About PHDP
The Paramount Health Data Project (PHDP) started as an aha moment shared by a school leader, a master teacher, and two educational researchers in 2013. As we say, “The numbers just started jumping off the page!” Over the next seven years we devoted ourselves to teasing out the details and crosstalk of the health and education sectors with a laser focus on impacting academic achievement. We are proud to lead the way for educators and healthcare providers to partner in authentic and tangible ways. We believe that when different sectors collaborate and share data, great things can happen!
PHDP’s ability to train and implement the health-data model in an expanding number of schools ensures that the overarching impact will continue to grow. Our growing statistical data set will allow our states and federal policymakers to better understand the importance of this work, opening pathways for additional funding and better cross-sector sustainability.
Rationale
Health and Education are inextricably intertwined and yet we continue to silo data and limit our ability to leverage connections that would help our United States youth. We need to admit that health is a key component of school readiness and allow it to come alongside academic achievement. The Paramount Health Data Project provides a model for this, bringing the health and education sectors together.
Good education predicts good health, and disparities in health and in educational achievement are closely linked.
- A student who can’t read on grade level by 3rd grade is four times less likely to graduate by age 19 than a child who is reading on grade level.
- Children of poverty are 13 times less likely to graduate on time than their proficient, wealthier peers.
Education leads to a longer lifespan and a higher quality of life.
- High school graduates live an average of 6 years longer than non-high school graduates.
- Educational attainment is a root cause of health and longevity through improved socio-economic status, greater economic stability and greater community engagement.
School-based health centers have real access to students.
- Students between 5 and 18 years old in the United States will spend 1440-2600 hours (22-44%) of their waking life in school.
- Americans visit their doctors 4 times a year for 20 minutes.
- Lower-income families with out-of-pocket expenditures report cost-related delays or skipping care entirely.
Early Intervention is Key.
- High quality preschool, like Head Start, is associated with decreased risk of dropping out of high school.
- Poor grades and low test scores in elementary and middle school are associated with increased risk of dropping out of high school.
- This project uses student health data to inform decision making in the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) framework to provide earlier and more effective educational help/interventions.
Social Determinants of Health
Reframing School Dropout as a Public Health Issue. Nicholas Freudenberg,
DrPH, Distinguished Professor of Urban Public Health and Jessica Ruglis. Prev Chronic Dis. 2007 Oct; 4(4): A107. Published online 2007 Sep 15.
Hernandez, D. J. (2011). Double jeopardy: How third-grade reading skills and poverty influence high school graduation. Baltimore, MD: The Annie E. Casey Foundation.
American Public Health Association
“High school graduates are less likely to commit crimes, rely on government health care, or use public services such as food stamps or housing assistance and are more likely to raise healthier, better-educated children.”
Public Health and Education: Working Collaboratively Across Sectors to Improve High School Graduation as a Means to Eliminate Health Disparities. American Public Health Association: Date: Nov 09 2010. Policy Number: 2010
“Current evidence suggests that improving graduation rates to reduce health disparities and improve health may be more cost-effective than investing only in medical interventions.”
Public Health and Education: Working Collaboratively Across Sectors to Improve High School Graduation as a Means to Eliminate Health Disparities. American Public Health Association: Date: Nov 09 2010. Policy Number: 2010
“Graduation from high school is associated with an increase in average lifespan of 6 to 9 years.”
Public Health and Education: Working Collaboratively Across Sectors to Improve High School Graduation as a Means to Eliminate Health Disparities. American Public Health Association: Date: Nov 09 2010. Policy Number: 2010