains in reading and some learning skills and emotional well-being and social benefits such as the development of self-expression and coping mechanisms as well as nurturing interpersonal relationships. |
| Find out more about our beyond 3:30 program by clicking here. |
| beyond 3:30: A Multi-Purpose After-School Program for Inner-City Middle Schools. Phase 4 Evaluation. December 2015 | ||
This report is the Phase IV Evaluation of beyond 3:30, an extended multi-faceted after-school program designed specifically for middle school students in high-needs communities. With research grants from the Ministry of Education, the TDSB’s Research Department undertook a four–phase study to evaluate the program for both formative (to inform practices) and summative (to assess effectiveness) purposes. The Phase IV Evaluation is the final phase of this multi-year research. |
| Find out more about our beyond 3:30 program by clicking here. |
| beyond 3:30: A Multi-Purpose After-School Program for Inner-City Middle Schools. Phase 3 Evaluation. November 2014. | ||
| With the continuing funding support from the Ministry of Education, this Phase III research focuses on an in-depth examination of why and how beyond 3:30 has made significant impacts on adolescents as well as their families in high-needs communities. Many of the observable impacts identified in Phase I and II Evaluations were confirmed in this Phase III explanatory research with the use of both qualitative and quantitative data. Even more importantly, this study has explored a number of unanticipated but important spin-off benefits, which were found to have borne great implications for the participants’ well-being and future success. |   | Find out more about our beyond 3:30 program by clicking here. |
| beyond 3:30: A Multi-Purpose After-School Program for Inner-City Middle Schools. Phase 2 Report. September 2013. | ||
| This Phase 2 evaluation is a continuation of a Phase 1 study on our innovative, multi-purpose after-school program, called beyond 3:30. This program keeps middle school kids in Toronto’s high-risk areas safe and engaged between the hours of 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. every school day. The Phase 2 report presents the findings of beyond 3:30‘s program components, its impacts, challenges, solutions and next steps. |  | Find out more about our beyond 3:30 program by clicking here. |
| beyond 3:30: A Multi-Purpose After-School Program for Inner-City Middle Schools. Phase 1 Report. March 2012. | ||
| beyond 3:30 keeps over 1,200 middle school kids in Toronto’s high-risk areas safe and engaged between the hours of 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. every school day. This report presents the findings of beyond 3:30‘s program components, its impacts, challenges, solutions and next steps |  | Find out more about our beyond 3:30 program by clicking here. |
Student Nutrition
| TDSB – Student Nutrition Needs Assessment Report. March 2024 | ||
| TDSB published a needs assessment report that provides evidence of the importance of nutrition on the physical, mental, and psychosocial development of school-age children and adolescents. It sheds light on current evidence on the interplay between nutrition, malnutrition, and the state of food insecurity in Canada, Ontario, and the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). It also presents a high-level discussion on school meal programs globally. |  | Find out more about Student Nutrition Programs here. |
| JAMA Pediatrics: Continued Promise of School Breakfast Programs for Improving Academic Outcomes. January 2015. | ||
| Researchers at Tufts University provides evidence about the importance of school breakfasts. Their study used a large sample of elementary schools to examine outcomes of a Breakfast in the Classroom intervention as a strategy to increase participation in the School Breakfast Program and several key academic outcomes. |  | Find out more about Student Nutrition Programs here. |
| JAMA Pediatrics: Quality and Cost of Student Lunches Brought From Home. January 2015. | ||
| Research report indicates that lunches brought from home compared unfavorably with current National School Lunch Program guidelines. Strategies are needed to improve the nutritional quality of lunches brought from home. |  | |
| Ending childhood hunger: a social impact analysis. February 2013. | ||
| This social impact analysis was conducted by Deloitte to help Share Our Strength achieve its goal of ending childhood hunger No Kid Hungry. The campaign connects children in need with healthy food and teaches families how to cook affordable, nutritious meals. |  | |
| Enough for All: Household Food Security in Canada, CBoC. | ||
| All schools in all provinces and territories should provide meal programs to help their students alleviate hunger and poor nutrition and to support their performance at school, The Conference Board of Canada recommends in a new report from its Centre for Food in Canada. | | Find out more about Student Nutrition Programs here. |
| School Nutrition Programs in Canada and Asia-Pacific. | ||
| The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the Social and Industrial Food Service Institute held a conference in Moscow in June 2012 to review school nutrition programs in APEC member economies, including Canada. APEC members agreed that in the context of today’s realities, which include increased food insecurity, a rise in biofuel production, and climate change challenges proper attention should be paid to school feeding. | | Find out more about Student Nutrition Programs here. |
| No Time to Wait: The Healthy Kids Strategy, from the Healthy Kids Panel. February 2013. | ||
| Ontario’s Healthy Kids Panel has prepared this report of recommendations on how the province can bolster the promotion of health and well-being of children and youth. In this report, the Healthy Kids Panel presents a three-pronged strategy to address this, which in turn will pave the way for future health and success in Ontario by creating healthy communities. | | Find out more about Student Nutrition Programs here. |
| Feeding Our Future: The First and Second Year Evaluation. March 2012. | ||
| Student Nutrition Programs provide over 147,000 meals to hungry students each school day with over 600 breakfast, lunch and snack programs.This report is an evaluation of the program’s implementation across seven specific sites to gain an in-depth understanding of its strengths and areas for improvement and to determine the impact of the program on student health, behaviour, attendance, attention, and achievement. | | Find out more about Student Nutrition Programs here. |
| Nourishing Young Minds Report. June 2012. | ||
| Toronto Public Health has issued the Nourishing Young Minds report calling for Student Nutrition Programs (SNPs) in all schools across Canada’s largest city. While funding for SNPs in Toronto has grown by 52% since 2005, the number of participants has grown by 86%. The city’s medical officer of health, Dr. David McKeown, is urging a pragmatic, planned, staged and managed approach to rolling out SNPs across the city over a five year period, starting with the neediest schools | | Find out more about Student Nutrition Programs here. |
| What a National Child Nutrition Program Would do for Canada. | ||
| In 2009, the Centre for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) published a primer on what a national child nutrition program would do for Canada, concluding that such a program would be both consistent with the Canadian government’s political commitments and would form sound public policy. CSPI also outlines what the early stages and roll-out of a national student child program would look like. | | Find out more about Student Nutrition Programs here. |
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Poverty
| The Association Between Food Insecurity and Academic Achievement in Canadian School Aged Children (2017) | ||
| Students from low-income households and those who reported poor diet quality were less likely to do well at school. The study concluded that low household insecurity is associated with poor academic achievement among Canadian school aged children. |  | |
| Health Care in Canada: What makes us sick? | ||
| Poverty kills. That’s the key message in What Makes Us Sick, a report released today by the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) based on what Canadians said during a series of town hall meetings and an online consultation held earlier this year. The national dialogue with Canadians asked them about their experiences with the social determinants of health – the factors that cause people to suffer poor health in the first place. |  | |