The efficacy and outcomes of a U.S. Department of Agriculture Nutrition Education Training (NET) project designed to increase awareness of health risk and wellness factors for grade 9 students were studied. This paper comments on results from a survey of 125 ninth graders about the NET curriculum and results from a study of program impact on schools and the community. In this section of the report, the focus is on the theoretical models and research approaches underlying the study. For this NET initiative, there were several project design and implementation concerns to be addressed that were generic to program evaluation or specific to the NET program directives. For the NET project a single group time series design was determined to be an acceptable way to examine changes in student nutrition behaviors. The NET program directives required the use of a needs assessment student survey, and models for handling missing survey data were selected from software packages commonly available. Facet theory was used to quantify complex causal paths through mapping sequences developed to describe facets for involvement of school and community resources. Cost effectiveness was another factor to be considered in study design. The results of this NET project indicated significant improvement in reported nutrition behaviors for the students at the two schools with the most students at risk for poor nutrition. Positive results at these schools were an indication of cost effectiveness for the program as a whole. (Contains 3 figures, 3 tables, and 35 references.) (SLD)