Coordinated School Health (CSH)

Overview

Supporting school health programs to improve the health status of our nation's young people has never been more important.

The DPI’s Student/Prevention and Wellness (SSPW) Team’s vision and mission aligns with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) framework for addressing health in schools using a coordinated approach. The Whole School, Whole Child, Whole Community (WSCC) model is student-centered and emphasizes the role of the community in supporting the school, the connections between health and academic achievement and the importance of evidence-based school policies and practices. CDC and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum (ASCD) developed the WSCC model—in collaboration with key leaders from the fields of health, public health, education, and school health—to strengthen a unified and collaborative approach designed to improve learning and health in our nation’s schools.

The WSCC model defines 10 important areas of a healthy school: health education; physical education and physical activity; nutrition environment and services; health services; counseling, psychological, and social services social and emotional climate; physical environment; employee wellness; family engagement; and community involvement.

Project WI-WSCC (Wisconsin Whole School, Whole Child Whole Community)

Whole School, Whole Child, Whole Community (WSCC) model

For more information on building healthier schools, visit CDC Healthy Schools.

Healthy Schools Academy

Commencing in the school year 2024-2025, the Wisconsin School Health Award will evolve into the new Healthy Schools Academy platform. This user-friendly platform will simplify schools' participation criteria, incorporating the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) School Health Index (SHI) modules 1-4. The Healthy Schools Academy has three participation levels and includes potential funding for schools. The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) will provide participating schools with opportunities to participate in Communities of Practice/Professional Learning Community where members can interact and learn from each other.

For more information, check out the Healthy Schools Academy website!

*Healthy Schools Academy and components of it are subject to funds availability and Academy resources.

Coordinated School Health (CSH) Topics

Local Wellness Policies

School Food Authorities (SFAs) that participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) or other specific federal child nutrition program are required to establish a local school wellness policy. Local Wellness Policies (LWP) are an important tool for promoting healthier school environments that promote positive behaviors and help students reach their full academic potential.

School Wellness Committees

There is no requirement in the Local Wellness Policy Final Rule that school districts establish a wellness committee; best practices would be to develop a wellness committee with a diverse group of individuals. However, districts must:

Identify a person in their written policy as the wellness leader who is responsible for wellness policy oversight.
Include language in their written policy related to permitting the public to participate in the development, implementation, and review of the wellness policy.

For more information on Wisconsin required policy components and best practices please see Wisconsin Wellness: Putting Policy into Practice and Local Wellness Policy Builder Online Tool.

School Health Index

The DPI recommends schools use an assessment to identify policies and practices that are effective in reducing youth health risk behaviors.

The School Health Index (SHI) is built on CDC’s research-based guidelines for school health programs that identify the policies and practices most likely to be effective in reducing youth health risk behaviors. The SHI is easy to use and is completely confidential.

The SHI (and related materials) is available as an interactive, customizable online tool or downloadable, printable version. The SHI aligns with the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model. To begin, utilize the School Health Index (SHI) Self-Assessment and Planning Guide is an online self-evaluation and planning tool for schools.

Wisconsin Youth Risk Behavior Survey

The Wisconsin Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is conducted as part of a national effort by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to monitor health-risk behaviors of the nation's high school students. These behaviors, in turn, result in the most significant causes of both mortality and morbidity during youth and adulthood. The behaviors monitored by the Wisconsin YRBS include mental health, traffic safety, weapons and violence, suicide, tobacco use, alcohol and other drug use, sexual behavior, nutrition, and exercise.

The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has administered the YRBS every two years since 1993. The YRBS is administered to students in Wisconsin's high schools. Survey procedures were designed to protect the privacy of students by allowing anonymous and voluntary participation. Local parent permission procedures were followed before administration, including informing parents their child's participation was voluntary.

For more information about the YRBS, please see the Wisconsin YRBS website.
A dashboard where users can find national and state results to individual YRBS items can be found on the CDC Youth Online page.

Wisconsin School Health Profiles

The School Health Profiles (Profiles) assists state and local education and health agencies in monitoring and assessing characteristics of school health education; physical education and physical activity; school health policies related to HIV infection/AIDS, tobacco-use prevention, bullying and sexual harassment, and nutrition; health services; school health coordination; and family and community involvement in school health programs. Two questionnaires are used to collect data: one questionnaire is designed for school principals and the other for lead health education teachers. The Profiles questionnaires were developed by the Division of Adolescent and School Health, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in collaboration with representatives of state, local, and territorial departments of health and education. Copies of the questionnaires can be found on the Profiles Questionnaires webpage.

Data from Profiles is collected every two years (in even numbered years) and is administered online to a select number of Wisconsin public schools, charter schools, and alternative schools containing any grades 6 through 12. For more information about School Health Profiles, please see Wisconsin School Health Profiles.