Date of Conferral

2020

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Human Services

Advisor

Gregory P. Hickman

Abstract

Poverty has an enormous impact on children and their success in school. Children with low economic status often perform poorly in math and reading. Poor reading skills often lead to truancy, low rates of high school graduation, low-paying jobs, and cycles of illiteracy in generations of families. The fundamental cause theory was the theoretical lens used for this study. The purpose of this quantitative, comparative ANOVA quartile split study was to examine the impact of universal free and reduced lunch (FRL) policy changes on third grade reading normal curve equivalent (NCE) scores. The research design included data analysis for examining the differences in third grade reading NCE scores in schools before and after the policy change to 100% FRL. I collected secondary data from the Tennessee Department of Education website. The findings from this 1-way ANOVA indicated there are no statistically significant differences in NCE third grade reading scores after the policy change to 100% FRL. The social implications of these findings offer the potential to raise awareness of universal FRL and its impact on reading comprehension among third grade students in the educational setting, enabling policy changes in the United States Department of Agriculture’s core nutrition program for FRL to children regardless of socioeconomic status.

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