0

Smart Source

Colorado Healthy Schools Smart Source (Smart Source) is an inventory of best practices in school health. Schools and districts use Smart Source to help inform programs and policies to improve student health. Data from HKCS and Smart Source are complementary and can be used together to provide a more complete picture of youth and school health.

The Colorado Healthy Schools Smart Sources logo.

Graphic showing the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) framework that calls out the multiple components in a student’s environment that intersect impacting health and education

Smart Source is administered in the fall of odd-numbered years. Smart Source is completed once per school by a team of staff members by submitting responses to an online survey. All K-12 schools are eligible to participate. Items in Smart Source are comprehensive and aligned with the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model.

The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model (WSCC)

The WSCC model emphasizes the role of the community and the connections between health and academic achievement. Learn more about the WSCC on the Colorado Department of Education website.

 

Data in action

School responses are compared to best practices in addition to regional and state aggregates. Data are returned to schools and districts as actionable reports with opportunities for free technical assistance on data interpretation.

Schools and districts can use Smart Source results to: 

  • Assess local wellness policy, meeting federal requirements
  • Identify areas of need related to school health
  • Make the case for resources such as funding and community partnerships
  • Inform policy change at the state, district, and school levels
  • Garner support for school health efforts across various members of the school community
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of school health policies and practices over time

Results can also be used by multiple partners, such as funders, researchers, state agencies, and community organizations to inform resource allocation and policy decisions. 
 

 

School + Student Health

Smart Source is housed at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment together with the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey. The HKCS is a voluntary, student-level survey of youth health behaviors. Smart Source and the HKCS are complementary data sources and can be used together to provide a more complete picture of school and student health.

Since 2014, 65% of all eligible K-12 schools in Colorado have participated in Smart Source.