Indicators of Partnership Success among MICHIANA Coordinated School Health Teams

Coordinated school health (CSH) is an increasingly popular approach used by school and community stakeholders for implementing policy and programmatic changes. Because funding is limited, examination of factors that maximize the potential for schools to build sustainable partnerships is crucially important. This study assessed the extent to which school systems met expectations for building CSH partnership capacity. Data were collected through a survey and structured interviews of fourteen teams participating in a leadership institute. Twenty four survey questions served as proxy measures for partnership capacity. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed for deeper contextual meaning using open coding and thematic analysis. Findings indicated that all fourteen MICHIANA teams met or exceeded expectations for 15 of 24 indicators. Overall, school personnel recruited individuals to participate, in most cases, without a designated full-time coordinator and delegated responsibilities to at least one member, especially when funding was limited. Informal communication and operational processes were the preferred structural components and teams were most likely to use assessment and planning tools that led to quick results to identify strengths and areas of improvement. Results support the importance of partnerships in building organizational capacity to leverage resources within and outside the school environment.