Nebraska schools support and improve student health with coordinated health programs.
Why Is This Important?
Coordinated School Health is an evidence-based strategy that aims to improve the health of children and enhance academic success through sustainable changes within schools. The Coordinated School Health framework has eight components:
- Health education
- Physical education
- Health services
- Nutrition services
- Counseling, psychological and social services
- Healthy and safe school environment
- Health promotion for staff
- Family/community involvement
The CDC has promoted the Coordinated School Health framework for the past twenty years. In Nebraska, it was recently implemented with success through the Nebraska Department of Education's Coordinated School Health Program. Although there are a multitude of partners engaging in school-based efforts, these partners need to improve their coordinated efforts to better to support the schools and communities with improved health as the main focus.
Story Behind the Curve
Nebraska SHIP Priorities 1 & 2: Nebraskans will have reduced heart disease, stroke, and cancer mortality, morbidity and associated risk factors.
For this SHIP goal, several activities were planned for implementation:
- Identify leaders of coordinated school health approach and convene to coordinate and share efforts.
- Develop and implement a plan for expanding coordinated school health across Nebraska.
What We Do
To achieve the goals of school health and maximize effectiveness and efficiency, schools should carry out the following eight strategies to implement a coordinated approach to improve school health policies and programs.
- Secure and maintain administrative support and commitment.
- Establish a school health council or team.
- Identify a school health coordinator.
- Develop a plan.
- Implement multiple strategies through multiple components.
- Focus on students.
- Address priority health-enhancing and health-risk behaviors.
- Provide professional development for staff.
Please visit the following website for more information about how schools can implement Coordinated School Health: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/cshp/schools.htm
Partnerships
To see what Nebraska is doing to improve Coordinated School Health, please visit the following website: http://www.education.ne.gov/CSH/Index.html
For more information about Coordinated School Health from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) please visit the following website: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/cshp/
The Action for Health Kids has great resources for communities and schools, and promotes the Coordinated School Health approach as an evidence based strategy: http://www.actionforhealthykids.org/index.php
This scorecard is created to track performance, therefore the demonstration of data (numerical and narrative) describes what we define as success. In some instances, a trend may be moving in the wrong direction, but still may be within our 'Target for Success' area. The use of Color Arrows (and sometimes also Color Bands) help to define the Target for Success and Current Progress.
Green, Black and Red color arrows are used to reflect our 'Current Progress' status.
- GREEN Arrow = We're getting better!
- BLACK Arrow = We're maintaining our position.
- RED Arrow = We're going in the wrong direction.
Green, Yellow or Red color bands are used to reflect our 'Target for Success' zones.
- GREEN Color Band = We've reached our Target for Success!
- YELLOW Color Band = We're making progress, but not quite there yet.
- RED Color Band = We're below our Target for Success.
Data is described with the Time Period, Actual Value, Target Value, Current Trend and Baseline Change %. These mean:
- Time Period - The most current time period for which the data were available.
- Actual Value - The actual level of achievement, the most current data point for the indicator; also shown in a Color Band to reflect if that value is or is not within our Target for Success zone.
- Target Value - The desired level of achievement for the data indicator.
- Current Trend - The direction of progress is shown by a Color Arrow to reflect our Current Progress status, and also noting for how many data points the direction been occurring.
- Baseline Change % - The percentage of change between the baseline data point and the current data point (actual value); also shown with a Color Arrow to describe Current Progress status.
Clear Impact Suite is an easy-to-use, web-based software platform that helps your staff collaborate with external stakeholders and community partners by utilizing the combination of data collection, performance reporting, and program planning.