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CDC Releases School Health Index

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) is pleased to announce the release of the updated School Health Index (SHI). First released in 2000, the SHI is a self-assessment and planning tool that schools can use to improve their health and safety policies and programs.

What's new in the SHI 2012 edition?

SHI 2012 features:

  • Expanded focus that adds sexual health to the SHI health topics addressed, including policies and practices that schools can follow to help prevent HIV, STDs, and teen pregnancies.
  • Revised cross-cutting modules on family and community involvement, health services, and mental health services.
  • Updated nutrition content aligned with USDA requirements and recommendations from the Institute of Medicine.

SHI 2012 retains many of the previous features, such as:

  • Offering elementary and middle/high school versions (for completion online or in hard copy).
  • Reflecting the coordinated school health approach in its organization of modules.
  • Addressing the key health topics of physical activity, nutrition, tobacco-use prevention, safety (unintentional injury and violence prevention), and asthma.
  • Providing access to valuable complementary SHI materials, including training manuals, FAQs, and online help.

How does using the SHI benefit schools and promote student health?

Schools across the country, and in Canada, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia, use SHI to:

  • Identify strengths and weaknesses of health and safety policies and programs.
  • Enable schools to develop an action plan for improving student health, which can be incorporated into the School Improvement Plan.
  • Engage teachers, parents, students, and the community in promoting health-enhancing behaviors and improving health.

The SHI is based on CDC's research-based guidelines for school health programs, which identify the policies and practices most likely to be effective in reducing youth health risk behaviors. School health programs can help students establish healthy behaviors early in life, with positive results that are both immediate and long lasting.

How are the SHI materials accessed?

The SHI is available free of charge at www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/SHI. You can select either the interactive, customizable online tool or the downloadable, printable version. Training manuals and other complementary materials also are available online.

The SHI 2012 update will not change users' access to the online SHI. Login information will remain the same, and current users will be able to access the previous work completed by their team in the SHI.

For more information on the Division of Adolescent and School Health: