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Strengthen the Evidence for Maternal and Child Health Programs

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Evidence Tools
MCHbest. Childhood Vaccination with MMR, Flu, and HPV.

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Strategy. Schools and Educators

Approach. Collaborate with schools and educators to reach families and increase uptake of vaccines.

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Overview. Collaboration between public health and schools/educators refers to a joint effort to improve student health and well-being, leveraging the trusted relationships educators have with families.[1] This collaboration is advantageous because schools can reach a large portion of the population, particularly children, and educators can act as trusted messengers for public health initiatives.[2] Public health approaches to this collaboration often involve multifaceted strategies like providing educators with vaccine education and communication resources, hosting vaccination clinics at schools, and developing outreach programs for families with language challenges.[1] The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's. (CDC) "Getting to Immunity" toolkit and the "Let's RISE" program by the Public Health Foundation. (PHF) are successful examples of such public health programs.[3, 4] Peer-reviewed research suggests that these collaborative approaches are effective in increasing vaccination uptake, particularly when they address vaccine hesitancy through open communication.[5]

Evidence. Mixed Evidence. Strategies with this rating have been tested more than once with results that sometimes trend positive...

Access the peer-reviewed evidence through the MCH Digital Library or related evidence source.

Potential Data Sources. Data to support this strategy can be accessed through:

  • State/school immunization surveys
  • School absenteeism and outbreak data
  • School nurse activity logs

Outcome Components. This strategy has shown to have impact on the following outcomes (Read more about these categories):

  • Access to/Receipt of Care. This strategy increases the ability for individuals to obtain healthcare services when needed, including preventive, diagnostic, and treatment services.
  • Utilization. This strategy improves the extent to which individuals and communities use available healthcare services.

Detailed Outcomes. For specific outcomes related to each study supporting this strategy, access the peer-reviewed evidence and read the Intervention Results for each study.

Intervention Type. Collaboration (Read more about intervention types and levels as defined by the Public Health Intervention Wheel).

Intervention Level. Community-Focused

Examples from the Field. There are currently no ESMs that use this strategy. Search similar intervention components in the ESM database.

Sample ESMs. Here are sample ESMs to use as models for your own measures using the RBA framework (see The Role of Title V in Adapting Strategies).

Quadrant 1:
Measuring Quantity of Effort (“What/how much did we do?”)

  • Number of schools and educators engaged as partners in promoting childhood vaccination. (Measures collaboration and reach)
  • Number of vaccine education and outreach events conducted in partnership with schools. (Shows education and awareness-building efforts)

Quadrant 2:
Measuring Quality of Effort (“How well did we do it?”)

  • Percent of participating schools that integrate vaccine education into their health curricula and parent engagement activities. (Measures institutionalization of vaccine promotion)
  • Percent of school-based vaccine education materials and events that are appropriate for all families. (Assesses responsiveness)

Quadrant 3:
Measuring Quantity of Effect (“Is anyone better off?”)

  • Number of students in partnering schools who are fully vaccinated according to recommended schedules for their age. (Measures vaccination coverage attained)
  • Number of school districts that implement immunization data-sharing agreements with local health departments and providers that report an increase in data effectiveness and efficiency. (Shows data infrastructure for coordination)
  • Number of schools that sustain high vaccination rates and no longer experience outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. (Measures long-term population health impact)
  • Number of best practices and lessons learned from successful school-based vaccination partnerships disseminated and adopted by other communities. (Assesses knowledge sharing and spread)

Quadrant 4:
Measuring Quality of Effect (“How are they better off?”)

  • Percent of students in partnering schools who are fully vaccinated according to recommended schedules for their age. (Measures vaccination coverage attained)
  • Percent of school districts that implement immunization data-sharing agreements with local health departments and providers that report an increase in data effectiveness and efficiency. (Shows data infrastructure for coordination)
  • Percent of schools that sustain high vaccination rates and no longer experience outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. (Measures long-term population health impact)
  • Percent of best practices and lessons learned from successful school-based vaccination partnerships disseminated and adopted by other communities. (Assesses knowledge sharing and spread)

Note. When looking at your ESMs, SPMs, or other strategies:

  1. Move from measuring quantity to quality.
  2. Move from measuring effort to effect.
  3. Quadrant 1 strategies should be used sparingly, when no other data exists.
  4. The most effective measurement combines strategies in all levels, with most in Quadrants 2 and 4.

Learn More. Read how to create stronger ESMs and how to measure ESM impact more meaningfully through Results-Based Accountability.

References

[1] Ways Schools Can Support Routine Vaccination Catch-Up Among School-Aged Children: Public Health Foundation

[2] Phillips, T. B., Wells, N. M., Brown, A. H., Tralins, J. R., & Bonter, D. N. (2023). Nature and well‐being: The association of nature engagement and well‐being during the SARS‐CoV‐2 pandemic. People and Nature, 5(2), 607-620.

[3] Getting to Immunity: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[4] Ways Schools Can Support Routine Vaccination Catch-Up Among School-Aged Children: Public Health Foundation

[5] Blake, H., Fecowycz, A., Starbuck, H., & Jones, W. (2022). COVID-19 vaccine education (CoVE) for health and care workers to facilitate global promotion of the COVID-19 vaccines. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(2), 653.

This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number U02MC31613, MCH Advanced Education Policy, $3.5 M. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.