LAFAYETTE, LA - The Picard Center for Childhood Development and Lifelong Learning at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette on July 25 and 26 hosted the first Coordinated School Health Summit bringing together educators and school administrators from across the state to explore the link between student health and academic achievement.
"Research shows a strong correlation between students' physical activity level and standardized test scores," said Picard Center Executive Director Dr. Billy Stokes. "We are pleased to see the progress that a number of districts are making in implementing coordinated school health programs, and through this summit and our research and evaluation, we will continue to support these efforts as they grow and expand to school districts across the state."
Stokes said the Picard Center aims to provide data and analysis from school fitness assessments that will help school districts make decisions about programs and interventions that can impact student health and thereby academic achievement.
Twenty-one school districts in Louisiana currently participate in the fitness assessment program with the Picard Center. Through the program, schools collect and report fitness data, which the Center aggregates and analyzes in a report back to the district at the conclusion of each school year. In addition, the Picard Center provides technical assistance, training and guidance on how schools can use the data to improve student health.
"The growing number of schools participating with us in fitness assessments is encouraging," said Dr. Joan Landry, Picard Center program manager for physical health. "With each year of data collection, school districts become better equipped to make data-driven decisions that can create lasting change in the lives of their students."
Landry cited Lafayette Parish as an example of a district that has used two years of fitness data to develop a program targeting childhood obesity and undernourishment. Starting this fall, the district will provide services to address the health of students in the 99th percentile in the obese and underweight body mass index (BMI) categories.
"Lafayette is just one example of the power of data and the impact that fitness assessments and careful analysis and planning can have for children in our schools," said Landry. "We know that healthy children are more ready to learn, and real-world impacts on children's health can only come from decisions based on the data collected from real-world students."
Healthy and Ready to Learn was the theme of the two-day Summit, and it focused on planning around the eight components of the coordinated school health model developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The model is a holistic approach incorporating health and physical education, health, nutrition and mental health services, school environment, staff wellness and family and community involvement.
Following information sessions from regional and state-level speakers, the school districts in attendance worked in teams to assess their district's current coordinated school health efforts and to formulate plans to improve and expand their efforts.
Keynote speaker Mark Bloodworth with the Tennessee Department of Education introduced attendees to his state's successful strategies for funding and sustainability of coordinated school health. Tennessee law mandates and funds a coordinator for every school district to ensure that all of the components of the CDC's model are implemented in every school. According to Bloodworth, evaluations of the effort have shown a two percent decrease in BMI among students so far.
"Louisiana appears to be on track to do lots of good things in terms of coordinating school health," said Bloodworth. "This state is further ahead than some others with whom we've shared our successes, especially in terms of data gathering. Louisiana is already collecting a good bit of very relevant data, which is a big step in the right direction."
In addition to speakers from Tennessee, Texas and the CDC, state representatives from the Louisiana Departments of Health and Hospitals and the Louisiana Department of Education presented on a range of topics from nutrition to chronic disease prevention. The state officials along with representatives from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana, the state chapter of the American Heart Association and Southwest Louisiana Area Health Education Center shared information about resources available in the state to assist school districts in their coordinated school health efforts.
Resources such as tool kits, guides, technical assistance, and grant opportunities were reviewed as options schools and school districts can use to build on school health components already in place and to develop new programs and interventions to address health in schools.
"This first Coordinated School Health Summit was all about sharing, learning and planning for coordinated school health," Landry said. "The districts participating and the state and local agencies involved walked away with a better understanding of what's needed going to forward to continue to use information to make a difference in the health of our children."