5. What can be demonstrated or interpreted with this data set?
margauxfThe Student Health Index enables users to identify where SBHCs will have the most impact for students. The index uses 12 indicators, each of which can be scored from 1 to 4 for any given school. These scores are generated using percentiles and represent relative values. The 12 indicator scores are combined into a Need Score, which is calculated using percentiles along a scale of 1 to 4. Schools with a score of 4 (in the 4th quartile) have the highest Need scores relative to other schools in California.
The index is composed of 12 diverse indicators (percentages, rates, and index values) that have been transformed using percentiles in order to enable comparisons on a common scale. These indicators are divided into 3 categories: health indicators, school-level indicators, and socioeconomic indicators.
Health Indicators
- Diabetes
- Asthma ED admissions
- Teen birth
- Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA)
Socioeconomic Indicators
- Poverty among individuals under 18
- Uninsured among under 19
- Healthy Places Index
School-Level Indicators
- Percent FRPL (students eligible for free or reduced-price meals)
- Percent English Learners
- Percent Chronically Absent
- Percent experiencing homelessness
- Suspension rate
Other Data
- Mental health hospitalization rate
- Percent in foster care
Indicator selection was guided by CDC estimations on the primary contributing factors that shape health (social determinants of health, medical care, and health behaviors). The indicators included in the index are all either directly associated with the absence of health services that could be provided at a school level, act as proxies for health behaviors, or represent social determinants of health that could be addressed through access to school-based health services.
Indicator selection was influenced by recommendations from the Research Initiative of the Campaign for Educational Equity at Columbia Teachers College, which found that seven health disparities affecting school-aged youth could be addressed through school health programs. These disparities include: (1) vision, (2) asthma, (3) teen pregnancy, (4) aggression and violence (including bullying), (5) physical activity, (6) hunger, and (7) inattention and hyperactivity.
More detailed description of the rationale shaping indicator selection is available here.