SUMMARY OF NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEY RESULTS 1

Module 4 Application Assignment

Summary of Needs Assessment Survey Results

Samantha DiMatteo

Marygrove College
SUMMARY OF NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEY RESULTS 2

Two years ago Ocean City High Schools lunch program underwent a
dramatic change in an effort to renovate the schedule. Community lunch is an
hour in duration and has shown to have a positive influence on the school
environment. All 1216 students eat lunch simultaneously. This common break in
the school day allows for many opportunities; clubs can hold meetings, teachers
can meet with students for extra help, and students have apple time to eat,
socialize, and work on school work. A recent survey revealed a positive response
to this change from both the staff and students. However, as with the
implementation of any new policy there is room for improvement.
One hundred students and twenty staff members were surveyed. The
intention of the survey was to help gain perspective as to whether or not each
stakeholder liked community lunch and how it could be improved. The staff survey
was brief, asking them to rate how much they liked community lunch on a scale of
one to five, and then, via open response, asked for suggestions for improvement.
The student survey had more depth, with an additional focus on seating
arrangements, washing their hands, and cleaning up after themselves. Their
survey consisted of ten check-off style questions and one open ended response
asking them to note one thing they would change about community lunch. In an
effort to randomize the data pool I issued this survey to my students in the
classroom opposed to handing it out at lunch. This helped me to avoid being
biased towards where students were seated. I teach a combination of freshman,
sophomores, juniors, and seniors, therefore giving the survey in class also helped
randomize the age groups of the sample. Its worth noting that data may be
misleading as only about one-tenth of population was issued a survey. To gain a
better perspective of each of the components of school lunch all stakeholders
involved should be issued a survey.
SUMMARY OF NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEY RESULTS 3

The results of the data analysis from the surveys supported a common
theme: there is not enough seating to accommodate the student population.
Tabulated results indicate that approximately half of the students have eaten their
lunch on the floor or eat their lunch on the floor on a regular basis. Others eat
their lunch while standing at a high top table or on the bleachers in the gym.
Almost all of the students surveyed retreated to the same areas every day to eat
their lunch. However, those students who ate there lunch in an area other than
the cafeteria revealed that they were not satisfied with their seating arrangements.
Unfortunately, the cafeteria tables can only accommodates for about 30% of the
schools population.
Beyond eating on the floor, another negative component in regards to
sanitation is the number of students that dont wash their hands prior to their
meal. About a third of the students surveyed claim they never wash their hands
prior to consuming their lunch. A simple solution that may aid rectifying this
problem is to have more hand sanitizing stations throughout the designated
community lunch areas.
Some of student surveys revealed that not all the students cleaned up after
themselves when they were done with their lunch. With twelve hundred students
eating simultaneously this issue can become a burden with the janitorial staff.
Some of the adults that were surveyed noted that providing more trash cans and
closer monitoring of students could aid in the clean up process.
The tabulated results lead to the conclusion that the majority of the
stakeholders enjoy the community lunch. The stakeholders include the students,
teachers, administrators, and janitorial staff. Changes to address seating issues
would have a positive impact on each of these parties, especially students, who
would have a more comfortable sanitary experience during community lunch.
Suggestions made by those surveyed included ordering more tables, allowing
SUMMARY OF NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEY RESULTS 4

students to leave the campus for lunch, and, weather permitting, providing an
outdoor seating option. Some barriers to change would exist; these barriers would
mainly be of financial relevance. To rectify this problem the school would need to
purchase a substantial amount of seating which could have a costly effect on the
budget and thus may be reluctant to address this issue. If the school is not in a
financial position to make such a purchase it may delay a solution to this problem.
The school wide initiative of community lunch has had a positive impact on
both the students and staff members. A few concerns have presented themselves,
the main one being limited seating for students. Simple adjustments in seating
arrangements could aid in making the experience of community lunch more
enjoyable for all stakeholders.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

ALWAYS

SOMETIMES

NEVER

I eat my lunch on the floor. I e a t my lu nc h in the g ymna siu m o n

the bleac h e rs .

I eat my lunch standing at a high

top table.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
I eat my lunch in the same area of
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 the school.
 SUMMARY OF NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEY RESULTS 5

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
I eat my lunch in the cafeteria at a
table.

I w a sh o r sa nitize my h an ds b efo re I
e at my lunc h .

I w ould prefer to eat my lunch w hile

sitting at a table opposed to the
floor or standing.

Students

I like community lunch.

 SUMMARY OF NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEY RESULTS 6

Strongly Agree

Staf Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

I like community lunch.