June 2006

Healthy School Communities: Essential to Student Success

By Gene R. Carter, Executive Director, ASCD

"You can't educate a child who isn't healthy, and you can't keep
a child healthy who isn't educated."
                                   —Former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders

Childhood obesity, asthma, school nurse and counselor shortages, and now concerns over avian flu are a few of the many health issues facing schools throughout the United States and, in many cases, the world. With concerns about these and others issues and their effect on current and future health and wellness increasing, we must intensify our focus on the important role that health plays in student learning and engagement.

Research links healthy children and positive learning outcomes—particularly those supported by coordinated and comprehensive health efforts. For example, ASCD’s Infobrief on "Healthy Learning Environments," reported that

• Students who participated in school breakfast programs had higher grades and test scores, fewer absences, and less tardiness than those who did not participate.
• Math and science scores were higher among a group of 3rd and 4th graders who received comprehensive health education when compared with those who did not receive health education.
• An elementary school in Louisiana experienced increased standardized test scores, decreased numbers of discipline referrals, and improved student and staff attendance after implementing a schoolwide life-skills program.

In the September 2005 issue of Educational Leadership, Superintendent Pat Cooper described how the McComb School District's coordinated school health plan focused on the needs of the whole child and turned a community around. The district, located in southwest Mississippi, has seen many positive indications of success since implementing the plan in 1997, including increased attendance and graduation rates and fewer juvenile arrests.

The U.S. Congress has also focused on coordinated and comprehensive school health through its passage of the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, which calls for all school districts with federally funded school meals programs to develop and implement local wellness policies by the 2006–07 school year.

ASCD is committed to supporting systemic healthy school reform. ASCD's Healthy School Communities program is part of a multiyear plan designed to shift public dialogue about education from an academic focus to a whole child focus. We are recasting the definition of a successful learner from one whose achievement is measured solely by academic tests, to one who is knowledgeable, emotionally and physically healthy, civically engaged, prepared for economic self-sufficiency, and ready for the world beyond formal schooling.

ASCD also developed the Healthy School Report Card, which enables individual schools to assess health-related aspects of the learning environment and to use the results as part of school improvement and community engagement.

Yet more must be done systemically to support the comprehensive approach to health and learning. In supporting systemic healthy school community reform, we as educators must join with noneducators to build healthy school communities worldwide that demonstrate capacity for best practice in leadership and instruction, comprehensive health programs, and strong collaboration with other community institutions. To achieve this vision, we must

• Help colleagues, policymakers, and communities understand how coordinated school health programs can help meet healthy school goals.
• Share research linking school health and academic success.
• Promote tools that can guide in assessing school practices, identifying and prioritizing changes that can be made in district or school improvement plans.
• Work with districts in promoting health-related professional development for teachers and staff.

No longer can education and health independently create the ideal conditions for learning, teaching, and leadership in this century. No longer can schools be viewed as islands—separate from the community—in dealing with health and education.

Get more information on ASCD's Healthy School Communities program.

Read Theresa C. Lewallen's "Healthy Learning Environments" in the August 2004 issue of Infobrief.

Read an abstract of Pat Cooper's "A Coordinated School Health Plan" in the September 2005 issue of Educational Leadership.

Questions or comments about this column?
We'd love to hear from you!

Send an e-mail to Kids@ascd.org.