| Youth and young adults continue to engage in health-risk behaviors. Health education has the potential to help students maintain and improve their health, prevent disease, and reduce health-related risk behaviors (Kann, Telljohann, & Wooley, 2007). Schools play a critical role in promoting the health and safety of young people and helping them establish lifelong healthy behavior patterns (CDC, 2008b). However, with the current push for No Child Left Behind (Senate Resolution 107-110, 2002), schools end up narrowing the curriculum because they are under considerable pressure to show adequate yearly progress (AYP) in reading and math pushing non-tested subjects, like health education, to the side while placing focus only on tested subjects (Cawleti, 2006). In addition, rural schools face special challenges including diverse student backgrounds, learning styles, and needs due to their geographic isolation (Arnold, Newman, Gaddy, & Dean, 2005). Addressing these concerns is important because today's youth need to become health literate. By helping students become health literate, it, in turn, gets them motivated to become life-long advocates for their health and that of their families. As health-literate youth, they can actively advocate and participate in activities to support health education and health care services (Wyatt & Peterson, 2008).;The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate an existing high school health education curriculum to determine if it met the Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (HECAT) criteria. The secondary purpose was to make recommendations for an 80-session high school health education curriculum to meet most of the criteria of the HECAT. Using the HECAT, the current curriculum at a rural southern Illinois high school was reviewed. A sample 80-session curriculum was developed that addressed many essential health education topics. In the current curriculum, a determination of percentages of functional health concepts met was made. In addition, student skill learning/application and teacher instruction and skill assessment were addressed and ranked.;This study found that the curriculum at the selected site met most of the criteria of the HECAT. However, the curriculum offered very few opportunities for students to assess their own skill progress with items, such as personal check lists. In addition, no rubrics were provided in the curriculum to assist teachers with scoring students work. As an assessment tool, the HECAT is a very subjective instrument. Health education standard one was more specific than other standards and easier to assess. The other health education standards, two through eight, are very subjective, leaving room for various interpretations on acceptable levels of student skill learning and teacher instruction and application. The HECAT was designed with the assumption that all skills and all subskills are to be covered in all content modules. However, with the time constraints found in a high school setting, this extensive coverage cannot occur. Therefore, an 80-session high school education curriculum was developed to meet most of the requirements of the HECAT. |
