The Health services Assessment Tool for Schools (HATS) has 2 seperate assessment tools, one targeted for school districts and one targeted for states.
The school district HATS gives school districts the opportunity to assess the quality and comprehensiveness of their school health services, the level of infrastructure to support those services, and the quality and implementation of health services policies and protocols. This tool was designed to be used by the school health services director, lead nurse, school nurse, school district medical director, or other inidividual charged with leading a district's health services. It should be completed in collaboration with members of the health services team.
The state HATS gives states the opportunity to assess the policies, resources, training and other supports in place at the state level that address school health services. It was designed to be used by the state school nurse consultant or other health services/ school health leader at the state education agency or state health department. It should be completed in collaboration with other school health services partners at the state level.
If any of the features of the online HATS are not functioning properly, please try using a different browser. Chrome is preferred.
On average, most users find it takes about 3-5 hours to complete the full school district/ state HATS. You can save your progress and complete the assessment over the course of multiple sessions, and add additional modules over time. The most time-consuming aspect of completing the HATS is often compiling the information needed to answer the questions. Compiling your district/state's health services policies and protocols before you start will allow you to complete your assessment more quickly. Although it does take time to complete the HATS, users have expressed that the process of completing the assessment is a learning experience for all those involved.
The person or department that oversees school health services for the district or state should lead the completion of the HATS with input from health services/ school health partners who can assist in providing accurate answers to the questions. In addition, it may be helpful to consult with individuals who are familiar with best practices for school health services in order to assess whether the district’s policies and protocols/procedures are aligned with the guidelines. Remember, the results are only helpful if they are accurate. Eliciting honest input is important to making this self-assessment process useful.
Multiple individuals may work together on one assessment. If you wish to invite others to work with you collaboratively on the HATS, you can use the "Invite a Colleague" function in the upper right side drop-down menu to email an invitation to join your group. This will email a link and a group code. If the individual has not yet registered for HATS, he/she can use the registration link provided in the email to do so. This will automatically connect your accounts. If the individual has already registered, he/she will need to log in to the HATS website, click on "My Profile" in the upper-right hand drop-down menu, and enter the group code that was provided in the email in the appropriate field.
As many individuals as desired can be linked together. You will be able to see all assessments started by anyone in your group, and they will be able to see all assessments that you have started.
Both the school district and state HATS are divided into 8 modules: Infrastructure, Chronic Condition Management, Emergency & Disaster Preparedness, Mental Health & Social Services, School-based Screenings & Preventive Services, Sexual & Reproductive Health, Infectious Disease Management, and School-based Health Centers.
It is highly recommended that you download and print the Quick Start Guide before starting the HATS.
The instructions are also below.
1) Click on the "Create New Assessment" button.
2) If this is your first time completing the HATS, you will be brought to a page of instructions. After reviewing the instructions, click on the "Continue to Create New Assessment" button. Enter a name for the assessment (e.g., Springfield School District 2022 Assessment) and determine whether you would like to take the School District Assessment or the State Assessment. Once you've determined which tool best fits your setting click on the "Create Assessment" button.
If you have previously completed the HATS, you will be brought to a listing of the assessments you have started. Click on "Start a New Assessment" in the upper right drop-down menu. You will be brought to a page of instructions. After reviewing the instructions, click on the "Continue to Create New Assessment" button. If you'd like to complete a blank assessment, enter a name for the assessment (e.g., Springfield School District 2022 Assessment) and click on the "Create New Assessment" button. If you'd like to pre-populate the assessment with answers from a previous HATS so you can simply update your answers in areas where you've made changes rather than completing the entire assessment, identify the assessment you wish to duplicate and click on the corresponding "Duplicate" button.
The first page will collect demographic information about your district/state (based on the tool you selected). You must complete the demographic information before continuing. After clicking "Next," you will enter the HATS Module menu. Once on the menu you can select which modules you would like to complete. You can always add additional modules later. Once your modules are selected click on the button to 'Add Modules and Continue.'
Next you will be brought to a screen listing all the modules you selected, in addition to all the sections that will be in each module. You can start with the first section or skip around.
Clicking on the buttons at the left bottom corner of each screen (Previous Section, Next Section, or Save and Exit) will save your responses. You are able to exit the module without saving your responses using the button on the bottom right 'Cancel/ Don't Save.'
With the exception of the demographic information, you can skip questions and return to them later. Leaving a question blank will not affect your score. The system will automatically skip over questions that do not apply to you.
If you do not wish to complete the entire HATS and would like to jump to a particular section, please see the instructions below for editing an assessment.
When you are finished with your session, click the "Save and Exit" button at the bottom of the screen.
1) Upon logging back into HATS, you will be brought to the 'My Dashboard' page with a list of assessments completed/in progress. While on the Dashboard you will be able receive a report for the questions you have completed thus far, go back into incomplete modules, or add additional modules to an assessment.
2) You can choose to start from the beginning of a module or jump to a specific section. You can easily determine which questions you've skipped or not yet answered because they will will be blank.
3) To update the demographic information, click on "Details" in the top bar next to the assessment title. On the "Details" page click "District Demographics" button along the top menu bar. You will then be brought to a page outlining your responses to the District's Demographics questions, and will have the option to "Edit" in the top menu bar.
1) You will be able to access your report from 'My Dashboard.' Under 'My Assessment' you will find your Assessment Title bar with a button titled 'Report.' Click on the 'Report' button to view the results from the assessment.
2) Your module summary scores and score for each section are listed on the page. You can find more detailed information about scoring below.
3) Use the button in the top menu to create a Summary PDF of your results, or Assessment Responses (which will show your responses to each question). You can save or print these PDFs.
The District and State HATS are scored using the following color-coding scheme:
Green = Good job, key elements in place
Yellow = Nice start, room for improvement
Red = Needs attention, key elements not in place
HATS sets a very high standard for comprehensive school health services. Therefore, you should expect to receive red and yellow scores for many areas.
Each question is worth a maximum of 4 points. For each module, the total score is calculated by summing the points for each completed question and dividing by the total number of completed questions (skipped or N/A responses within each module are excluded from score calculations). Module scores are interpreted as follows:
|
Score |
Interpretation |
|
3.50-4.00 |
Good job, key elements in place |
|
2.00-3.49 |
Nice start, but room for improvement |
|
1.00-1.99 |
Needs attention, key elements not in place |
Each question is worth a maximum of 3 points. For each module, the total score is calculated by summing the points for each completed question and dividing by the total number of completed questions (skipped or N/A responses within each module are excluded from score calculations). Module scores are interpreted as follows:
|
Score |
Interpretation |
|
2.25-3.00 |
Good job, key elements in place |
|
1.25-2.24 |
Nice start, but room for improvement |
|
< 1.24 |
Needs attention, key elements not in place |
The results of the HATS suggest areas for improvement by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of your school health services and infrastructure. The HATS is not intended as a way to evaluate staff or audit compliance with school health services policies.
Only those registered for this site as part of your team to complete the HATS will be able to view the results of the assessment. Those who work on the tool may decide whether to share these results with others. AAP TEAMS Program staff will use the results in aggregate to identify trends in school health services, but will not identify individual districts without permission.
The TEAMS Course- outlines a systematic process for making improvements to your school health services, based in part on results from the HATS. For detailed information on how you can use your HATS results and apply the TEAMS framework to improve health services in your district or state.