The Future of School Health

The Future of School Health Webinar
September 12, 2011

This webinar was a continuation of The Future of School Health Summit ASHA hosted in May. The presenters' slides are up now, and a recording of the presentation will be available soon.

 

The Future of School Health Summit
May 7, 2011

 

On May 7, 2011, ASHA convened a group of thought leaders to discuss the future of school health.

The summit provided an opportunity for an open and spacious dialogue about the future of school health, unfettered by the goals of any particular organization's needs or objectives. Instead, the group focused on what health issues interfere most with children's academic achievement.

Dubbed "Time for Change: A Leadership Summit on the Future of School Health," the event was designed to identify big trends influencing school health now and into the next few years, big questions that need to be answered before we can address those trends, and needs and opportunities.

Participants:

  • Patricia Anderson, Executive Director, The Society of State Leaders of Health and Physical Education
  • Charles E. Basch, Richard March Hoe Professor of Health Education, Columbia Teachers College
  • Charlene Burgeson, Executive Director, National Association for Sport and Physical Education
  • Amy Garcia, Executive Director of the National Association of School Nurses
  • Mark Ginsberg, Dean of the College of Education and Human Development, George Mason University
  • Brenda Greene, Director of School Health Programs, National School Boards Association
  • Nora Howley, Manager of Programs, National Education Association Health Information Network
  • Nancy Hudson, Senior Program Associate for Standards, Assessment and Accountability, Council of Chief State School Officers
  • Elizabeth Partoyan, Strategic Initiative Director, Next Generation Learners, Council of Chief State School Officers
  • Karen Pittman, Co-Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Forum for Youth Investment
  • Sean Slade, Director of Healthy School Communities, ASCD
  • Robert (Skip) Valois, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina
  • Howell Wechsler, Director of CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health

Big Trends:

  • Technology: Technology impacts how kids relate to each other, how they communicate, engage friends, or isolate themselves.
  • Demographics: The gaps between haves and have-nots – and who does well in school and who does not – is widening.
  • Quality of Life: Advances in technology outpace our ability to maintain quality of life; mental and physical health is in decline while stressors increase for all segments of society
  • Globalization: Fewer jobs in America, more overseas.
  • Investment: How we prioritize our investments of time, energy, and money has changed.

Big Questions:

  • What do we want Education to do and for what reason? (Think “content delivery system” vs. “development tool.”)
  • What rubric best serves teachers and students, and who has a voice in how we measure success in schools?

1. Polititians?
2. Parents?
3. Higher Ed?
4. Administrators?
5. Corporate employers?
6. Students?

  • Compelling evidence shows that numerous health factors can potential for learning – on motivation and ability to learn. What do we mean by “school health,” and how do we frame school health in a way that makes sense to school leaders? Is it an accurate name for what we are doing/need to do?
  • What has to happen for teaching to become a valued profession, with incentives strong enough to attract the best and brightest to public schools?
  • What radical transformations can you imagine to redesign all aspects of education – the people, the environment, the curricula, etc. ?
  • How do we redefine competence and readiness? What are critical skills, knowledge and competency students need to go into the global work force?
  • What major points/definitions do school health organizations need to agree on? One example: Are we promoting health to improve academic performance or are we promoting health for the sake of health -- a human necessity.

Needs and Opportunities:

  • School starts when kids are five, but neuroscience has confirmed that at 2-3 years old, children have a huge capacity to learn. We need a developmental continuum that’s linked to cognitive/social development, not just in early childhood, but through adolescence.
  • There’s no accountability, no solid investment in school health. It isn’t measured, and it’s often the first thing to go in the face of budget cuts. We have to reorient our agenda toward the main priority, which is academic.
  • The Department of Education needs to have an office devoted to health promotion in schools.