Teaming Best Practices
On this page, find resources for building balanced teams, working across disciplines aligned with WSCC, strategies for effective team dynamics, and the role of youth as leaders.
Composing Balanced Teams
Good school health initiatives require teams that reflect the whole student. When teams are intentional, they bring together a wide range of perspectives and lived experiences, so decisions are grounded in what actually supports students. These teams don’t just include administrators but also those who interact with students every day, as well as families and community members. This approach leads to more thoughtful, responsive, and sustainable solutions for student well-being.
So what makes a balanced team?
- Every area of student life is represented – academic, emotional, behavioral, physical, social, and relational. They also include people who understand the systems students interact with attendance, behavior, academics, and health.
- Team members have different strengths, experiences, and ways of thinking
- No one voice dominates, and no one is left out or expected to speak for everyone
- Staff and community partners who work with students and families are included, as well as parents and caregivers themselves
- Decisions are made with input from people who know the day-to-day impact on students
- Processes meet the needs of all team members, and different styles of communication and learning
(NACDD) Balanced Team Builder
Coming soon!
This tool helps school and district leaders build well-rounded teams by identifying key roles across the WSCC framework to ensure all areas of student support are represented in planning and decision-making.
(SOPHE) WSCC Team Training Modules - Organizing a WSCC Team
https://elearn.sophe.org/wscc-training-modules
The third module of the ten-module WSCC Team Training series highlights what it takes to develop and convene a successful, productive team supporting children’s health and well-being.
(Alliance for a Healthier Generation): School Wellness Committees
Guidance on forming balanced, action-oriented teams that drive the development and implementation of school wellness policies aimed at fostering healthier environments for students and staff.
Additional Tools and Resources
(North Carolina Healthy Schools) Effective School Health Advisory Councils: Moving from Policy to Action: This document provides step-by-step guidance to school district staff seeking to start or enhance district-level school health advisory councils that support policy implementation.
Effective Teaming Dynamics for Working Across Disciplines
Strong school health teams are built on trust, shared purpose, and a safe space where every voice matters. When teams include members from different backgrounds – like educators, health staff, families, and community partners – they bring more ideas and stronger solutions. Clear communication and common goals help everyone work together.
Strong cross-disciplinary teams:
- Build trust through open communication
- Create a safe space where all voices are heard
- Establish a shared “why” to align the team’s work
- Use uniform, plain language across roles and disciplines
- Learn each other’s strengths and contributions
- Focus on shared goals for student health and success
(NACDD) Common Language Builder
Coming soon!
This tool supports teams in defining common terms used in their meetings, systems, and student supports, identifying how meanings may vary across areas of work, translating into plain language, and building consensus for clarity.
(CASEL) Building a Strong Team Dynamic
https://schoolguide.casel.org/focus-area-1a/create-a-team/build-a-strong-team-dynamic/
Guidance for school teams aiming to enhance collaboration and effectively implement social and emotional learning (SEL) initiatives. It also includes tools such as a sample meeting checklist and a guide for preparing SEL team meeting agendas.
(Berkeley) Team Building Toolkit
https://hr.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/bpm_team_building_toolkit_2019.pdf
This toolkit provides practical guidance, tools, and step-by-step activities tailored to each stage of team development to help groups build trust, improve collaboration, and strengthen performance.
Additional Tools and Resources
(Institute for Educational Leadership and the National Association of School Psychologists) Nine Elements of Effective School-Community Partnerships to Address Student Mental Health, Physical Health, and Overall Wellness: This list highlights essential elements of school–community partnerships that anyone can apply at any stage of a school-community partnership.
(Action for Healthy Kids) Collaborating for Healthy Schools – Building an Effective School-Family Partnership: This guide provides best practice recommendations for effective family-school partnerships and ready-to-use activities and templates to strengthen relationships between families and school/district staff.
(Effective Team Dynamics Initiative) Activity Library: A collection of practical exercises designed to help teams enhance collaboration, communication, and self-awareness, organized into categories such as communication, conflict management, dividing up work, planning strategies, self-reflection, and more.
(Google) Understand Team Effectiveness: This resource explains the difference between a group and a team and includes tips on how to define, measure, and improve team success. It also includes some customizable tools and resources for use in Google Drive.
Engaging Youth as Leaders
As we work toward supporting the health and well-being of youth, who better to engage than young people themselves? It’s a win for everyone involved: Young people can develop skills and exhibit leadership, and adults grow their competencies to ensure that policies, programs, and practices are responsive to youth needs. The key to successful youth engagement includes:
- Treating youth as equal partners;
- Maintaining transparent, regular communication, and
- Listening and valuing youth contributions.
(NACDD) Youth Engagement Inventory
Coming soon!
This tool can be used to inventory current youth engagement initiatives and identify next steps for deepening engagement and moving from participation and partnership to leadership.
(Annie E Casey Foundation) A Framework for Effectively Partnering with Young People
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED606308.pdf
This short, four-step framework outlines how to engage with youth and support them in their leadership development.
(Mental Health America) Youth Leadership
https://mhanational.org/youth-leadership/
Learn more about MHA’s Youth Leadership Council, youth leadership programs, and explore insights from youth-driven research and reports.
Additional Tools and Resources
(Youth MOVE National Peer Center) Facilitation Practices in Youth Spaces: These facilitation practices ensure a safe and positive learning/working environment for youth.
(AIR) Youth Engagement Practices: This brief outlines five strategies for engaging youth based on practices shared by youth-serving organizations.
(CDC) Youth Advisory Councils: This webpage highlights the value of Youth Advisory Councils and provides guides and resources for starting one in your district or school.
Contact Us
For questions or more information, connect with us.
Heidi Milby, MPH
Associate Director, Center for Advancing Healthy Communities
hmilby@chronicdisease.org