It is neither reasonable nor realistic to expect that,on their own, schools can close the gaps in education or eliminate healthy disparities among the nation’s youth. Schools should not be solely responsible for addressing these complex and recalcitrant problems. There are essential roles to be played by families, communities, Health care systems, legislators, media, and by economic policy. All of these (and other) social institutions should, and must, contribute to solving
these problem The important role of schools in addressing health issues has been recognized by leading educational professional organizations, policy making, and interstitial group.
2.An Opportune Time for Change
Provided resources to assist schools in addressing some health topics such as safety and Drug use prevention, but it has not provided leadership for integrating school health into the fundamental mission of schools and supporting the widespread development and implementation of high quality, strategically planned, and effectively coordinated approache. Community and full service schools offer in-school programs and services, including health and mental health programs and services to support youth before and after school. Despite the widespread and substantial Investment in school health programs and services, current investments are likely to yield only limited educational benefits to students for several reason
3. Strategic Priorities
The current analysis establishes strategic priorities based on their relevance to educational outcomes and to closing the achievement gap. Three criteria were considered: (1) prevalence and extent of health disparities, (2) evidence of causal effects on educational outcomes, and (3) feasibility of implementing proven or promising school-based programs and policies. If a health problem is the cause of an educational disparity, the Health problems must be statistically and temporally associated with the unfavorable educational outcome.
Based on these criteria, the following educationally relevant health disparities were selected as priorities: (1) vision, (2) asthma, (3) Teen pregnancy, (4) aggression and violence, (5) physical activity, (6) breakfast, and (7) inattention and Hyperactive.
4. Causal Pathway
One or more of five causal pathways—the mechanisms by which health factors influence motivation and ability to learn—are identified and described for each health factor: (1) sensory perception, (2) cognition, (3) school connectedness and engagement, (4) absenteeism, and (5) temporary or permanent dropping out. Connectedness is essentially about interpersonal relationships, both with peers and school staff. It is the extent to which students perceive that adults and peers in the school community care about them as students and as individual. Because educational outcomes are influenced by many forces differentially across various contexts, each health factor, addressed separately, should not be expected to have large or consistent effects on educational outcomes. Thus, beyond their individual effects, educationally relevant health disparities, collectively, can have an influential role in shaping the educational and social lives of the nation’s urban minority youth.
5. Delimitations and Overall Inten
Improved health status for all children is a worthy goal, but need is particularly urgent among urban minority youth who, as with adults, have great intergenerational educational and health disparities. Second, though health may influence education outcomes across the lifespan, attention is limited to health factors that influence school-aged youth. A third delimitation is that health factors were selected based, in part, on feasibility of implementing proven or promising school based programs and services. Each of the educationally relevant health disparities is described with respect to nature and scope of the problem, prevalence and disparities affecting urban minority Youth , causal pathways by which the respective health disparity adversely affects motivation or ability to learn, ways that school programs and policies can address the problem, and evidence supporting proven or promising approaches.
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