Shannon Michael, PhD, MPH CDC’s Investment to Support the Connection Between Health and Academic Achievement Shannon Michael, PhD, MPH

Overview Explain the connection between health and academic achievement through the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child model Describe CDC’s school-based surveillance systems Identify opportunities to examine the association between health and academic achievement using these systems Share CDC’s resources on health and academic achievement

Whole School Whole Community Whole Child ASCD and CDC developed this new model—in collaboration with key leaders from the fields of health, public health, education, and school health. This model is a way to frame and address the work schools are doing related to health, and it also provides a way to explain how addressing these different components of WSCC in schools can help students be better learners. http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/wscc/

Special Issue: The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model November 2015 issue Critical Connections: Health and Academics In November 2015, we collaborated with the America School Health Association to develop a special issue on WSCC in the Journal of School Health. One if the articles was focused on the “critical connection between health and academics.” This article attempted to explain the connection between all ten components of the WSCC model and academic achievement.

Academic Achievement Students’ cognitive skills and attitudes Concentration Memory Mood Education behavior Attendance Drop out rates Behavioral problems at school Academic performance Class grades Standardized tests Graduation rates Before highlighting some of the results of this study, let me share with you how CDC has been defining academic achievement. Academic achievement consists of the following three aspects: students’ cognitive skills and attitudes includes concentration, memory, and mood education behavior includes attendance, dropout rates, and behavioral problems at schools; and finally, academic performance which includes class grades, standardized tests, and graduation rates. Source: CDC. Health and Academic Achievement. 2014. http://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/health_and_academics/pdf/health-academic-achievement.pdf

Cognitive Skills and Attitude Summary of Findings WSCC Component Academic Performance Education Behavior Cognitive Skills and Attitude Physical education and physical activity X Nutrition environment and services Health education Health services Counseling, psychological, and social services Employee wellness - Social and emotional school climate Physical environment Family engagement Community involvement Summary of Findings Here are some of the findings from the article. Across all ten components, there is some connection to academic achievement, except for employee wellness. As you can see for physical activity and nutrition, they impact all 3 aspects of academic achievement, with a lot of the research showing its impact on student’s cognitive ability. As expected, health services and counselling, psychological and social services, affected education behavior and with most of the research on school attendance. The bolded “Xs” are very subjective and represents where most of the research falls. Michael SL, Merlo C, Basch C, Wentzel K, Wechsler H. Critical connections: health and academics. J School Health. 2015;85(11):740-758.

Healthier Students Are Better Learners

CDC School-based Surveillance Systems

Differences of CDC’s School-based Surveillance Systems YRBS School Health Profiles SHPPS Purpose To determine the prevalence of health-risk behaviors among students, assess trends in these behaviors, and examine the co-occurrence of health-risk behaviors To provide data on health policies and activities at schools for states, large urban school districts, and territories To provide national data on components of school health at the state, school district, school, and classroom levels Sample Nationally representative sample of public and private high school students Representative samples of mostly public high school students in each jurisdiction Representative sample of public middle schools and high schools in each state, territory, or school district All states Nationally representative sample of school districts Nationally representative sample of public and private elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools Method Self-administered paper-and-pencil questionnaires, conducted in classrooms Self-administered, mailed, or Web-based questionnaires Computer-assisted personal interviews, Web-based surveys, and self-administered, mailed questionnaires Timing Biennially, since 1991 Biennially, since 1994 Full: 1994, 2000, 2006 State & district: 2012 School & classroom: 2014 Differences of CDC’s School-based Surveillance Systems

CDC’s State Public Health Actions Program (1305) Enhanced funded states were required to select targeted districts Targeted districts have a representative sample of students for YRBS and of schools for School Health Profiles but data are not linked

YRBS: Health-Risk Behaviors and Academic Grades Fact Sheets

Possible Opportunities: YRBS (National and State) Focus is on the association between health behaviors/outcomes and academic achievement Propose questions for the 2019 YRBS (national and state survey) on attendance, disciplinary actions (e.g., detention, expulsion, sent to office) and attitude toward school Link school-level data from YRBS with other available education data such as Market Data Retrieval (MDR) and Common Core of Data (CCD). This might include: test scores, attendance rates, dropout rates, graduation rates, and disciplinary action rates Encourage states to link state YRBS data with available school- level academic achievement data Note: One issue is that students are not representative of the school

Possible Opportunities: School Health Profiles & SHPPS Focus is on the association between health policies/practices and academic achievement Link school-level data from Profiles and SHPPS with other available education data such as MDR and CCD Link SHPPS district-level data with YRBS district-level data (CDC-funded districts)

Other Data Systems Managed by CDC to Consider… National Youth Physical Activity and Nutrition Study (NYPANS) National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)

Few Actions to Consider Complete an environmental scan of all federal and state-level data collection systems that focus on health, education, or both Work with NGOs that are collecting data on health and academic achievement Take advantage of the data being collected for CDC’s State Pubic Health Actions Program (1305) Increase support, training, and technical assistance to collect data on health and education

Resources For Health and Academic Achievement Health and Academic Achievement overview document Presentation slides with notes Podcast on physical activity, nutrition, and academic achievement http://www2c.cdc.gov/podcasts/player.asp?f=8634967 http://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/health_and_academics/index.htm

Evidence-Message-Action Know the Core Messages AND The Audience-Specific Messages Be Ready to Share with Key Stakeholders How They Can Take Action Healthy Eating Academic Achievement Physical Activity

Thank you slide THANK YOU!