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Secure and Maintain Administrative Supports 

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Secure and Maintain Administrative Supports 

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This is a pre-implementation level the WSCC Model.
At this level you are trying to secure the support from school and district leaders.

Leaders provide support by incorporating health in the school's or organizational vision and mission statements.

Leaders can appoint someone to oversee the school's health.

Leaders help with allocating resources and funds.

Leaders can help with communicating the importance of wellness to students, school staff, and parents.

At this level you are building an implementation team.

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The Role of School Districts and Schools

Policy can compel the implementation of processes and practices. However, adopting policy is a complex and challenging process. Generally speaking, policies are statements that define requirements and provide guidance. Education policies exist at the federal, state, and local levels. Constitutionally, state governments hold responsibility for public education with local school boards acting as their agents. In addition, a state, school district, or school may be governed by legal codes, rules, standards, resolutions, mandates, or other means of exercising authority. For this article, we limit the discussion to district-level policy that influences processes and practices at the district and school building levels.

School policy is critical to create and sustain processes and practices that advance health and learning. The WSCC model can inform the development of new policies and provides a framework to review existing school policies that keep the whole child in focus. The 10 components provide a lens for a comprehensive scan of all policies, processes, and practices that foster learning environments where each student is emotionally and physically healthy, safe, actively engaged, supported, and challenged. It moves health and wellness from another "to do" for schools and districts to the work of supporting the whole child in an effort to reduce barriers to learning and improved health. In doing so, education leaders will be able to identify gaps, overlaps, and supports to better align, streamline, and be accountable for systems that support health and learning.

Key Factors for Coordinating Policies, Processes, and Practices

The purpose of WSCC is to align policy, practices, and resources to support each student's academic learning and provide experiences that encourage the development of the whole child-"one who is knowledgeable, healthy, motivated, and engaged." Lessons learned from more than 25 years of implementation and evaluation of the Coordinated School Health approach have identified three key factors that enhance efforts to align policies, processes, and practices. These lessons provide a roadmap for WSCC.

Coordinator

A coordinator at both the district and school level is a critical factor in boosting school health efforts. Northouse states: "leadership is a process that involves influence, occurs in a group context, and involves goal attainment." Northouse further defines leadership as "a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal."(p3) This illustrates the central importance of coordinators in the WSCC model. The overarching role of a district coordinator is to provide leadership and vision for health goals that advance learning goals. The district coordinator has traditionally played a key role in building the infrastructure for school health by facilitating an action plan overseen by a council, guiding assessments and data gathering to ascertain policy and programmatic priorities, building support of school health with district leaders and stakeholders, forming community partnerships to secure essential health resources and services, and working with district staff to coordinate and align health-promoting instruction and programs. A district coordinator can also provide guidance, tools, and professional development for school level staff to implement health-promoting policies, programs, and best practices. The relational aspect of the district coordinator is crucial, fostering trust among district administration and school administrators and educators.

The district coordinator role takes on great significance for implementing the WSCC framework. In particular, the coordinator should be part of broader school improvement and accountability teams, providing important insight into health problems within school communities that impact student learning. The coordinator has an intimate knowledge of existing health-related policies, processes, practices, and community resources and can leverage this knowledge to identify necessary health and safety supports for students. Districts should consider a coordinator's placement within the organizational structure and how to best leverage their expertise, knowledge, and skills to be a champion for implementing best practices to reduce health-related barriers to learning.

As districts conduct a comprehensive scan of existing policies, processes, and practices, the coordinator will be integral to outlining priorities, identifying gaps, and recommending strategies to improve the health of students. A district coordinator is also necessary to facilitate and lead coordination between the 10 WSCC components and to engage community stakeholders and resources. Given that human and material resources are limited in districts and schools, coordinators should seek opportunities for synergy among stakeholders in the WSCC model, making certain the sum of outcomes is greater than its parts.

Having a coordinator, or leader, at the school level is also essential. Strong leaders have been shown across a wide range of studies to be an important component supporting implementation of policies, processes, and practices at the school level., Studies indicate this leader is important in the development of policies and the implementation, enforcement, and coordination of policies. The leader can take the role of "sense maker" of district policies and processes as they are translated into school practice. As sense maker, the leader can be instrumental in determining how policies are implemented based on their knowledge of the school structure and local community values. Using guidance from the district coordinator on appropriate adaptations, this local knowledge will enable a better fit of the policies, processes, and programs in the school.

Within the WSCC framework, the school leader plays a key role by steering a team to develop and implement an action plan that addresses how the school will create a culture where each student is healthy, safe, challenged, supported, and engaged. Health and safety can be addressed within this structure by developing a school health improvement plan that is linked to or embedded within school improvement efforts, and connecting students, families, and staff to health-promoting resources and referrals.

The team may include a coordinator specifically for school health efforts. This coordinator can work with the team and faculty leaders to facilitate communication and engage students, families, and the community, and leverage resources to support health and learning. A school coordinator also ensures instruction and services provided through various components of the school health program and overall environment are mutually reinforcing and present consistent messages; facilitates collaboration among school personnel; assists the principal and other administrative staff with the integration, management, and supervision of the school health program; provides or arranges for necessary technical assistance; identifies essential resources; facilitates collaboration between the district, school, and other community agencies; conducts evaluation activities that assess the implementation and results of the school health program, and reports evaluation results.

This work, essential to improving the school climate, can ensure collaboration across traditional siloes and eliminate duplication of efforts. In Colorado, school teams are encouraged to have co-leaders, which allow for a shared workload and supports sustainability during turnover. Whereas it can be a challenge to build the capacity of 2 leaders, teams have found this model effective. In fact, busy school professionals are often more willing to take on shared coordinator responsibilities, thus making recruitment easier.

Finally, district coordinators and school leaders will want to remain in close contact with one another to leverage support and resources. This critical communication between coordinators and leaders ensures district policies are translated into processes and practices at each school. In Maine, O'Brien et al found in schools with School Health Coordinators, there was a stronger association with improved school programs than schools without coordinators. Improved policies and programs were also associated with decreases in risk behaviors such as physical inactivity, soda consumption, and tobacco use among students. A coordinator, at both the district and school levels, will play an integral role coordinating and aligning policies, processes, and practices to ensure each student is healthy, safe, engaged, and motivated to learn.

Collaboration

Creating and fostering high-functioning, collaborative teams, both at the district and school levels, whose common mission is to enhance student health has been a hallmark of the Coordinated School Health approach. Within the new paradigm of the WSCC framework, district collaboration may be addressed with a Whole Child council representing all WSCC components, administrators, community members, and appropriate stakeholders, including school team leaders.

The WSCC framework intentionally wraps the role of community around the entire model, thereby signaling its importance to developing the whole child. Council membership should reflect the makeup and views of the community and be as broad and diverse as possible, including those who understand the cultural, political, geographic, demographic, and economic structure of the community. Stakeholders who are invested in the system, including students and parents, are vital members. Districts are encouraged to welcome the participation of health-promoting and youth-focused community organizations and participation from law-enforcement, legal services, transportation, business, and faith communities. Diverse community representation enriches the level of discussion, ensures local community values are understood, and increases acceptance of proposed activities. Councils are well positioned to engage with district leaders and accountability teams to conduct comprehensive scans of policies, processes, and practices that support whole child development.

The Whole Child council would encompass and integrate the scope of work of a traditional district health council, which is to assess

...the health status, issues, and concerns of children and their families district-wide; obtain input from the community about the overall direction of the school health program; develop a shared vision for the health of children and their families; make policy recommendations to the board of education; identify and help coordinate community resources; help secure district-level support for coordinated school health programs; and initiate planning for district-wide adoption.

In doing so, Whole Child councils will be able to develop meaningful policy, process, and practice recommendations that bolster student health and learning for district administration and local school board consideration.

School Whole Child teams should mirror district council membership, with a focus on the school community. Teams can engage school staff, parents, and students to identify local health priorities using a continuous improvement process. Teams examine local data, create a school health improvement plan based on best practices, implement the plan, and observe implementation effectiveness. District policies provide guidance to teams. However, teams should be afforded a degree of autonomy to adapt processes and practices to local needs. These efforts should be built around the whole child and support the WSCC tenets with a specific focus on reducing health-related barriers to learning.

The one specified goal within the WSCC framework is to improve learning and health. Together, council and team members from all community sectors will generate education goals that consider the whole child when identifying priority areas. To implement the WSCC framework more completely, district councils and schools teams should work to integrate plans into school improvement and school accountability systems. In this manner, they can best identify opportunities, through coordinated policies, processes, and practices, to decrease health-related barriers to learning.

Accountability and data

Districts and schools are held accountable for a myriad of academic outcomes and process measures. As a result, "school improvement policy primarily emphasizes instruction and, in the process, usually marginalizes considerations related to dealing with barriers" to learning.(p2) Research by Adelman and Taylor has shown districts and schools' focus on instruction to boost academic achievement is usually proactive and systematic, while interventions that address barriers to learning are often reactive and fragmented. Emotional, social, and physical health problems create barriers to learning, making it a challenge for youth to be motivated to learn and achieve academically., Addressing these barriers through comprehensive, integrated approaches reflects whole child development "including health-related goals and objectives in the school improvement plan is one way schools can integrate health into the education accountability structure, and reflect that health is a learning support that contributes to the success of the whole child."

Incorporating metrics related to health and wellness into data tracking and school accountability systems will provide educators, policymakers, and the public with a refined understanding of how to achieve learning and academic outcomes. The WSCC framework's 10 components provide a high-level view of elements that can be embedded within accountability systems. The framework's emphasis on improving student health and learning together expands the narrow focus on school improvement through instructional and academic goals alone. More importantly, it provides the foundation for making improvements wherein health as a barrier to learning is addressed.

Other data such as attendance, discipline, student behavior, graduation rates, truancy, school connectedness, and school safety are important measures that can be aligned with school level intervention efforts. For example, when implementing a breakfast program, schools will want to examine changes in attendance rates and student behavioral data that may be attributed to the intervention. Effective use of data allows districts and schools to connect school health efforts to academic achievement and to show meaningful change in student and staff behavior which will inform policy, processes, and practices. Beyond data, policy assessment and practice measurement tools such as the School Health Index provide measures to inform decisions and best practices.

Tacoma Public Schools (TPS) has created a "Whole Child Accountability System," after an extensive community input and data collection process. Progress toward the district's strategic goals is defined by specific benchmarks that measure whether students are healthy, safe, engaged, challenged, and supported. TPS reports publicly on the benchmarks, promoting trust, transparency, and accountability to the community. TPS engaged in a comprehensive gap analysis of all related policies, processes, and programs to identify action steps and define progress toward meeting stated benchmarks. By achieving this clarity in purpose, TPS has streamlined and aligned policy, programs, communication strategies, and budgeting processes. As a result, TPS has increased graduation rates by approximately 20% in 4 years, over 90% of students participate in PSAT and SAT testing, and an increased number of TPS students receive scholarships to community and four-year institutions.

Districts and schools may also employ an acknowledgement program that encourages adoption of best practices. Chicago Public Schools report card features a prominent "Healthy School Certification," icon based on their achievement in the HealthierUS School Challenge. "This deeper understanding of how health impacts student learning can inform resource management and teaching practices, ensuring that student health and wellness is tracked over time and that school stakeholders understand the connection between health and learning."

Local wellness policies offer another accountability mechanism. Required for any school district participating in federal child nutrition programs, local wellness policies guide efforts to establish school environments that promote students' health, well-being, and ability to learn. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 added new provisions for local school wellness policies related to implementation, evaluation, and public reporting on progress, which emphasizes transparency, public engagement, and tracking results. Communities can examine existing wellness policies to determine how to include the 10 WSCC components and link or embed wellness efforts to broader school improvement plans. The required wellness policy reporting elements can also be incorporated into other accountability plans that engage the entire school and community in implementation.

At the school level, school improvement plans are an integral part of the continuous improvement process held accountable by local parent associations or school accountability committees, which report to district accountability committees. At the classroom level, teachers can utilize student evaluation measures for the whole child. Although student evaluation is most commonly focused on academic achievement, the WSCC tenets offer a frame for teachers to assess the social, emotional, and physical health of students, their safety, and how actively engaged, supported, and challenged students are. Districts and schools can consider how accountability can be built into teacher and administrator evaluation systems that examine the extent that students are safe, engaged, challenged, and supported. Even with policies in place, accountability systems need to be applied to ensure that policies, programs, and practices are aligned and consistently implemented. Sharing of data and publicly disseminating school improvement plans can support broad community buy-in and accountability of whole child efforts.

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Supporting the Whole Child Through Coordinated Policies, Processes, and Practices

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Policy can compel the implementation of processes and practices. However, adopting policy is a complex and challenging process. Generally speaking, policies are statements that define requirements and provide guidance. Education policies exist at the federal, state, and local levels. Constitutionally, state governments hold responsibility for public education with local school boards acting as their agents.

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Establish District Health and School Teams. 

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Establish District Health and School Teams. 

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At this level of WSCC implementation you are trying to build health teams or councils to implement the 10 components of the WSCC model. This team should be made up of people representing the 10 components of the WSCC model. Some examples of people that might make up these team are listed below.

Heath Education: Health  coordinator, health teacher, student health club representative.

P.E & Physical Activity: P.E. teacher, district physical therapist, physical education coordinator.

Nutrition Environment: District Dietitian, food services manager, cafeteria staff.

Health Services: District medical consultant, school nurse, health department representative.

Consoling, psychological, and social services: School psychologist, guidance counselor, social worker.

Social and Emotional Climate: Administrators, principals, counselors.

Physical Environment: Administrators, building and grounds keepers, custodian.

Employee Wellness: Teacher, Health Teacher, and community representative.

Family Engagement:  Representative from parent groups (PTA, PTO), and  youth groups.

Community Involvement: Chamber of commerce, rotary club, health agencies, government agencies.

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At this level of implementing the WSCC model someone is appointed to be the school health coordinator such as; the health or P.E. teacher.
The Duties of the School Health Coordinator include:

Collecting data to assess the schools needs and assets in the implementation of the WSCC model.

Oversee baseline and initial data collect process.

Conduct the assessment, districts can use a for tools

Helps maintain an active school health councils and facilitates health programming between schools, in the district, and with community.

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At this level of WSCC implementation an action plan is developed.
School and District teams need to develop their own action plan based on what is important as well as what is achievable in their school or community.

When developing an action plan, the CDC suggest that they are based on realistic goals and measurable objectives.

Use the SMART formula for creating these goals and objectives.

S-specific

M-measurable

A-attainable

R-relevant

T- time based

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Implement multiple strategies through multiple components

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Implement multiple strategies through multiple components

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At this level you implement your action plan.
Putting your action plan into place consist of implementing the plan and strategies, which usually consist of adopting policies or programs. When implementing the plan, districts need to direct the focus of school health efforts on meeting the educational and health needs of students. In addition, providing opportunities for students to be meaningfully involved in the school and the community will help the team to focus on students. School health efforts in programming and policies should give youth the chance to develop and exercise leadership ability, build skills, form positive relationships with caring adults, and contribute to their school and greater community.

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CDC - Page with menu-only navigation example description goes here

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Schools play a critical role in supporting children and adolescents in eating healthy and getting regular physical activity. Schools can provide learning opportunities to support these behaviors by implementing wellness policies and practices and using an effective health education curriculum.

The focus of the WSCC model is meeting the education and health needs of students, and providing opportunities for students to be meaningfully involved in the school and the community.

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The CDC has identified six categories of priority health risk behaviors as being linked to the leading causes of death and disability in the United States.
Health-Risk behaviors put people at risk for death and disability.
6 Health-Risk Behaviors

Behaviors that contribute to unintentional injuries and violence.

Tobacco use

Alcohol and other drug use

Sexual behaviors that contribute to unintended pregnancy and STD's, including HIV infection.

Unhealthy eating

Physical inactivity

Health-Enhancing Behaviors:
Behaviors that people engage in that will protect their health and Wellness and decrease their risk of developing chronic disease, such as getting enough sleep, engaging in physical activity, and selecting nutritional diets.

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The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) monitors six categories of health-related behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death and disability among youth and adults, including-

Behaviors that contribute to unintentional injuries and violence

Sexual behaviors related to unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV infection

Alcohol and other drug use

Tobacco use

Unhealthy dietary behaviors

Inadequate physical activity

YRBSS also measures the prevalence of obesity and asthma and other health-related behaviors plus sexual identity and sex of sexual contacts.

YRBSS is a system of surveys. It includes 1) a national school-based survey conducted by CDC and state, territorial, tribal, and 2) local surveys conducted by state, territorial, and local education and health agencies and tribal governments.

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YRBSS | Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System | Data | Adolescent and School Health | CDC

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The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) monitors six types of health-risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death and disability among youth and adults, including behaviors that contribute to unintentional injuries and violence; sexual behaviors that contribute to unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease, including HIV infection; alcohol and other drug use; tobacco; unhealthy dietary behaviors; inadequate physical activity.

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Provide professional development for staff

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Provide professional development for staff

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Professional development provides opportunities for school employees to identify areas for improvement, learn about and use proven practices, solve problems, develop skills, and reflect on and practice new strategies.

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comprehensive school physical activity programs: a guide for schools elearning course

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training tools for healthy schools e-learning series

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Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (HECAT)

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CDC - Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs: A Guide for Schools elearning course, Training Tools for Healthy Schools e-Learning Series