Research

In 2008, The Children’s Aid Society partnered with New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services to train teachers in seven preschool programs to adopt the Go!Kids curriculum in their classrooms. Karp Resources, along with Dr. Carolyn Berry, the Deputy Director and Associate Research Professor at the Wagner Graduate School of New York University, conducted the randomized controlled evaluation. The evaluation showed a significant impact on student behavior after completing one year of the program.

Key findings include:

• When offered a choice between an apple and a candy (a Twizzler) two consecutive times, 57 percent of students who participated in the Go!Kids program chose the apple the second time, as compared to only 33 percent of students in the control group. This represents a statistically significant difference of 73%.
• At the end of the program, 70 percent of students were able to correctly identify the healthy “go!” foods, and 73 percent were able to identify the unhealthy “slow” foods.
• Parents reported that their children were more willing to try new foods.