Family & Community Students & Families Student Support, Career & Education
Nutrition, Health and Safety

Health and Academics: Making the Link Technical Assistance Kit

Spring 2000

Dear Health Coordinators

Enclosed is the Health and Academics: Making the Link Technical Assistance Kit. This advocacy kit includes a video called Health and Academics: Making the Link, a literature review of the current research connecting health and academic performance, a PowerPoint presentation and brochures providing data from the literature. Health and Academics: Making the Link is the result of the need expressed by coordinators across the state for a way to support comprehensive school health education programs in the face of growing demands for assessment and accountability.

We have packaged this tool so that you can use it in whatever way is helpful to you. As highlighted in the Commissioner's letter to you, included specifically in this kit are: a video; a literature review; a floppy disk which contains the PowerPoint presentation and talking points and a prototype for the color brochure; a black and white master copy of the brochure; five color brochures; color overhead transparencies of the PowerPoint presentation and a black and white master of the PowerPoint slides with the accompanying talking points.

Binder Assembly Instructions:

We have provided you with a binder to hold all the contents, so that you can bring all your materials with you in one package. We have provided you with tabs so that you can have easy access to different parts of the package. You have received five tabs, three of which are labeled, for your convenience. The labels are LITERATURE REVIEW, PRESENTATATION AND LOCAL RESOURCES. This allows you to organize the binder in the way that is most useful to you. Please put the transparencies in the protective sleeves. You may add any local resource information, such as your local youth risk behavior survey, MCAS information or other pertinent materials to the binder as well.

How to Localize the Presentation:

The literature review is a document that provides a summary of the most meaningful research on the connection between health, comprehensive school health education programs and academic performance. Read this and become familiar with the research. Feel free to access the actual documents either through your local library, a neighboring university library and the State library or through ERIC documents on the Internet. Become familiar with your local data based on previously conducted needs assessments, program evaluations and risk behavior surveys. Consider reviewing your district's MCAS data. Think about the educational outcomes of your program and how they support the efforts of education reform. As the Commissioner stated, the way to gain support for your district's program is to clearly articulate the district's needs and how your program is relevant to the broader school and community issues.

The accompanying video, PowerPoint presentation and brochure each are based on the findings of the literature review and connect the research links with educational outcomes. They can be used individually or together to provide your audience with the findings of the research, the Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey and your local data. We suggest that the video be used for the opening of your presentation, after your basic introduction.

We have provided you with a "write protected" disk, which can be used with either a PC or a MAC. Although changes can not be made directly on the disk, you can copy the files to your own computer files and make changes as needed. This disk contains a PowerPoint presentation. For those of you who have access to PowerPoint programming, this is an exciting way to provide information to your audiences. You can view the animated presentation and access the talking points for the power presentation by going into the PowerPoint program in your computer. Remember that the talking points provided are a guide. You are welcome to add or change the talking points or slides to accommodate your local data and/or to add other pertinent information to your presentation. Through the PowerPoint program you are also able to augment your presentation in other ways. For example, you can make note pages for your audience, so they can write comments as you present. Always keep in mind that our intent is to provide you with something that is useful and adaptable to local needs.

We have also provided you with the overhead transparencies of the slides from the PowerPoint presentation for those times when you are unable to use a PowerPoint presentation. Again, you may add to or change these transparencies as needed. Simply, make the changes accordingly by going into your own file of the PowerPoint presentation.

You will find five color brochures and a black and white master of the brochure in your binder as well as the prototype of the color brochure in a file on the disk. The brochures should be folded into threes and can be offered at any presentation or independently to any interested parties. You might want to keep some at your office, with the advisory council members, at the administrative office or at local physicians' offices. Again, if you would like to make changes on the brochure you can do so by going into the copied file that you made from the "write protected" disk.

We are very excited about getting the Health and Academics: Making the Link Technical Assistance Kit to you. As stated above, you can make changes to any of the tools in order to accommodate your local needs, with the indication that the materials were adapted from the ESE materials. Please feel free to contact us with any comments you may have. If you have any questions about how to use the kit, you can call Karolyne White, Education Specialist at #781 338-6292 or Jane Stoleroff, Education Specialist at #781 338-6317.

Sincerely,

John L.G. Bynoe, III
Administrator
Health, Safety and Student Support Services