Essential Tips for Successful Collaboration (2004).  Free.

Essential Tips for Successful Collaboration provides a summary of the "lessons learned" by CCSSO and its partners in the Joint Work Group on School-Based Teen Pregnancy Prevention members over five years of organizational collaboration as part of our cooperative agreements with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Adolescent and School Health.

The Joint Work Group was first formed in 1997 and continued in a revised form through March 2004. The member organizations worked together to strengthen collaboration among national education, health, and other policymaking organizations in their efforts to build and support the capacity of state and local education, health, parent, and community agencies/organizations to implement effective school-based teen pregnancy prevention policies and programs. We were privileged to work with teams from a number of states as well as to receive guidance and information from many others through the course of our work.

While Essential Tips for Successful Collaboration is drawn from our work on school-based teen pregnancy prevention, we believe that the "lessons learned" can be applied to collaborations addressing any number of education and/or health issues with a variety of collaborative members.

Why Support School-Based Teen Pregnancy Prevention? A Primer for Action. (2003).  Free.

Teen pregnancy prevention is a pressing issue for many schools today. It's also a hot-button issue for schools, parents, and communities.  Why is it important for schools? How can schools address the issue effectively? This kit provides some answers and tips for constructive action.  It includes (1) a policymaker's guide, (2) a companion PowerPoint slide presentation with talking points, (3) a list of key teen pregnancy prevention organizations and resources, and (4) a CD-ROM containing all the pieces of the kit in an easy-to-download electronic format.

HIV Prevention: Multiple Challenges, Multiple Strategies. (2002).

This document examines the current face of the HIV epidemic and how state education agencies can help assure that local education agencies, schools, and their partners in the community can offer effective programming and protect the health of young people.

Building Bridges to Healthy Kids and Better Students: School-based Outreach and Enrollment for the State Children's Health Insurance Program and Medicaid. (2001). $15.

Based on an extensive survey process with state education agency and Medicaid staff, this report highlights the important link between children's health and their potential to succeed in school, and focuses on the access schools can provide to eligible children and their families to the health care they need.

School Health Starter Kit

The School Health Starter Kit is designed for use by chief state school officers, state health officials, and their staff to help build support in communities and schools for coordinated school health.  These materials were prepared in response to the needs expressed by chief state school officers and state health officials for (1) common language to describe the benefits of a coordinated approach to school health; (2) clear, jargon-free messages that resonate with target audiences (e.g. parents, teachers, and others who work in schools and school administration); and (3) effective tools to enable action. To meet these objectives the kit contains easy-to-use, research-based tools and materials to educate and motivate the public regarding school health issues.

View the PowerPoint Presentations from the Starter Kit: 

• Part 1: Why Support CSH
• Part 2: Make It Happen

Teenage Pregnancy: State Education Agencies and Prevention (1999). Free.

When schools, districts, and states look at students at risk for failure, there is one group that stands out: the young women who become mothers prior to completing high school. The link between too-early parenthood and school failure is a complex one. This publication explores the multiple strategies educators need to use for strengthening the academic and social well being of young women.

Incorporating Health-Related Indicators in Education Accountability Systems (1998). 38 pp.

This report is intended to (1) trigger discussion on health-related results, indicators, benchmarks, action strategies, and program measures in state education accountability systems and (2) help states determine what it is that they want to do to help schools work with families and communities to ensure the well-being and academic success of all students.

It contains examples of results, indicators, benchmarks, action strategies, and program measures that contribute to success. The examples were proposed by state and local officials and national experts who participated in a working meeting held by CCSSO and are intended to stimulate thought and discussion. For each indicator there are definitions, assessments of significance, pros, cons, issues to be considered, facts regarding prevalence, and potential data sources.