What is the WellSAT-I? 

The WellSAT-I is an interview that measures how fully a district is implementing wellness practices in its schools. It is designed to be used in conjunction with the written wellness policy scoring tool, WellSAT 3.0. The WellSAT-I was developed by a national team of researchers who work closely with school districts. You can read the full description of the development of the WellSAT-I here. This project was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Healthy Eating Research Program.

What is the difference between WellSAT 3.0 and the WellSAT-I?

WellSAT 3.0 is designed to score your district's written policy. It does not tell us what is happening in the district; it only tells us what language is used in the district's written wellness policy. It is also important to know what is actually happening in the schools in your district, which is why the WellSAT-I was developed. The WellSAT-I is a series of interview questions that match each of the wellness policy items scored using WellSAT 3.0.

Who should be interviewed?

Because there are many components to school wellness, it is necessary to interview a few different people. The district wellness committee should work together to look at each section and decide which personnel are best suited to answer each question. The people most often able to answer the questions are the food service director; the head of district curriculum; a health/nutrition teacher; a school principal; a physical education teacher; a classroom teacher; and a district-level administrator.

Do these questions apply to the whole district or specific schools?

It depends on the question. Some questions can be answered once for the whole district, while other questions might have different answers at different schools. If there were unlimited time and resources, it would be interesting to assess every school in your district; however, that is not necessary for the triennial review. The goal is to get an overview of the practices taking place in your district overall.

For the questions that apply to specific school practices, you may select staff from any of your schools for the interviews. These items are marked with a school icon.  You may want to note if you hear that some wellness practices are implemented inconsistently from school to school.

Where do I get the WellSAT-I?

Below, you can download the full measure or each of the six sections separately. You can also downlaod the scorecard, which mirrors the six sections of the WellSAT-I. To do the interviews, read the questions aloud from the measurement tool. As you listen to the answer, refer to the scoring guidance provided. Code the response as "0" (practice does not take place); "1" (practice is partially in place - i.e., it occurs sometimes or inconsistently); or "2" (practice is fully in place).