David K. Lohrmann
Effective program development and program evaluation initiatives begin with a needs/status assessment that verifies current conditions and leads to generation of objectives to attain in order to reach a goal. At least two documents exist to assist school and community participants assess the status of health programming in their schools--ASCD's Creating a Healthy School Using the Healthy School Report Card (HSRC) and Creating a Healthy School Using the Healthy School Report Card—Canadian Edition (HSRCC) and CDC's School Health Index (SHI). These assessment tools have a number of similarities as well as several substantial differences.
The HSRC was developed by ASCD with support from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The organizing framework is the eight component model of a coordinated school health program (CSHP). Using well-established best practices from the school health and safety, school improvement, and classroom management literature, eleven characteristics, each with eight to twelve indicators, were developed. In total, the HSRC indicators describe a high quality, systemic coordinated school health program that encompasses all eight CSHP components (healthy school environment is divided into social and emotional climate and school facilities and transportation) along with coordination and policy, planning and evaluation.
Recognizing that the context in which schools operate matters, ASCD developed the HSRCC specifically for use in Canada. HSRCC uses the HSRC as its starting point and is based on best practices from across Canada, and practical information related to healthy whole-school environments. While respecting the broad diversity of school health programming across Canada, the HSRCC incorporates health and education standards, regulations, and guidelines common to programs across the country and internationally and is reflective of promising practice embracing the health-promoting schools approach.
The SHI was developed by CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health. The organizing framework is a series of consensus best practice guidelines related to specific health risk behaviors or chronic conditions that, to date, include nutrition, physical activity, tobacco use, safety and asthma. Policies and actions needed to address each of these are presented within the context of the eight component coordinated school health program model. Separate SHI are provided for elementary and middle/high school and sections related to additional health behaviors or chronic illness are added over time.
The Healthy School Report Card (HRSC) can be used in conjunction with the CDC's School Health Index (SHI). While using the HRSC, you may determine that your school needs a more detailed assessment for specific areas of your school health programming. SHI will guide your review of those areas in greater depth.
| COMPONENTS | HSRC/HSRCC | SHI |
|---|
| NEEDS/STATUS ASSESSMENT VERIFIES CURRENT CONDITIONS, LEADS TO GENERATION OF OBJECTIVES | | |
| FIRST STEP IN PLANNING, IMPLEMENTING HIGHEST-QUALITY, EIGHT-STEP COORDINATED SCHOOL HEALTH PROGRAM (CSHP) | | |
| PROMOTES HEALTH, WELL-BEING OF STUDENTS, STAFF | | |
| BEST PRACTICES ARE PROFESSIONAL LITERATURE-BASED | | |
| PARTICIPATION OF, IN-DEPTH FACT FINDING BY A WIDE VARIETY OF STAKEHOLDERS | | |
| DETAILED DIRECTION AND COMMONLY USED STEPS FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLANNING | | |
| DETAILED GUIDANCE FOR DEVELOP OF IMPROVEMENT PLAN BASED ON ASSESSMENT RESULTS | | |
| ASSOCIATION FOR SUPERVISION AND CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT | | |
| CDC'S DIVISION OF ADOLESCENT AND SCHOOL HEALTH | | |
| STUDENT AND STAFF HEALTH ISSUES ADDRESSED USING SYSTEMIC, MULTICOMPONENT CSHP PLATFORM | | |
| MULTIPLE CSHP COMPONENTS RELATE TO FIVE IDENTIFIED HEALTH ISSUES ONLY | | |
| HOLISTIC APPROACH | | |
| SINGLE-ISSUE APPROACH | | |
| "INDICATORS" FULLY DESCRIBE EACH CSHP COMPONENT | | |
| "CRITERIA" INVOLVE ALL CSHP COMPONENTS, APPLY TO FIVE HEALTH ISSUES ONLY | | |
| PROVEN PRACTICES RESULTING IN POSITIVE SCHOOL CLIMATE, EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT, ENHANCED STUDENT BONDING ALL STRONGLY CORRELATE WITH SCHOOL ATTENDANCE/RETENTION, MENTAL HEALTH, SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION | | |
| LIMITED NUMBER OF SIMILAR POLICIES AND PRACTICES, WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF SCHOOL SAFETY ONLY RATHER THAN PRACTICES IN THE CLASSROOM | | |
| RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRIORITIZED RATINGS FOR ALL INDICATORS RELATED TO "EXISTENCE," "IMPACT," "EFFORT" SCALES | | |
| SUMMARY SCORE FOR EACH CSHP COMPONENT BASED ON "EXISTENCE" SCALE ONLY | | |
| NO SUMMARY SCORES | | |
| SUMMARY SCORES | | |
| PROVIDES INDICATORS OF HIGH-QUALITY CSHP | | |
| RELATES TO FIVE HEALTH ISSUES ONLY | | |
| NO SPECIFIC POLICIES | | |
| SPECIFIC POLICIES | | |
| INCLUDES LIST OF RESOURCES TO USE IN IMPROVEMENT PLANNING FOR EACH CSHP COMPONENT | | |
| DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT EACH INDICATOR IN "DISCUSSION QUESTION" | | |
| RESULTS AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW BY SCHOOL FOR YEAR-TO-YEAR TRENDS REPORTS | | |
| SCHOOL REPORTS ARCHIVED ONLINE | | |
| ACCESS TO DATA MAY BE CUSTOMIZED FOR STATE, PROVINCE, DISTRICT USE | | |
| SCHOOL MAY PROVIDE ACCESS TO TEAM MEMBERS | | |
| AVERAGED RESULTS MAY BE COMPARED AMONG SIMILAR SCHOOLS | | |
| SCHOOLS CONNECTED WITH EACH OTHER TO SHARE BEST PRACTICES | | |
| NATIONALLY CONTEXTUALIZED VERSIONS; RECOGNITION THAT CONTEXT IN WHICH SCHOOLS OPERATE MATTERS
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HSRC/HSRCC and SHI are documents that have some similarities but also some substantial differences. They can be used independently; however, the SHI is listed as a resource in the HSRC because it is an especially detailed resource for the food and nutrition services and physical education and activity CSHP components.
Both documents share the fundamental and essential purpose of providing the first step in planning and implementing the highest quality coordinated school health program.
David K. Lohrmann is associate professor and graduate coordinator for the Department of Applied Health Science at Indiana University in Bloomington.