Integrating a school-based health intervention in times of high-stakes testing: lessons learned from full court press

Because of the growing focus on the production of favorable academic standardized test scores, schools have become increasingly resistant to sponsoring nonacademic programming, such as tobacco cessation services for students. Nevertheless, the need for such programs has not diminished. The purpose of this article is to provide descriptive information about the logistics of establishing and delivering a health intervention in schools that are resistant to nonacademic programming. The data were collected as part of a qualitative retrospective process evaluation of Full Court Press, a 5-year youth tobacco demonstration project funded by the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation and implemented in Tucson, Arizona. Lessons learned about recruiting schools, integrating programs, and managing facilitators are presented.