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Data-Driven Decision-Making (1)

Data-Driven Decision-Making

On this page, find resources for identifying school-health data sources, assessment and screening, resource mapping, and contextualizing data.

Driving with Data and Identifying Data Sources

Data-driven decision-making means using real, actual information to guide what we do and how we do it. In school health, this helps us find gaps, challenge assumptions, strengthen strategies, and get the full picture of what’s happening with students and systems. To get that full picture, we need to look at both types of data:

  • Quantitative data gives us the numbers (e.g., attendance rates, survey scores, screening results) that help us see patterns, track changes, and make comparisons.
  • Qualitative data gives us the why behind the numbers (e.g., student stories, staff observations, community perspectives) and gives us deeper context and meaning.

Together, these two types of data work best when we know where to look and what to gather. Knowing where to look means finding reliable, relevant information that reflects the mental health needs and experiences in your school community. By combining different data sources, schools can:

  • Design mental health supports that meet real needs
  • Monitor how programs are working and make timely adjustments
  • Build shared understanding across teams to create more responsive, sustainable solutions

Coming soon! 

This resource provides a snapshot of potential data sources to help you get started by leveraging multiple data sources together can provide insights from different perspectives – whether it’s student behavior, staff wellness, or parent input – painting a holistic picture of the school community’s health needs and strengths.

https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/profiles/index.htm

The School Health Profiles (Profiles) is a system of surveys assessing school health policies and practices in states, large urban school districts, and territories. Profile surveys are conducted biennially by education and health agencies among middle and high school principals and lead health education teachers.

https://www.cdc.gov/yrbs/index.html

The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) measures health-related behaviors and experiences that can lead to death and disability among youth and adults. Results help monitor health trends, identify emerging issues, and plan and evaluate programs that can help improve adolescent health.

(Hopeful Futures Campaign) America’s School Mental Health Report Card: This report summarizes state policies that support school mental health. The policies fall into eight categories: school mental health professionals; school-family-community partnerships; teacher and staff training; funding supports; well-being checks; healthy school climate; skills for life success; and mental health education.

(Mental Health America) The State of Mental Health in America: This report summarizes the most up-to-date data and information about challenges faced by individuals with mental health challenges.

(HRSA Maternal and Child Health Bureau) National Survey on Child Health (NSCH) Data Briefs: Here you will find an annual publication of the Child Health USA Databook – a survey providing national and state-level data for key indicators of child health and well-being.

(What Works Clearinghouse) Data from Study Reviews: This database includes filterable and downloadable datasets, including targeted data from intervention reports, studies, and findings.

Resource Mapping

Resource mapping is a simple but powerful way to take stock of all the people, programs, partnerships, and supports in your school to help students thrive. It helps you see what you have, spot gaps, avoid duplication, and make sure resources are getting to the students who need them most.

Resource mapping can be broken down into four phases: 

  • Pre-Mapping: Get clear on your goals and gather a small team. Decide what types of resources you want to include (people, programs, funding, etc.).
  • Mapping: Collect information about your current resources – who’s doing what, where, and for whom. This can be done with surveys, spreadsheets, or visual maps.
  • Analyze: Look for gaps, overlaps, and patterns. Ask yourself: Are all students being served? Are some needs missing? Are there untapped partnerships
  • Maintain Your Map: Keep your resource list up to date and use it to guide planning and decision-making. Share it with others so everyone knows what’s available.

Coming soon! 

This workbook is designed to help teams inventory their people, programs, partners, funding, and informal supports, and help them identify gaps, overlaps, and strategic actions for aligning resources with student needs.

https://www.schoolmentalhealth.org/media/som/microsites/ncsmh/documents/quality-guides/Needs-Assessment-&-Resource-Mapping.pdf

This guide provides schools with practical tools and best practices to identify student mental health needs and align available resources.

Assessment and Screening

Assessment and screening are the keys to early identification and data-driven decision making.

Screening is a quick, broad check (like taking a temperature) to identify who may need a closer look, and assessment is a deeper dive to understand the root of the concern. Together, they help schools detect emotional, behavioral, and social challenges early, connect students to the right support, and reduce stigma by normalizing conversations about mental health. These tools also help schools evaluate their own policies, systems, and environments to guide meaningful, sustainable change for students and staff. Assessment and screening are the keys to early identification and data-driven decision-making.

Coming soon! 

Assessing your school health environment can be a daunting task. This tool is intended to help make that task easier by highlighting existing evidence-informed assessment tools that can help teams understand strengths and opportunities for various aspects of school health. The assessments included in this guide evaluate school environments, contexts, and conditions and should be completed by a team of individuals who are knowledgeable about the topics included in the assessment.

https://www.schoolmentalhealth.org/media/som/microsites/ncsmh/documents/quality-guides/Screening.pdf

This guide provides background information, strategy recommendations, best practices, examples from the field, and more for mental health screening and assessment in schools. 

https://theshapesystem.com/assessmentlibrary/

The SHAPE Screening and Assessment Library is a free database designed to assist schools and districts in selecting and implementing effective mental health screening and assessment tools. This comprehensive library offers a curated collection of evidence-based instruments that are specifically tailored to evaluate students’ mental health and emotional well-being, from broad screenings aimed at identifying potential mental health concerns to more detailed assessments for diagnosing specific issues.

This tool is a part of the School Health Assessment and Performance Evaluation (SHAPE) System – a public-access, web-based platform that offers schools, districts, and states/territories a workspace and targeted resources to support school mental health quality improvement.

Returning soon! (CDC) School Health Index: The School Health Index (SHI) is an online self-evaluation and planning tool for schools. The SHI is built on CDC’s research-based guidelines for school health programs that identify the policies and practices most likely to be effective in reducing youth health risk behaviors.

(Alliance for a Healthier Generation) Resilience in School Environments (RISE) Index: The RISE Index is a free assessment tool that school and district leadership teams can use to evaluate their current policies, practices, systems, and environments through the lens of student and staff resilience.

(Child Health and Development Institute) Trauma ScreenTIME: The ScreenTIME courses provide staff in child-serving systems with best practices for trauma screening.

Contextualizing Data for Action

Looking beyond the numbers means understanding who the data is about, what might be influencing it, and how it relates to what’s happening in your school or community. It helps us see the gaps we might otherwise miss. A program might look good overall, but when we dig down, we might find that some students aren’t being reached or certain needs aren’t being met. It helps us check if we’re really supporting the students we set out to help.

Contextualizing data is the first step in turning numbers into action. It gives us the insight to make smart decisions about what to tweak, where to invest, and how to strengthen our work.

Coming soon! 

This workbook is designed to help your team move from data collection to deeper understanding and action by layering quantitative and qualitative data, identifying systemic or environmental context, and translating insights into next steps.

https://www.illuminateed.com/download/data-dashboard-workbook/

This guide is designed to help educators create focused, actionable dashboards that align with their goals and priorities.

https://schoolguide.casel.org/resource/establish-norms-for-data-informed-conversations/

This resource outlines strategies to establish a space for safe and productive collaboration and recommended norms to ensure that conversations that relate to data result in concrete next steps. 

Back to Resource Library

Contact Us

For questions or more information, connect with us. 

Heidi Milby, MPH
Associate Director, Center for Advancing Healthy Communities
hmilby@chronicdisease.org

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