Wellsat 3.0

[Henrietta Naughton]

Printthe district's LSWP and associated local procedures/regulations. Most districts post their policies on their website. For tips on how to find your policy, review the "How to Find Your Policy" video at www.wellsat.org (under "About the WellSAT") or at

Locate the text at the top of the scorecard (under the outcome icons) that reads, "If you would like a scorecard that sorts the items by outcome, click here." Click the checkbox. Print out or save the combined scorecard. With the rest of your district wellness committee, examine the items in each section.

WellSAT 3.0 Score WellSAT-I Score Comparison Outcome22Strong Policies and Aligned PracticesDistrict has a strong policy and is fully implementing practicces that align with the policy10Create Practice Implementation PlanDistrict has a strong or weak policy, but practice implementation is either absent or limited21 or 00 or 12Update PoliciesDistrict is fully implementing a practice but there is no or only weak language in the written policy, or the district is partially implementing practices and there is no language in the policy00 or 1Opportunities for GrowthDistrict has either not addressed the topic in policy or practice; or has only addressed the topic in a very limited way11Items that are federally required are listed first in each section.

Our websites may use cookies to personalize and enhance your experience. By continuing without changing your cookie settings, you agree to this collection. For more information, please see our University Websites Privacy Notice.

In 2006, all US school districts that participate in the school meal programs were required to create school wellness policies, and the components for these policies were updated with the 2010 Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act. The Rudd Center has developed several measures to assess the strength and comprehensiveness of school wellness policies.

The WellSAT is a quantitative coding tool that is designed to help researchers, state administrators, advocates, and school districts evaluate the strength and comprehensiveness of district wellness policies. The current version of the WellSAT is WellSAT 3.0, which is available at www.wellsat.org.

Some of our research has found that stronger policies lead to better implementation. However, other studies have found that schools report implementing practices that are not in their policies, or face challenges in implementing some policies. We have explored the views of teachers, administrators, and parents in order to understand how wellness policies are created and implemented.

The Rudd Center has developed a series of interviews that researchers can use to assess policy implementation, called the WellSAT-I. These interviews are designed to match each item of the WellSAT 3.0.

For the past fifteen years, Rudd research and tools have supported the importance of strong school wellness policies. The results of a three-year study in twelve middle schools found that supporting strong nutrition policies in schools was associated with a healthier body mass trajectory.

The WellSAT was originally developed with a team of researchers from four states (Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Minnesota) funded by Healthy Eating Research. The original measure was published in 2009. With input from a diverse advisory committee, this measure was simplified and placed online in 2010. In 2015 it was updated to WellSAT 2.0, and in 2018, updated again to WellSAT 3.0.

The Rudd Center has developed a series of interviews that researchers can use to assess policy implementation, called the WellSAT-I. These interviews are designed to match each item of the WellSAT 3.0. The questions are organized as follows:

In this podcast, CSCH Program Manager, Helene Marcy, interviews CSCH Co-Director Sandra Chafouleas and CSCH Steering Committee Member Marlene Schwartz about their work developing the WellSAT WSCC Tool

Listen to the Podcast

3a8082e126