California is ahead of the curve in mapping the health and well-being of its students statewide. The Lucile Packard Foundation’s website Kidsdata catalogues all relevant health, wellness, risk, and resilience data available on students and stores it in a searchable website.
You can compare counties, and even school districts, by
- Connectedness, as well as caring relationships.
- High expectations.
- Meaningful participation.
- Safety.
- Physical health, fitness, obesity, or levels of activity.
- Mental health.
- Resilience.
- Risk-taking behaviors.
. . . And the list goes on. All in all, there are over 400 measures of child health and well-being, which you can cross-reference by ethnicity, age, and gender.
This site provides a clearer understanding of youth health and wellness issues and how our kids are doing in comparison to their peers on measures beyond well-documented standardized test scores. In short, it paints a fuller picture of our youth and our neighborhoods. It’s a great tool for California and should be of high interest to other states.
