Integrated Student Supports (ISS) are a coordinated system of comprehensive school-based services that address student barriers to achievement (Child Trends, 2014), and are particularly salient for students who face complex needs. ISS have the ability to improve student educational outcomes when implemented effectively (Child Trends, 2014). The symposium contributors will discuss three different U.S. ISS initiatives in practice and their relative successes, challenges, and impact.
The first author will discuss findings and implications from two studies of a model of ISS prevalent in the U.S., School-Based Health Centers (SBHCs). SBHCs address youth barriers to healthcare and promote health equity by providing primary medical and mental health services, as well as health education programming. SBHCs have important ramifications for students’ health, behaviors, and lives. The first study quantitatively examines the longitudinal impact of SBHC use on student health status, physical activity, and academic performance. The second study is a qualitative examination of students and teachers’ awareness of SBHC services, as well as perceptions of and recommendations for their health center. Implications for future SBHC research, policy, and practice are discussed.
The second author will discuss the implementation of an ISS approach, Full Service Community Schools, that goes beyond the SBHC model in integrating student supports by focusing on the holistic needs of students and their families, fostering student and family voice in decisions making, and attempting to improve community conditions. The presentation will focus on lessons learned over the course of several projects stemming from the ongoing evaluation of a multi-year effort to implement Full Service Community Schools within the public school district serving a legacy city in the Midwestern US. The presenter will address issues involved in defining and measuring the implementation of full service community schools, key factors impacting the success of adoption efforts, and practical considerations in negotiating issues of power and community voice.
The third author will discuss an ongoing community coalition effort to develop and enhance ISS in a predominantly under resourced county in the Midwestern United States. He will reflect on the alternative methods utilized by this coalition to develop capacity to implement ISS in a region facing urban blight. Specifically, the presentation will focus on the application of the community coalition action theory (CCAT) through the vision, mission, objectives, strategies, and actions (VMOSA) process to enhance alignment between pre-existing healthcare service providers and institutional bodies to leverage pre-existing (but underutilized) resources given the lack of external funding. Implications for future coalition development research around the implementation of ISS are discussed.