Collaboration to improve the outcomes of children with asthma: A school district leadership model

School district leaders must understand how health issues, specifically asthma, affect schools and their mission and know how to communicate with families of children with asthma to be prepared and motivated to improve their school policies and practices . Likewise, families of children with asthma and other chronic diseases must be able to express their needs and expectations to district leaders and other school health personnel to be empowered to partner with schools to improve policies and practices. They need to know how to talk to one another in constructive ways. Moreover, health advocates, health care providers, education leaders, and other key stakeholders can influence policies and practices that reduce the burden of asthma on children, families and schools, but need to learn to walk in each other's shoes. The American Association of School Administrators and the National School Boards Association are working together to build communication between top-level school district leaders and policymakers, parents and other key stakeholders to build their respective capacities regarding school health. Two important activities have facilitated and inspired collaboration: a meeting of parent, school and community groups entitled Building Bridges: Parents and Schools Focused on Asthma, and the Leadership Forum on Healthy Students and Healthy Schools. These two meetings brought together key stakeholder national organizations and teams of school leaders and other key players in state-level asthma management, respectively. These types of broad, yet focused, collaborations are essential to decrease the burden of asthma in schools and improve health outcomes for children.