The West Virginia Health Education Assessment Project

Abstract

Well-designed school health education should provide students with the knowledge and skills to prevent the health risk behaviors most responsible for the major causes of morbidity and mortality. This paper reports the methodology and findings of a West Virginia statewide health education assessment initiative and describes how the findings are used to design professional development training for school health educators. Selected response items from the State Collaborative on Assessment and Student Standards, Health Education Assessment Project were used to develop a 40-item assessment instrument for 6 health education content areas. In West Virginia, 51 counties and 242 schools were recruited (county response rate = 93%; school response rate = 53%); 17,549 students were tested in grades 6, 8, and high school health education classes. Mean total scores by grade were 30.61 (grade 6), 26.55 (grade 8), and 26.53 (high school), indicating a slight decline in scores as grade level increased. Females in each grade level scored higher on total Health Education Assessment Project (HEAP) scores and subtest scores than males. The results suggest notable differences across grade levels. High school students failed to meet the standard on any health education content areas, indicating the need for enhanced knowledge and skill development. During professional development training, HEAP scores were examined in the context of results from the West Virginia Youth Risk Behavior Survey to underscore the importance of providing quality skills-based health education in West Virginia schools.

Nursing Student-Led Health Education for Sixth Graders on Chicago’s South Side

“…The health education curriculum was then developed around eight identified areas: Hygiene, sexual health, drug and alcohol use, interpersonal relationships, online interactions, mental health, nutrition and exercise, safety and immigration, and was corroborated through a thorough review of literature focused upon needs assessments, health education curriculum for inner-city youth, and similar educational interventions by student healthcare providers ( HEAP Literacy, 2017 ; Sherwood-Puzzello et al., 2007 ; Staten et al., 2005 ; Tompkins et al., 2005 ). The curriculum also incorporated evidence-based research for development of both format and content in order to keep students engaged and to deliver culturally relevant material ( Kann et al., 2017 ).…”