Academic Success Toolkit

SBHCs are under increasing pressure to demonstrate their value to schools and communities. As a result, SBHCs need to be able to clearly communicate the impact that they can have on students’ academic success. SBHCs must make the connection between good health and academic outcomes, and specifically frame the discussion by recognizing the unique opportunity their location within the school affords for the provision of quality care to children and adolescents.

In order to help SBHCs and their advocates articulate the SBHC – academic success connection, NASBHC developed the Academic Success Toolkit. NASBHC hopes that SBHCs and their allies will use this tool kit to campaign for sustaining and expanding the school-based health care model.

Academic Success Toolkit Contents

Academic Success Fact Sheet –
This fact sheet highlights research and evaluations that have demonstrated that School-Based Health Centers (SBHCs)—the convergence of public health, primary care, and mental health—provide an optimal setting to foster learning readiness and academic achievement while giving children the resources they need to improve their health.

Academic Outcomes Presentation -
Educators, SBHCs, and SBHC advocates can use this PowerPoint to make a clear connection between good health and academic success.

Interview with Dr. Morton Sherman, School Superintendent -
This video series is geared towards helping school mental health (SMH) stakeholders develop messages about the connection between school mental health and academic outcomes that will resonate with school administrators.

Interview with Allan Alson, NASBHC Board of Directors member and former superintendent in Evanston, IL

Policy Statement: Documentation of the Relationship Between School-Based Health Centers and the Academic Accomplishments of Students -
The purpose of this position statement is to clarify issues and suggest priorities relating to the documentation of the relationship between school-based health centers (SBHCs) and the academic accomplishments of students.

Academic Outcomes and SBHCs White Paper -
A meeting of educators, SBHC providers, and evaluators was convened by NASBHC to explore the relationship between school-based health care and outcomes related to academic success.

Federal Education Policy - By: Jeanita Richardson -
This paper provides a research-based overview of prevailing demands on schools, focusing primarily on the governance and funding policies of public K-12 schools at the federal level.