Portland State University



Kelly CoatesHSMP 675: Advanced Health Policy | Discussion #1We generally recognize that a child’s success in school determines his/her success as an adult, as education generally sets the stage for future career/life trajectories. Many of us also generally recognize that health and education are inextricably linked, but recognize that our understanding of their specific causality is largely unknown. We also recognize that there is an achievement gap in America with disparities between white students and students of color and between students from high SES families and low SES families. To this point, educational reform designed to address the academic achievement gap has largely focused on education-specific initiatives. However, the same children who are disproportionately affected by health disparities are generally the same population who is poorly affected by the educational gap. Basch ADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Basch", "given" : "Charles E.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "Journal of School Health", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issue" : "10", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2011" ] ] }, "page" : "593-598", "title" : "Healthier students are better learners: A missing link in school reforms to close the achievement gap", "type" : "article-journal", "volume" : "81" }, "uris" : [ "" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "formattedCitation" : "(Basch, 2011)", "manualFormatting" : "(2011)", "plainTextFormattedCitation" : "(Basch, 2011)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Basch, 2011)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "" }(2011) suggests that the missing link for education reform may lie in addressing health disparities. “An important emerging literature implicates children’s health factors as causal mechanisms through which low socioeconomic status influences academic achievement and educational attainment” ADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Basch", "given" : "Charles E.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "Journal of School Health", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issue" : "10", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2011" ] ] }, "page" : "593-598", "title" : "Healthier students are better learners: A missing link in school reforms to close the achievement gap", "type" : "article-journal", "volume" : "81" }, "uris" : [ "" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "formattedCitation" : "(Basch, 2011)", "manualFormatting" : "(Basch, 2011, p. 594)", "plainTextFormattedCitation" : "(Basch, 2011)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Basch, 2011)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "" }(Basch, 2011, p. 594). Basch’s recommendation/suggestion for change is to focus the US Department of Education’s efforts on integrating school health initiatives into the fundamental mission of schools to address the various health-related barriers that exists for students’ learning and teachers’ ability to teach. The Whole School, Whole Community and Whole Child framework is designed to better address health-related barriers to learning ADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "DOI" : "10.1111/josh.12309", "ISBN" : "0022-4391", "ISSN" : "17461561", "PMID" : "26440816", "abstract" : "BACKGROUND: While it is a national priority to support the health and education of students, these sectors must better align, integrate, and collaborate to achieve this priority. This article summarizes the literature on the connection between health and academic achievement using the Whole School, Whole Community, and Whole Child (WSCC) framework as a way to address health-related barriers to learning.\\n\\nMETHODS: A literature review was conducted on the association between student health and academic achievement.\\n\\nRESULTS: Most of the evidence examined the association between student health behaviors and academic achievement, with physical activity having the most published studies and consistent findings. The evidence supports the need for school health services by demonstrating the association between chronic conditions and decreased achievement. Safe and positive school environments were associated with improved health behaviors and achievement. Engaging families and community members in schools also had a positive effect on students' health and achievement.\\n\\nCONCLUSIONS: Schools can improve the health and learning of students by supporting opportunities to learn about and practice healthy behaviors, providing school health services, creating safe and positive school environments, and engaging families and community. This evidence supports WSCC as a potential framework for achieving national educational and health goals.", "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Michael", "given" : "Shannon L.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Merlo", "given" : "Caitlin L.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Basch", "given" : "Charles E.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Wentzel", "given" : "Kathryn R.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Wechsler", "given" : "Howell", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "Journal of School Health", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issue" : "11", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2015" ] ] }, "page" : "740-758", "title" : "Critical Connections: Health and Academics", "type" : "article-journal", "volume" : "85" }, "uris" : [ "" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "formattedCitation" : "(Michael, Merlo, Basch, Wentzel, & Wechsler, 2015)", "plainTextFormattedCitation" : "(Michael, Merlo, Basch, Wentzel, & Wechsler, 2015)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Michael, Merlo, Basch, Wentzel, & Wechsler, 2015)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "" }(Michael, Merlo, Basch, Wentzel, & Wechsler, 2015), but my opinion is that it’s too big and tries to accomplish too much. However, there are so important take-aways in the examination between health and education.My point of discussion for Tuesday, April 18’s class is to take these two articles and examine the reframing of the academic achievement gap of one that is a health issue, not simply an education issue. To address the educationally relevant health disparities, the problem of the academic achievement gap needs to be viewed different, especially if we want the education silo to work in tandem with the health silo. If I want policy to view poor health as a cause of poor education, I need to reframe educational reform through a health lens, and find different angles to hook people by selling the same thing in a slightly different way. This may be a shift in the problem definition, it may be a shift in the policy actors, it may be a shift in the idea that it’s not individual behavior but is more socially determined, and it may be a change in the population framing. I’d like for the class to help me by engaging in a discussion on how to create a paradigm shift.Works CitedADDIN Mendeley Bibliography CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Basch, C. E. (2011). Healthier students are better learners: A missing link in school reforms to close the achievement gap. Journal of School Health, 81(10), 593–598. Retrieved from , S. L., Merlo, C. L., Basch, C. E., Wentzel, K. R., & Wechsler, H. (2015). Critical Connections: Health and Academics. Journal of School Health, 85(11), 740–758. ................
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