The School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS) 2006 is the largest, most comprehensive assessment of school health policies and programs in the United States ever conducted.
This new report describes key school health policies and practices across all eight school health program components: health education, physical education and activity, health services, mental health and social services, nutrition services, healthy and safe school environment, faculty and staff health promotion, and family and community involvement. In addition, SHPPS 2006 includes new topics—crisis preparedness and response, and the physical school environment—which reflect new issues and concerns in school health and public health.
Results from SHPPS 2006 are available in several formats:
• A special issue of the American School Health Association's Journal of School Health
• An overview fact sheet ( 4 pages, 250KB)
• A trend fact sheet ( 4 pages, 218KB)
SHPPS 2006 data files are available for public use.
Results from previous SHPPS studies (1994 and 2000) are available from our archive page.
Similar to SHPPS 2000, SHPPS 2006 was designed to answer the following questions:
• What are the characteristics of each school health program component at the state, district, school, and classroom (where applicable) levels and across elementary, middle, and high schools?
• Are there persons responsible for coordinating and delivering each school health program component and what are their qualifications and educational backgrounds?
• What collaboration occurs among staff from each school health program component and with staff from outside agencies and organizations?
• How have key policies and practices changed over time?
SHPPS 2006 data will be used to:
• Measure six Healthy People 2010 objectives;
• Support public and private school health program initiatives;
• Help states and districts determine technical assistance, professional preparation, and funding needs and priorities among their schools;
• Help parents, school board members, school administrators, teachers, and other community members determine how their own school health policies and programs compare to those nationwide;
• Help understand how well school health policies and programs address important public health issues and the priority health-risk behaviors that occur among students;
• Help understand whether schools are implementing policies and practices with evidence of effectiveness; and
• Assess how school health policies and programs have changed since 2000.
For more information, see the CDC's SHPPS Web site.