A Study of Health Care Assistance in a Title 1 School District

Abstract

This study opens with a discussion on the health status of school-aged youth in the United States. Then, it describes how student health problems and learning intersect and how health care in public schools is provided both nationally and in a particular prekindergarten through eighth grade Title 1 public school district in the southwestern United States. Specifically, this study examines how health care in this district functioned over-all and how school administrators interacted with health care providers in their schools. Findings indicate that administrators did not routinely associate the health of students with their performance in school and that their capacity to assist school health care providers was weak. Moreover, results suggest approaches to health care assistance followed exacerbated conditions that placed the wellness of students at risk. These findings raise concerns about the quality of health care provided to students and the capacity for educational administrators to assist.