Development of the GREEN (Garden Resources, Education, and Environment Nexus) Tool: An Evidence-Based Model for School Garden Integration

Background Researchers have established the benefits of school gardens on students' academic achievement, dietary outcomes, physical activity, and psychosocial skills, yet limited research has been conducted about how school gardens become institutionalized and sustained. Objective Our aim was to develop a tool that captures how gardens are effectively established, integrated, and sustained in schools. Design We conducted a sequential, exploratory, mixed-methods study. Participants were identified with the help of Grow To Learn, the organization coordinating the New York City school garden initiative, and recruited via e-mail. Participants/setting A stratified, purposeful sample of 21 New York City elementary and middle schools participated in this study throughout the 2013/2014 school year. The sample was stratified in their garden budgets and purposeful in that each of the schools' gardens were determined to be well integrated and sustained. Main outcome measures The processes and strategies used by school gardeners to establish well-integrated school gardens were assessed via data collected from surveys, interviews, observations, and concept mapping. Statistical analyses performed Descriptive statistics as well as multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis were used to examine the survey and concept mapping data. Qualitative data analysis consisted of thematic coding, pattern matching, explanation building and cross-case synthesis. Results Nineteen components within four domains of school garden integration were found through the mixed-methods concept mapping analysis. When the analyses of other data were combined, relationships between domains and components emerged. These data resulted in the development of the GREEN (Garden Resources, Education, and Environment Nexus) Tool. Conclusions When schools with integrated and sustained gardens were studied, patterns emerged about how gardeners achieve institutionalization through different combinations of critical components. These patterns are best described by the GREEN Tool, the first framework to identify how to operationalize school gardening components and describe an evidence-based strategy of successful school garden integration.