BACKGROUNDSchools, school districts, and communities seeking to implement the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model should carefully and deliberately select planning, implementation, and evaluation strategies.METHODSIn this article, we identify strategies, steps, and resources within each phase that can be integrated into existing processes that help improve health outcomes and academic achievement. Implementation practices may vary across districts depending upon available resources and time commitments.RESULTSObtaining and maintaining administrative support at the beginning of the planning phase is imperative for identifying and implementing strategies and sustaining efforts to improve student health and academic outcomes. Strategy selection hinges on priority needs, community assets, and resources identified through the planning process. Determining the results of implementing the WSCC is based upon a comprehensive evaluation that begins during the planning phase. Evaluation guides success in attaining goals and objectives, assesses strengths and weaknesses, provides direction for program adjustment, revision, and future planning, and informs stakeholders of the effect of WSCC, including the effect on academic indicators.CONCLUSIONSWith careful planning, implementation, and evaluation efforts, use of the WSCC model has the potential of focusing family, community, and school education and health resources to increase the likelihood of better health and academic success for students and improve school and community life in the present and in the future.

Changes in national and state policies in the past two decades have had a negative impact on school health education. During this same time, significant gains have been made in our understanding of the relationship between health and academic outcomes. This article proposes three challenges that could help refocus our country’s efforts toward the positive impacts quality school health education can have on our population. Each of these challenges has corresponding recommendations to guide stakeholder efforts to help bring about these changes.

The health education profession has made significant strides in promoting quality assurance for credentialing of health educators through a combination of individual certification and program approval and accreditation mechanisms. Although the profession has widely embraced individual certification, program accreditation has not been uniformly accepted nor implemented. The National Task Force on Accreditation in Health Education was charged to develop a detailed plan for a coordinated accreditation system for undergraduate and graduate programs in health education. One of the goals of the task force was to gather professionwide input into any proposed new system. We conducted two Web-based surveys to assess viewpoints on accreditation and program approval from health education professionals (n=506) and from faculty and administrators at academic programs in health education (n=105). Results from the surveys show that the majority of professionals in the field and at academic programs surveyed supported and would participate in a national, coordinated, professionwide accreditation system in health education. Furthermore, the majority of respondents suggested that the accreditation system should be comprehensive, flexible, build on the strengths of existing accreditation systems, and be linked to individual certification. Findings from these surveys, along with other input from the field, will help inform the final recommendations of the task force.

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