Effective Coordinated School Health Programs

Effective Coordinated School Health Programs - SIP 14-99

Principal Investigator: Sally M. Davis, PhD
Coordinator: Christine Hollis, MS
Start and End Dates: 09/30/99– 09/29/04
Sources of Funding: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of Adolescent and School Health

Scientific studies and common sense agree that healthy children attain higher levels of academic achievement. This project was designed to promote this process through the schools, with a broad set of activities and interdisciplinary pre-service courses for educators and health professionals. The focus of these is to prepare these students to work collaboratively across disciplines to manage school health issues, and thus to improve school health and academic performance.

Nearly 750 educators and health professionals across the state who attended the 2002 annual conference, Head to Toe, discussed this topic. A document with a New Mexico focus was published and distributed to all school districts; it advocated school health practices and stressed positive relationships between school health and academic outcomes. Focus groups were held with veteran teachers to learn how coordinated school health could be integrated into the teacher training curriculum. Rural health and nursing students attended an interdisciplinary pre-service training course that utilized school health case studies. Teacher education and educational administrator students attended presentations emphasizing school health. And, to emphasize the importance of this effort even further, graduate-level veteran teachers received adolescent growth and development training.

In order to assess all of these activities, a round table--Coordinated School Health and Pre-Service Training for Education and Health Professionals--was held for higher education faculty and deans, state officials and school system representatives to share ‘lessons learned’ in integrating school health into pre-service programs. To highlight and distribute the insights of the round table, a document on the state of the art in New Mexico, entitled Navigation Guide for Teachers: Resources for School Health, was produced by Center staff and will be distributed to school districts.

Presentations have been made, including at the 17th National Conference on Chronic Disease Prevention and Control, about this approach to providing resources to teachers so they can more effectively manage school health issues and enhance their school’s learning environment.

To further this work, Center staff will continue to support College of Education faculty in developing school health modules for first-year elementary and secondary teachers and administrators. This innovative multi-disciplinary project has been well received by all constituencies who are exposed to this approach: university education students, faculty and administrators; and school staff, teachers, principals and superintendents.

For more information about this program, contact Christine Hollis, at (505) 272-4462 or chollis@salud.unm.edu.