Sampling and Analysis Strategies for Monitoring the Health of School Children

Brief Summary:
The Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors (ASTDD) provides ongoing technical assistance to state and local health jurisdictions on how to conduct school-based health screening surveys. Although ASTDD’s focus is oral health, the methods developed by ASTDD are appropriate for many health issues. To date, 46 states have used ASTDD protocols to monitor oral health; 17 obtained both oral health and obesity data. The purpose of this roundtable session is to share recently developed guidance on sampling and analysis strategies that are appropriate for school-based health screening surveys. The guidance was designed to assist state and local health agency staff who collect health data in school-based settings including, but not limited to, obesity and oral health measures. The guidance provides detailed, step-by-step recommendations on sample selection and data analysis including: (1) developing a sampling frame for a school-based survey, (2) selecting a sample of schools that is representative of the state in terms of geography or political boundaries and socioeconomic status and (3) selecting replacement schools to assure that participating schools are representative of the state. Detailed information on how to appropriately analyze data from school-based health surveys will be presented including development of sampling and non-response weights plus appropriate SAS, SPSS, Stata and R programming language. This session will also review federal policies that may impact data collection in school-based settings including the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) disclosure policies, Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), IRB review and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Attendees will receive tips on how to increase both school and child participation in school-based surveys. Supported by Cooperative Agreement 5U58DP001695-05 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.