(P23-007-24) Facilitators & Barriers to Implementing E-STAR, a Team Nutrition School Nutrition Manager Training and Professional Development Program

Objectives: To investigate facilitators and barriers to school nutrition manager (SNM) engagement in the Team Nutrition Enhanced Strategies, Training, Action Plans, and Resources (E-STAR) program, developed by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service and the Institute of Child Nutrition.

Methods: The two-year E-STAR program includes a 3-day virtual workshop, three 1-hour virtual trainings each program year, and ongoing mentor support to help SNMs develop and implement school action plans to improve meal quality and student perception of meal quality. Data collection included SNM (n=41) and mentor (n=8) interviews and mentor focus groups (n=2 focus groups including 8 mentors in total). Analyses were conducted using NVivo.

Results: SNMs reported that program component adaptability, mentor support for E-STAR and job coaching beyond E-STAR, and joining a community of SNMs facilitated program engagement. Barriers included limited time, staff shortages, and navigating COVID-19 challenges. SNMs’ previous school nutrition and technology experience impacted their experience of E-STAR: some SNMs needed basic school nutrition operations training or help using software programs, while others had been running school meal programs for a decade and needed less operational support. SNMs reported needing more clarity at the start of E-STAR, especially regarding expectations for participants over the course of the program. SNMs also indicated that the introductory workshop covered too much material in too little time. Results are preliminary pending study publication.

Conclusions: Future E-STAR programs should include time for SNMs to conduct a needs assessment with their mentor before developing an action plan and strategies to support SNMs in a limited resource environment. Lessons learned from this evaluation may have broader implications for delivering trainings to SNMs. Future SNM training programs would benefit from: the inclusion of a mentoring component; adequate time to cover the curriculum; repetition to reinforce learning; content tailored to participant experience; and professional networks to support SNMs.

Funding Sources: This evaluation was funded by the United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service.