ERIC Number: EJ917957
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Feb
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-4391
EISSN: N/A
Applying the School Health Index to a Nationally Representative Sample of Schools: Update for 2006
Brener, Nancy D.; Pejavara, Anu; McManus, Tim
Journal of School Health, v81 n2 p81-90 Feb 2011
Background: The School Health Index (SHI) is a tool designed to help schools assess the extent to which they are implementing practices included in the research-based guidelines and strategies for school health and safety programs developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CDC previously analyzed data from the 2000 School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS) to determine the percentage of US schools meeting the recommendations in the SHI. A new edition of the SHI (2005) and the availability of 2006 SHPPS data made it necessary to update and repeat the analysis. Methods: SHPPS 2006 data were collected through computer-assisted personal interviews with faculty and staff in a nationally representative sample of schools. The data were then matched to SHI items to calculate the percentage of schools meeting the recommendations in 4 areas: school health and safety policies and environment, health education, physical education and other physical activity programs, and nutrition services. Results: In accordance with the earlier findings, the present analysis indicated that schools nationwide were focusing their efforts on a few policies and programs rather than addressing the entire set of recommendations in the SHI. The percentage of items related to nutrition that schools met remained high, and an increase occurred in the percentage of items that schools met related to school health and safety policies and environment. Conclusions: More work needs to be done to assist schools in implementing school health policies and practices; this analysis helps identify specific areas where improvement is needed. (Contains 5 tables and 1 figure.)
Descriptors: Physical Education, Disease Control, Health Education, Physical Activities, Safety, Legislators, Nutrition, School Health Services, Health Promotion, Interviews, Sample Size, Evaluation, Educational Improvement
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A