School Staff Key Informant Interview Guide

Healthy Schools Program Intensive Evaluation―School Key Informant Interview Guide Form Approved

OMB No. 0920-xxxx

Exp. Date XX/XX/20XX

School Staff Key Informant Interview Guide

I. INTRODUCTION AND CONSENT

Thank you for agreeing to speak with me today.

The state education agency in your state is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to implement the Healthy Schools Program to create healthier school environments. Your school is located in a district that is participating in this program. ICF is evaluating the Healthy Schools Program to understand how support from states to local districts and schools impacts schools and students. The purpose of this interview is to learn about the health improvement activities being implemented at your school since the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year. We also want to learn about the successes, challenges, and barriers to implementing health improvement activities in your school. During this interview, the term “school health” refers to a range of activities to improve nutrition, physical activity, and physical education environments, both during school and out-of-school time, as well as improved management of chronic health conditions.

Participation in this interview is voluntary and you may choose not to respond to any question. The interview should take about 60 to 75 minutes. Your name will not be associated with the information that you share for the purpose of this evaluation. You can stop the interview at any time and if you decide to not participate there will be no penalties of any kind. Taking part in the interview will cause no risk. Participants in the interview will each receive a $25 gift card in appreciation for their participation, sent to the school via mail. The results of the interview will be used to improve support and implementation of school health programs.

If you have questions about this evaluation please contact the evaluation team lead, Isabela Lucas, at 404-592-2155 or Isabela.lucas@icf.com. For questions regarding your rights related to this evaluation you can contact ICF’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) representative at Carole.Harris@icf.com.

Do you agree to participate? [If yes] Thank you! With your permission, we would like to record the interview. The recording will be professionally transcribed to aid in summarizing the findings from the evaluation.

Do you agree to be recorded? [If yes] Thank you. Do you have any questions about the interview before we start?

[If no] Okay, we will proceed with the interview but it will not be recorded. Do you have any questions before start?

*Note to interviewer: If the interviewee agrees to participate, thank her/him and initiate the interview. If the interviewee does NOT agree to participate thank her/him and end the interview saying you will be in touch with the school to identify another person to participate in the interview.

II. INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

General Information and School Characteristics

1. What is your role at [School name]?

   1. As I mentioned, your state received funding through CDC’s Healthy Schools Program grant. Are you familiar with this initiative?

2. What is your role in implementing school health activities and programs at your school? As a reminder, in this interview, the term “school health” refers to a range of activities to improve nutrition, physical activity, and physical education environments during school and out-of-school time, as well as improved management of chronic health conditions.

3. Does your school have a school health coordinator?

   1. If so, please describe the role of the school health coordinator.

   2. Besides the school health coordinator, who are the other health champions in your school, if any?

4. How does your school set priorities for school and student health/wellness?

   1. Where are those priorities documented?

5. CDC promotes the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model for school health, also known as the WSCC model. Are you familiar with this model?

   1. How do staff at your school apply the WSCC model as you plan and implement health activities at your school?

   2. How has the model shaped the programs or activities implemented at your school?

School Health Infrastructure

NOTE for interviewee: Whenever asking about “who” during this interview we are interested in the roles, titles, and/or organizations, and NOT in actual individual names.

6. Does your school have a designated group that plans and promotes health and wellness initiatives in your school, such as a school health team? [Note to interviewer: If you know the answer to this question from the survey or otherwise, rephrase the question accordingly. If the answer is “No”, skip to item ‘k’.]

   1. When and why was the school health team established?

   2. When and how often does the team meet?

   3. Who are the members of the team? (e.g., health/PE teachers, nutrition services, students, family members, school administrators, PTA members, school nurse/health care professionals, social workers, religious/civic leaders, Out of school time providers, other communities members)

   4. How does the principal or other school administrators support the team?

   5. How does the team make decisions and perform work tasks?

   6. How does the school district support the team? Are you expected to fulfill certain requirements? How does the district monitor the team?

   7. What challenges does the team face? What are barriers to the team’s progress?

   8. What has the team accomplished since the 2018/2019 school year?

   9. Can you share one or more examples of how the school health team helped improve student health?

   10. What additional support does the team need to improve its performance?

[Note to interviewer: If school does not have an active school health team, ask these questions instead…]

11. Why don’t you have one? What are the barriers to starting a school health team?

12. What tools or support do you need to start a school health team?

1. How do school staff such as physical education and health teachers, school nurses, school nutrition staff, Out-of-School providers (e.g., site leaders/program coordinators, college students, recreation leaders/specialist, teacher assistants), and classroom teachers collaborate to address school and student health and wellness?

2. Does your school complete the School Health Index? [Note to interviewer: if you know the answer to this question from the survey or otherwise, rephrase the question accordingly.]

   1. How often is the SHI completed at your school?

   2. What is the process for completing the SHI in your school? Who participates in the SHI assessment?

   3. When and how often does the school complete the SHI? Do you follow a schedule set by your school district?

   4. What support do you receive from the state or school district to complete the SHI?

   5. How does the school health team use the results of the SHI to inform school health priorities and plans for the year?

   6. What data from the SHI results are most helpful to the school health team? Did the SHI reveal anything surprising to you?

   7. Describe any specific plans or activities that were directly informed by the SHI results.

   8. How does your school use the SHI results to raise awareness and promote school health activities to the whole school and the wider community?

3. Does your school have a written action plan to improve student health that is based on results of the SHI? [Note to interviewer: If you know the answer to this question, modify the question(s) accordingly.]

   1. How was the plan developed?

   2. What stakeholders participated in the development of the plan?

   3. Is the plan incorporated into the school improvement plan or is it a stand-alone document?

   4. Who is responsible/accountable for implementing the action plan?

   5. How does the school principal and/or other school administrators support the plan?

   6. How does your school ensure teachers and other school staff (such as nurses, nutrition staff, out-of-school providers, and others) implement health-related efforts as planned?

   7. What are the barriers to implementing the plan? Probe: Do school staff have the time and resources needed to fully implement the plan?

   8. What facilitates implementation of the plan? Can you share some examples?

   9. What positive changes have occurred in your school as a result of the school health plan?

4. Describe partnerships with community organizations that support the implementation of your school health activities/interventions.

   1. How does [PARTNER ORGANIZATION NAME] support your school’s health activities?

   2. How did this partnership begin and develop?

   3. How do you ensure the partnership remains active and relevant?

5. How does the parent-teacher association support the implementation of your school health activities/interventions?

School Health Activities & Stakeholder Engagement

***Now let’s turn to your school’s activities related to school health, specifically, policies, practices and programs to increase opportunities for healthy eating, physical activity and management of chronic health conditions during the school day, as well as during out-of-school time.

12. What nutrition activities (policies, practices or programs) is your school addressing or implementing to improve the school nutrition environment?

    1. How are you implementing these activities to improve school and student nutrition?

    2. Does your school use the Comprehensive Framework for Addressing the School Nutrition Environment and Services? How?

    3. Does your school use other evidence-based resources to improve the nutrition environment? (PROBE FOR OTHER RESOURCES) How?

    4. What challenges does your school face when implementing nutrition activities, if any?

    5. What facilitates implementation of nutrition activities? In other words, what makes it easier to implement nutrition activities?

    6. How do you engage students, parents, and other community members in nutrition activities?

13. What physical activity and physical education activities is your school addressing or implementing?

    1. How are you implementing these activities?

    2. Does your school use the Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program (CSPAP) framework? How? Which of the CSPAP components are addressed/implemented at your school?

    3. Does your school participate in any shared use agreements within your community? How?

    4. Does your school use other evidence-based resources to promote physical activity in your school? (PROBE FOR OTHER RESOURCES) How?

    5. What challenges, if any, are you facing when implementing CSPAP components and/or other resources and activities to enhance physical activity in your school?

    6. What facilitates implementation of CSPAP components and/or other resources and activities at your school?

    7. How do you engage students, parents, and other community members in physical activity and physical education activities?

14. What activities is your school addressing or implementing to promote healthy behaviors during out of school time?

1. How are you implementing these activities to make out of school time healthier?

2. Does your school use the Healthy Eating and Physical Activity (HEPA) in Out-of- School Time Standards? How?

3. Does your school use other evidence-based guidelines to promote healthy eating and physical activity in out-of-school settings? How?

4. What challenges does your school face when implementing out of school time activities, if any?

5. What facilitates implementation of out of school time activities?

1. How do you engage youth/adolescents in healthy out of school time activities? Parents? Community? How do school-day staff engage with out of school time staff?

1. What activities is your school addressing or implementing to improve the support for students with chronic health conditions?

   1. How are you implementing these activities in your school?

   2. Does your school use a particular framework or activities to support students with chronic health conditions?

   3. What challenges does your school face when implementing activities to support students with chronic health conditions, if any?

   4. What facilitates implementation of activities to support students with chronic health conditions?

   5. How do you engage students, parents, and other community members in activities to support students with chronic health conditions?

Training and Professional Development Received

***Let’s shift gears and talk about training and professional development that staff in your school has received since the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year as a result of the CDC Healthy Schools Program. These questions are about training to increasing opportunities for healthy eating, physical activity and management of chronic health conditions during the school day, as well as during out-of-school time. Training/professional development is defined as learning opportunities that build skills, abilities, and knowledge. Training/PD can be delivered in-person or virtually (e.g., webinar, e-learning courses).

16. Describe the school health related trainings you have received since the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year?

6. What trainings related to school health have other school staff attended and are implementing?

7. What were the formats of the trainings you attended? (e.g., in-person workshops, Webinars)

8. What training format(s) do you prefer the most and why?

9. What format(s) are most effective for developing new skills?

10. How relevant was the content of the trainings to your school’s health related activities?

11. What do you do differently in your role as a result of the trainings you attended?

12. How do you apply what you learned when implementing health activities at your school?

13. Please provide at least one example of how your school environment has changed or improved as a result of training you or your colleagues received?

Technical Assistance Received

***Now we will talk about technical support that staff in your school has received since the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year as a result of the CDC Healthy Schools Program. These questions are about support provided to increase opportunities for healthy eating, physical activity and management of chronic health conditions during the school day, as well as during out-of-school time. Technical assistance is defined as direct support to make changes or improvements to existing policies, practices, or programs. For example, you might receive technical assistance/support from the SEA or LEA by getting their input on changing a written recess policy that would increase physical activity among students.

17. Please describe the technical support you and your colleagues receive from the state and/or school district to implement health related activities.

    1. Who provides technical assistance/support to staff at your school? Is TA typically provided by the same person or different people?

    2. How do you request support when needed? Does someone reach out to you periodically to offer support?

    3. How often do you or other staff reach out to request technical support? How soon do you typically receive a response?

    4. What is the format of the technical support? (by phone, email, in-person site visits) Which format(s) do you prefer? Which formats are most helpful to you?

    5. Please share at least one example of technical support you received. What was your need/request, what support was provided, and how did you apply the support you received?

    6. Please provide at least one example of how your school environment has changed or improved as a result of technical support you or your colleagues received?

    7. What barriers or challenges have you or other staff experienced when requesting and/or receiving technical support, if any?

    8. What has made it easier to request and/or receive technical support, if anything?

18. Do you have any needs for technical support that have not been addressed? Please explain.

19. Besides training and technical support, please describe other forms of support that you receive from your district or the state to support nutrition, physical activity, and chronic disease management policies and practices to improve school health. These can include materials, supplies, funding, consultation with experts, site visits, etc.

20. Aside from what we discussed about training and technical support so far, are there any other types of support or resources that your school needs to be more successful in implementing school policies and practices that promote health?

Those are all of the questions we have for you today. Do you have any questions for me?

Thank you very much for taking the time to participate in this interview!

Your responses will contribute greatly to the evaluation of the Healthy Schools Program. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the evaluation team lead, Isabela Lucas, at Isabela.lucas@icf.com or 404-592-2155.

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