| Action Steps
Comprehensive School
Health Education
School
Counseling, Psychological, and Social Services
Healthy School
Environment
Family and Community
Involvement
School Health Services
School Nutrition
Physical Education
Health Promotion for Staff |
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Action Steps for Implementing Comprehensive School Health
Education
Actions for Schools and Districts
To Strengthen Curriculum Planning
and Development
- Increase community awareness of
and support for comprehensive school health education
- Assess student health needs, interests,
strengths, and cultures during curriculum planning
- Develop a plan for funding, selecting
or developing, implementing, and assessing a comprehensive health
education curriculum through a collaborative
- Review and revise school policies
and enforcement strategies on a regular basis
To Facilitate Curriculum Implementation
- Provide adequate support for implementation
- Establish a system to ensure materials
distribution, professional development, and student assessment
- Provide at least 50 hours of health
education at every grade level
- Use information technologies in
the health education curriculum
- Encourage team building and collaborative
curriculum planning between health education teachers and their
colleagues
- Implement a variety of strategies
that foster family involvement
To Ensure that Teachers Are Adequately
Prepared
- Select teachers who are academically
prepared and qualified and can use active teaching and authentic
assessment strategies
- Provide ongoing professional development
opportunities and incentives for teachers, administrators, board
members, and other staff responsible for implementation
- Provide follow-up booster sessions
and ongoing technical assistance
To Assess and Evaluate Health Education
- Include process evaluation procedures
in the curriculum implementation plan
- Measure student knowledge and skills
at grades 4, 8, and 11
Actions for State
and National Organizations and Colleges and Universities
- Support and implement policies and
plans that include health education as a core academic subject,
mandate adequate instructional time, and are consistent with the
National Health Education Standards
- Provide or advocate for adequate
financial support for implementation
- Require certification in health
education for those teaching health education at the secondary
level and some coursework in health for those teaching at the
elementary school level
- Provide preservice and in-service
professional preparation, booster sessions, and technical assistance
to prepare school administrators, teachers, and other staff to
support and teach health education
- Develop guidelines and materials
to assist schools with implementation and assessment
- Support the use of information technologies
to deliver health instruction
- Conduct or support continued research
in health education
- Devote adequate resources, including
personnel, to provide technical assistance and material support
to schools implementing comprehensive school health education
- Establish, maintain, and utilize
communication systems for ensuring that schools have access to
current information, technical support, and training opportunities
Adapted by permission of the publisher from Marx, E. & Wooley,
S. F. (Eds.) (1998). Health is academic: A guide to coordinated
school health programs. New York: Teachers College Press. ©
1998 by Education Development Center, Inc. All rights reserved.
For a more detailed discussion of Comprehensive
School Health Education, see Chapter 3 in the book Health
Is Academic.
Related Links
Comprehensive School Health Education,
CDC
National Health Education Standards,
American Cancer Society
Publications: Educating for Health
and Choosing the Tools; EDC
President's & Secretary's Priorities,
U.S. Department of Education
School Health Program Guidelines,
CDC
Here is a sample of national organizations
that can provide resources and support for comprehensive school
health education and CSHPs:
American Association for Health Education
American Association of School Administrators
American Cancer Society
American School Health Association
Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development
Comprehensive Health Education Foundation
Council of Chief State School Officers
National Association of State Boards
of Education
National Education Association
National School Boards Association
For other organizations that support
school health, click on Links.
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