Recent changes in educational policy in California require that public schools annually assess students' academic performance and achieve a 5 percent growth rate in test scores each year. Similar requirements have been implemented in other states. These requirements have had a far-reaching impact on public education in California. Anecdotal evidence suggests that many schools are cutting back on school programs and courses that address children's health in order to allocate additional resources to activities believed to be more directly related to improving test scores. These changes in school policies and practices may be shortsighted. Years of research exploring healthy development and successful learning has found a strong relationship between healthy behavior and well-being and academic success. The implication for schools is that reallocating resources away from health-related programs may actually undermine children's school performance in the long-term. This paper examines the relationship of academic test scores to health risks (nutrition, physical activity, ATOD use), protective factors (prosocial bonding to schools, families, and communities), and resilience traits (self-efficacy, problem solving skills). The analysis is based on data collected from middle school students in two school districts in southern California - one of which almost exclusively serves Latino students in an urban, economically deprived area while the other district is predominantly rural and serves an equal percentage of Latinos and whites. Regression techniques are used to examine how test scores are related to health risks, protective factors, and resilience traits. Special attention is paid to socioeconomic and ethnic differences in these relationships.
Learning Objectives: The participant in this sesssion will learn about (1) changes in school policies and practices with regard to school health in California in response to standards based reform and (2)the relationship between student health risks and resilience to academic test scores.
Keywords: Risk Behavior, School Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.