Recognizing that unhealthy children cannot learn and that an uneducated child will become a drain on society, this report describes the efforts of the National Health and Education Consortium (NHEC) to promote collaboration among the health and education professions to improve the health of children. The report describes the creation and operation of state health/education consortia in Florida, Maryland, New Mexico, and Texas. The report recommends that leaders interested in creating, merging, or formalizing state consortia should: (1) select leadership with political access; (2) convene a formal steering committee; (3) build strong corporate involvement; (4) develop a clear mission and goals, and ensure accountability; (5) build the publics' awareness of the importance of linking health and education; (6) promote grassroots interest and activities; (7) capitalize on momentum; (8) maintain flexibility; (9) evaluate the effectiveness of the initiative; and (10) seek core funding early. Six appendixes include: a list of selected collaboration resources; NHEC founding organizations and members; and steering committee rosters and sample agendas from the Florida, Maryland, New Mexico, and Texas health/education consortia. A list of NHEC publications is included. (MDM)