Support for School Health
School Health Surveys, Data & Assessment
Child
Trends National Database
Child Trends is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization
dedicated to improving the lives of children and families
by providing research and data to inform decision-making
that affects children. In addition to conducting its own
research, Child Trends works with federal and state officials
and other researchers to improve the quality, scope, and
use of data on children and their families. We provide technical
assistance to public agencies and private organizations
that develop, analyze, track, and use statistical indicators
of child and youth well-being. We also assist in the design
and implementation of policy and program evaluations.
Child Trends regularly and actively communicates
key research and data on children and families to the media,
public officials, professional organizations, foundations,
service providers, and the general public. The goal of this
work is to improve public understanding of the life circumstances
of America's children and youth, and of the issues that
are critical to their well-being. Child Trends has a large
and diverse list of publications including research papers,
research briefs, literature reviews, and a growing collection
of "what works" interactive tables that identify
programs proven by research to be effective in promoting
child and youth development. For additional information
please visit our corporate
Web site.
CDC’s
School Health Policies and Programs Study
The School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS), the
largest, most comprehensive assessment of school health
policies and programs, is conducted at the state, district,
school, and classroom levels nationwide. The study, sponsored
by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
provides data to help improve school health policies and
programs. SHPPS was conducted in 1994 and 2000, and data
collection for the 2006 study will begin in January 2006.
The study will assess the characteristics of eight components
of school health programs at the elementary, middle/junior,
and senior high school levels: Health education; Physical
education; Health services; Mental health and social services;
School policy and environment; Food service; Faculty and
staff health promotion; Family and community involvement.
CDC’s
School Health Index
The School Health Index (SHI) Self-Assessment & Planning
Guide was developed by the CDC in partnership with school
administrators and staff, school health experts, parents,
and national nongovernmental health and education agencies
for the purpose of: enabling schools to identify strengths
and weaknesses of health and safety policies and programs;
enabling schools to develop an action plan for improving
student health, which can be incorporated into the School
Improvement Plan; and engaging teachers, parents, students,
and the community in promoting health-enhancing behaviors
and better health. There is growing recognition of the relationship
between health and academic performance, and using the SHI
allows schools to include health promotion activities in
their overall School Improvement Plan.
CDC’s
2004 National Youth Tobacco Survey
The National Youth Tobacco Survey, conducted by CDC in 2004,
can be used to estimate current use of tobacco products
and selected indicators related to tobacco use among U.S.
middle school and high school students. The online data
can be used to produce national estimates of tobacco use
by various demographic characteristics. The data are now
available in SAS® and in Microsoft Access® formats.
CDC’s
Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System
The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) was
developed in 1990 to monitor priority health risk behaviors
that contribute markedly to the leading causes of death,
disability, and social problems among youth and adults in
the United States. These behaviors, often established during
childhood and early adolescence, include: Tobacco use; unhealthy
dietary behaviors; and inadequate physical activity. The
YRBSS provides useful national, state, and local data on
the prevalence of health risk behaviors among youth.
KIDS
Count
KIDS COUNT, a project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation,
is a national and state-by-state effort to track the status
of children in the U.S. By providing policymakers and citizens
with benchmarks of child well-being, KIDS COUNT seeks to
enrich local, state, and national discussions concerning
ways to secure better futures for all children.
The
National Longitudinal Study for Adolescent Health
The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add
Health) is a project of the Carolina Population Center at
the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. It is a nationally
representative study that explores the causes of health-related
behaviors of adolescents in grades 7 through 12 and their
outcomes in young adulthood. Add Health seeks to examine
how social contexts (families, friends, peers, schools,
neighborhoods, and communities) influence adolescents' health
and risk behaviors. Initiated in 1994 under a grant from
the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
(NICHD) with co-funding from 17 other federal agencies,
Add Health is the largest, most comprehensive survey of
adolescents ever undertaken. Data at the individual, family,
school, and community levels were collected in two waves
between 1994 and 1996. In 2001 and 2002, Add Health respondents,
18 to 26 years old, were re-interviewed in a third wave
to investigate the influence that adolescence has on young
adulthood. Multiple datasets are available for study, and
more than 1,000 published reports and journal articles have
used the data to analyze aspects of these complex issues.
Physical Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (PECAT)
The Physical Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (PECAT) can help school districts conduct a clear, complete, and consistent analysis of written physical education curricula, based upon national physical education standards. The PECAT is customizable to include local standards. The tool allows educators to assess the strengths and weaknesses of written curricula and results from the analyses can help school districts enhance, develop, or select appropriate and effective physical education curricula for delivering high-quality education in schools. It includes an overview of high-quality physical education, information about physical education curricula, tools to assess a curriculum, and resources for developing a curriculum improvement plan. The tool is divided into three sections: curriculum description, preliminary curriculum analyses, and content and student assessment analyses. In addition, it provides the overall PECAT scorecard, multiple curricula comparison scorecards, a curriculum improvement plan as well as appendices. The results from the analysis can help school districts enhance existing curricula, develop their own curricula, or select a published curriculum, for the delivery of quality physical education in schools.
|
