Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool Course Transcript

Instructions

Welcome to the Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool course, part of the “Training Tools for Healthy Schools” e-Learning series.

In this self-paced course, there are several ways to access the training materials. You may select a specific chapter or chapter section by clicking on a title. You may view the course in its entirety by simply clicking on the “play” button in the video window and then clicking “next” to proceed to the next video. Click “back” to view the previous video.

An “Active Child” icon will appear on the screen periodically to alert you to a tip for more information. You may access more information by clicking on questions or resources in the Go Further section. A full-course download is also available.

At the end of the course, you will have the opportunity to download a Certificate of Completion.

We recommended downloading the HECAT and following along while taking this training. Let’s get started!

Course Objectives

The Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool, also known as the “HECAT,” is designed to be used by those who develop a health education scope and sequence, as well as those who develop or select health education curricula. It reflects current research in health education and uses science to improve health education practices.

The HECAT incorporates the characteristics of an effective health education curriculum and the National Health Education Standards. It addresses a wide range of health topics, including alcohol and other drugs, healthy eating, mental and emotional health, personal health and wellness, physical activity, safety, sexual health, tobacco, violence prevention, and comprehensive health education curricula.

It:

• Uses science to improve practice;
• Aligns with current National Health Education Standards;
• Shapes curriculum revisions based on consistent and objective analysis;
• Involves parents and community members in the curriculum review and recommendation process; and
• Respects the role of local school authorities in making curriculum decisions.

The HECAT is a set of tools that you can use to walk through a complete curriculum development or selection process. As a result, you can be more confident that your health education curriculum addresses the knowledge and skills students need to improve their health and provides teachers with the instructional tools necessary to help students succeed.

After taking this course, you should be able to:

• Identify the components of the HECAT; and
• Use the HECAT, in conjunction with a team, to conduct a review of a health education curriculum.

What is the HECAT?

The HECAT is a set of guidance documents, appraisal tools, and resources to conduct a thorough and consistent analysis of health education curricula. Your HECAT analysis results can help you to select, develop, or enhance new or existing packaged health education curricula.

You can also conduct a HECAT analysis to improve or revise your locally-developed health education curriculum. The HECAT presents a systematic process to analyze these priorities through the use of scoring tools and includes:

• Essential background information and instructions;
• Templates for recording descriptive information for use in the curriculum review process;
• Tools for evaluating the accuracy, acceptability, feasibility, and affordability of curriculum materials;
• Guidance on assessing fundamentals of a learning curriculum, and
• Modules on specific health topics.

You can also use the HECAT to identify priorities, health outcomes, and course objectives needed for a k-12 health education scope and sequence.

The HECAT was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in partnership with an advisory panel of health education experts in the fields of:

• School health education;
• Public and school health education practice;
• Health education standards and assessment;
• Curriculum design and classroom instruction; and
• Health risk behavioral research and practice.

Let’s get started by examining the characteristics of an effective health education curriculum and later, the National Health Education Standards.

Characteristics of an Effective Health Education Curriculum

Health education is a fundamental part of an overall school health program. Health education provides young people with the knowledge and skills needed to become successful learners as well as healthy and productive adults.

The health education curriculum is the primary means through which schools deliver health education. The curriculum clarifies what health content is important and what students should be able to do as a result of participating in health education learning experiences.

Reviews of effective programs and curricula have identified the following key characteristics of an effective health education curriculum.

An effective curriculum:

1. Focuses on clear health goals and related behavioral outcomes. Teachers should show how learning activities directly relate to health behaviors of interest to their students. Activities should not be selected merely because students find them fun or because an activity is a teacher’s favorite.

An effective curriculum:

2. Is research-based and theory-driven. There is a purpose why learning is designed and delivered as described in effective curricula. It is because there is a justification for their design, often based on theory and credible research evidence.

An effective curriculum:

3. Addresses individual values, attitudes, and beliefs. Lessons expose students to positive prevention attitudes and beliefs of others and reinforces their own healthy beliefs with examples and other evidence.

An effective curriculum:

4. Addresses individual and group norms that support health-enhancing behaviors. Instruction provides opportunities to emphasize norms that promote the health of oneself and others. For example, sharing sexual risk data from the National Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System can show 9th grade health education students that most of their peers are not sexually active. This counters the inaccurate belief by many youth that most students their age are sexually active.

An effective curriculum:

5. Focuses on reinforcing protective factors and increasing awareness of personal risk and the harmfulness of engaging in unhealthy practices and behaviors. Lessons in an effective curriculum allow students to see and experience the positive outcomes of healthy practices and the negative outcomes of unhealthy practices.

An effective curriculum:

6. Addresses social pressures and influences. Students are engaged in discussing and practicing strategies for dealing with the realities of pressures to participate in risky behaviors, such as drinking and driving, unprotected sex, or violence against others.

An effective curriculum:

7. Builds personal competence, social competence, and self-efficacy by teaching skills. Teachers create lessons where students can practice these skills, giving them confidence and options for avoiding real risk situations, talking through conflicts, using accurate information to inform decisions, and knowing how to get help when needed.

An effective curriculum:

8. Provides functional health knowledge that is basic, accurate, and directly contributes to health-promoting decisions and behaviors. The curriculum emphasizes information that students can use to assess risk, correct misperceptions, and make decisions relevant to their behaviors. For example, students do not need to know statistics on diseases, names of drugs, lists of nutrients, or ingredients of tobacco products in order to understand what to avoid. They need to know and practice the skills to avoid risky behaviors in their lives.

An effective curriculum:

9. Uses strategies designed to personalize information and engage students. Many ineffective curricula present learning examples to reach all students in a general and vague way. Effective lessons present health decisions and actions using situations that are directly relevant to a student’s daily life, culture, and circumstances.

An effective curriculum:

10. Provides age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate information, learning strategies, teaching methods, and materials. A sign of an ineffective curriculum is when it relies on teachers lecturing outdated and often repeated information or using technical jargon. This rarely engages students and is not applicable or relevant to their daily lives.

An effective curriculum:

11. Incorporates learning strategies, teaching methods, and materials that are culturally inclusive. Teaching materials are free from culturally biased information and are inclusive of diverse cultures and lifestyles such as gender, race, ethnicity, religion, age, physical or mental ability, appearance, and sexual orientation.

An effective curriculum:

12. Provides adequate time for instruction and learning. A high quality curriculum spends less time on teaching factual information and more time on practicing skills. Often, too much time is spent in health education providing “nice-to-know” information that has little influence on student health. The more practice students can get learning the skills they need to protect and improve their health and the health of others, the more effective is their health education.

An effective curriculum:

13. Provides opportunities to reinforce skills and positive health behaviors. Instruction builds on previously learned concepts. Teachers reinforce—but do not repeat—past information of importance and use higher order learning methods (such as inquiry) to build on that prior learning.

An effective curriculum:

14. Provides opportunities for students to make positive connections with influential others. Lessons require students to learn healthy habits from influential others (like their parents or other positive adult role models) who affirm and reinforce health-promoting norms, attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors.

An effective curriculum:

15. Includes teacher information and plans for professional development that enhances effectiveness of instruction and student learning. Effective curricula are taught by effective teachers. Skillful teaching is not easy and requires that teachers continue to receive training, coaching, and support from others, including school leaders.

National Health Education Standards

The health content and health behavior skills embodied in the National Health Education Standards serve as the foundation for a quality health education curriculum. The HECAT integrates these standards into the process for analyzing a health education curriculum.

The National Health Education Standards reflect what students should know, or essential knowledge for them to have; and what students should be able to do, or essential skills for them to be able to perform, after completing a high quality instructional program in health education.

Performance indicators are linked to each standard. Indicators provide a foundation for curriculum development, instructional delivery, and assessment of student knowledge and skills to be addressed at each grade level. This is reflected in a “scope and sequence.”

The HECAT uses the National Health Education Standards as the framework for analysis. Standard 1 helps determine the extent to which the curriculum is likely to enable students’ mastery of the essential knowledge. Standards 2-8 help determine the extent to which the curriculum is likely to enable students’ mastery of the essential skills that promote healthy behaviors.

The eight National Health Education Standards are:

STANDARD #1: Students will understand concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention to enhance health. This standard includes essential concepts that are based on established health behavior theories and models.

STANDARD #2: Students will consider the influence of family, peers, culture, media, technology and other factors on health behaviors. This standard focuses on identifying diverse internal and external factors that influence health practices and behaviors.

STANDARD #3: Students will demonstrate the ability to access valid information and products and services to enhance health. This standard focuses on how to identify and access trustworthy health resources and to reject unproven sources.

STANDARD #4: Students will demonstrate the ability to use interpersonal communication skills to enhance health and avoid or reduce health risks. This standard focuses on how to use verbal and non-verbal skills to develop and maintain healthy personal relationships.

STANDARD #5: Students will demonstrate the ability to use decision-making skills to enhance health. This standard includes the essential steps needed to make decisions to establish and maintain healthy lifestyles.

STANDARD #6: Students will demonstrate the ability to use goal-setting skills to enhance health. This standard includes the critical steps needed to achieve both short- and long-term health goals that make it possible for individuals to have plans for the future.

STANDARD #7: Students will demonstrate the ability to practice health-enhancing behaviors and avoid or reduce health risks. This standard promotes accepting personal responsibility for health and encourages healthy behaviors.

STANDARD #8: Students will demonstrate the ability to advocate for personal, family, and community health. This standard helps students focus on improving the health of others, including their family members, peers and members of their community.

The HECAT lists the Standard #1 essential knowledge and Standards #2-8 skill expectations for all health topics across all grade groups.

Community Review of Health Education Curricula

Schools have an important influence on the education, social development, and health of youth. However, schools are not the only community institutions responsible for achieving these outcomes. Families, faith-based organizations, health care providers, community youth-serving agencies, employers, media providers, public health agencies, social service agencies, and other government agencies also play critical roles in promoting the health of youth.

School health goals should complement community health goals. The review and selection of health education curricula should be based on clearly identified goals, health behavior expectations, and outcomes for health education. To increase relevance and acceptability within a community, health education curricula should reflect local school and community health interests, priorities, and values.

Let’s talk about using the HECAT in your school district. Your school district can create a process for key stakeholders, including community members, to review curriculum materials. You can do this by forming a health education curriculum review committee. The organization of such a committee differs among communities. In some locations, it may be a specific committee charged only with reviewing health education curricula, while in other locations, it may be a subcommittee of the district’s school health council, school wellness council, school-based management council, or the district’s broader curriculum selection committee.

Your health education curriculum review committee might include the following members:

• Key school policy makers and staff who are responsible for implementing health education curricula, such as school board members, principals, curriculum directors, administrators, and teachers;
• Representatives from different components of a “Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child” health program, such as physical education and school health services;
• Representatives from relevant community agencies and organizations, such as your local health department, health care providers, and organizations that serve youth;
• Representatives from other groups within your community, such as faith-based organizations, that have an interest in the positive health and development of youth; and
• Parents, caregivers, and students.

Regardless of the composition of your health education curriculum review committee, all members of the team should have a basic understanding of how students are taught essential health knowledge and skills.

Now that we have reviewed the characteristics of an effective health education curriculum and the National Health Education Standards, let’s check your knowledge by answering a few questions.

Before Starting the HECAT

Before using the HECAT, it is important to talk about how it can be used in the curriculum review process. There are several initial steps that will help you and your team get on the same page before conducting a curriculum review using the HECAT.

1. Identify a HECAT coordinator. The coordinator will lead the review team through the curriculum evaluation process using the HECAT. The coordinator should understand the health education needs of the students as well as the school health interests and concerns held by school leadership, parents or guardians, and the community.
2. Form a HECAT committee and identify the roles and responsibilities of each member. A team of people will be responsible for analyzing curricula and making recommendations based on the HECAT scores.
3. Obtain one or more copies of the curriculum for review and assessment. Distribute an adequate number of copies of the complete curriculum for team members to review. If each team member cannot access a complete curriculum to review separately, members can share materials and complete the review on a predetermined schedule.
4. Determine HECAT content for analyzing the curriculum. The curriculum review team should look carefully through the HECAT and identify any questions or analyses they don't want or need to do.
5. Finalize the curriculum analysis tool for reviewers to use. Prepare the final version of the HECAT for the committee by consolidating essential chapters, pages, and items and by providing an adequate number of the final HECAT tool for each member of the review team.
6. Provide orientation and direction for team members. Provide an overview of the HECAT review process, schedule, and expected results. Also, review a description of the curriculum. It’s important that all reviewers become familiar with the curriculum before they start reviewing it.
7. Determine curriculum review assignments for team members. The curriculum review team can complete an entire HECAT chapter or module together at one time or do sections separately over an extended period of time. More than one person from the curriculum review team should review and complete each HECAT chapter or module for each curriculum.
8. Develop a timeline for the review process. The time required for a curriculum review will depend on several factors, such as each reviewer’s understanding of health education and relevant health topics as well as familiarity with the HECAT and the curriculum being reviewed.

Once your team has completed these steps, you are ready to dive in to your health education curriculum review using the HECAT. Let’s briefly look at the sections of the HECAT you would use for your curriculum review. We will then explore most of these sections in more detail.

Organization of the HECAT

The HECAT is organized to optimize its use for reviewing and selecting curricula.

The HECAT Overview introduces the tool and describes its intended users and why it was developed. It includes information about characteristics of an effective health education curriculum, standards and performance indicators, and community health promotion approaches.

Chapter 1, Instructions, provides step-by-step guidance for starting a review process, as you just heard in the previous video. It also describes reviewing and analyzing curricula, and using analysis results to inform decisions.

Chapter 2, General Curriculum Information, allows you to capture general information about the curriculum including the focus, general target range, and what is included. This informs which curricula should or shouldn’t be considered. Share the General Curriculum Information with the curriculum review committee during orientation so that they can be introduced to the curriculum before they begin their review.

Chapter 3, Overall Summary Forms, provides three comprehensive forms to summarize ratings. These are:

1. The Individual Curriculum Summary Scores form, which consolidates scores for a single curriculum;
2. The Multiple Curriculum Comparison Scores form, which compares scores across multiple curricula and grade groups, and
3. The Notes form, which is used to capture critical comments.

Chapter 4, Preliminary Curriculum Considerations, provides tools to analyze and score important characteristics of a health education curriculum, including accuracy, acceptability, feasibility, and affordability.

Chapter 5, Curriculum Fundamentals, contains tools to analyze and score curriculum fundamentals, including learning objectives, teacher materials, curriculum design, instructional strategies and materials, and promotion of norms that value positive health behaviors skills.

Chapter 6, Health Topic Modules, addresses specific health topics. The modules incorporate the characteristics of effective health education curricula and are aligned with the National Health Education Standards. Module topics include:

• Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD)
• Healthy Eating (HE)
• Mental and Emotional Health (MEH)
• Physical Activity (PA)
• Personal Health and Wellness (PHW)
• Safety (S)
• Sexual Health (SH)
• Tobacco (T)
• Violence Prevention (V), and
• Comprehensive Health Education (CHE)

Finally, there are two more reference sections in the HECAT:

• The appendices include in-depth information and guidance. For example, Appendix 2 tells you more about how to use the HECAT for the review of health education resource materials such as textbooks, and Appendix 6 provides more information about health education assessment.
• Another reference is the glossary. The glossary defines common terms used throughout the HECAT.

If you are not able to carry out a complete curriculum content review, you should complete, at a minimum, a curriculum review using Chapters 2, 4, and 5. But, if you want to be thorough in your curriculum selection process, include the relevant topic modules from Chapter 6.

Remember, if you value the impact health education has on improving your students’ health, then you have to critically analyze a curriculum’s quality, accuracy, appropriateness, and relevance of content. Investing time in the review, development, or selection of curriculum improves the chance students will improve their health and the health of others.

Preliminary Curriculum Considerations

Let’s look at some of these chapters and modules a bit closer, starting with Chapter 4, Preliminary Considerations.

Before investing extensive time in reviewing the suitability of curriculum content, first consider some important general characteristics of the curriculum, such as its accuracy, acceptability, feasibility, and affordability. You might eliminate many curricula early in the review process if they don’t meet one or more of these considerations, saving time that is often wasted reviewing materials that don’t meet your needs.

This chapter contains the tools needed to help you analyze and score these preliminary considerations.

To assess each category, guiding questions are provided in the HECAT. There is also a chart for organizing comments and a score sheet for rating the curriculum content. You can use these forms to record results of your curriculum analysis. The forms also serve as a quick reference of your curriculum’s strengths and weaknesses.

The Accuracy Analysis helps you rate the accuracy of the health, medical, and scientific information in the curriculum.

Example questions to consider when analyzing accuracy include:

• Does the curriculum use accurate and appropriate terminology?
• Are data, information, and sources of information current?
• Are statements of fact based on data and sound science rather than anecdotal information or subjective opinion?
• Are sources of data clear and credible? Are they from a reputable public health or professional source?

If information is medically inaccurate, subjective, outdated, or not sound, use the Accuracy Analysis Chart to describe the errors, what needs to be done to correct the errors, and the degree of difficulty and cost to do so.

For example, our review team found an outdated statistic on page 13 of the curriculum that was more than 15 years old. It should be easy to find a more current statistic. It may take time to research, but this should be a relatively low-cost fix.

After the accuracy review is complete, score the curriculum based on its accuracy and the degree to which the correction of any errors can be reasonably completed. In our example, the curriculum scores a “3” because of some minor problems that should be easy to correct.

A review of a different curriculum might find that many statistics or statements of fact could not be verified. Therefore, the curriculum would score lower and be eliminated because of its high probability for being biased or inaccurate. The accuracy analysis score will be transferred to the Overall Summary Forms, which will be explained later in this training.

Next, the Acceptability Analysis helps you rate the appropriateness of the curriculum as it relates to the norms of the community, state and local policies, avoidance of bias and stereotypes, and the health education needs of the students.

Some example questions to consider when analyzing acceptability include:

• Do pictures and graphics avoid promoting biased or stereotypical perceptions of individuals or groups on the basis of personal characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender, religion, culture, age, or sexual orientation?
• Does the curriculum address the health problems that affect youth, families, and the community?
• Does the curriculum reflect cultural perspectives and beliefs found in families, the school, or the community?

The Acceptability Analysis Chart is completed in a similar way as the Accuracy Analysis Chart. If text, pictures, graphics, or other materials are unacceptable, describe them and what needs to be done to correct the problems. Determine the Acceptability Analysis Score based on the overall acceptability of the curriculum. This score is also transferred to the Overall Summary Forms.

The Feasibility Analysis helps you determine if the curriculum is feasible to implement in the classroom. It is based on the amount of instructional time available in the school day and throughout the year, and also the ease of implementation by most health education teachers.

Unlike the previous categories, only two questions need to be considered during the Feasibility Analysis.

• Can the curriculum be reasonably implemented by most health education teachers and others who might use this curriculum?
• Can the curriculum be implemented within the available classroom or instructional time?

Once these questions are addressed, along with any notes to justify the responses, determine the Feasibility Analysis Score and transfer the score to the Overall Summary Forms.

Last is the Affordability Analysis. This assessment allows you to determine if your school district can afford the curriculum in terms of:

• Initial materials costs,
• Implementation costs, and
• Sustainability costs.

Questions to be answered during the Affordability Analysis include:

• What are the additional financial costs related to implementing the curriculum?
• What funds are available for purchasing and implementing the curriculum?
• What changes are needed in staffing, facilities, or schedules to ensure lessons can be implemented as written?

Based on these factors, determine an Affordability Analysis Score. As with the previous analyses, this score is then transferred to the Overall Summary Forms that will be discussed later in this training. However, common sense dictates that if a curriculum is costly, it might not be considered or scored further.

This important review of preliminary curriculum considerations is encouraged to make sure the curricula meet local community needs and requirements of your state or school district.

Remember, completing these preliminary analyses help eliminate incomplete, inappropriate, and inadequate curricula from your list. Completing this review will speed up the overall curriculum selection process by focusing initial analysis on issues that typically get mixed in with a content review. Looking at these issues separately and using them to narrow curriculum choices will save everyone time in the end.

Curriculum Fundamentals

This chapter will help you analyze and score characteristics that are fundamental to the review of any curriculum, including:

• Curriculum design,
• Learning objectives,
• Teacher guidance and preparation,
• Instructional strategies and materials,
• Teaching health skills,
• Student assessment, and
• Promoting healthy norms.

For each fundamental area, reviewers check each criterion that applies to the curriculum under review. Adding the total number of checks makes up the summary score for each fundamental area. Recorded notes and comments are used to justify scores and inform group discussions and decisions.

Let’s do an example. Our review team has determined that our health education curriculum meets three of the four items under Curriculum Design, so the Curriculum Design Score is “3.” This score is then transferred to the Overall Summary Forms, along with all other scores in this section.

This chapter can also help analyze the fundamentals of a comprehensive health education curriculum, abbreviated CHE. A comprehensive health education curriculum:

• Is broad in scope and content;
• Addresses numerous health problems, issues, or topics;
• Focuses on more than one grade level; and
• Includes a wide range of learning activities to address multiple health outcomes.

When reviewing a comprehensive health education curriculum, assess the criteria in the first seven fundamental areas to determine if each is met for most or all of the topics and grade groups. Then, complete the additional fundamental analysis, Continuity and Uniformity of the CHE Curriculum.

Remember, a curriculum has to meet expectations for understanding, usefulness, completeness, relevance, and sound educational practice. Completing the curriculum fundamentals analysis will make sure any curriculum meets these expectations.

Now, let’s take a moment to check your knowledge on getting starting started using the HECAT, preliminary curriculum considerations and fundamentals by answering a few questions.

Overview of Modules

Chapter 6 of the HECAT contains modules for addressing curricula that focus on specific health topics or that comprise a comprehensive health education curriculum. Each module is intended to be completed by a curriculum review team. Each module contains a description of the health topic to be addressed, including the healthy behavior outcomes (or HBOs) relevant for a curriculum in that topic area.

As described earlier in this training, these are the health topic modules found in the HECAT:

• Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD)
• Healthy Eating (HE)
• Mental and Emotional Health (MEH)
• Personal Health and Wellness (PHW)
• Physical Activity (PA)
• Safety (S)
• Sexual Health (SH)
• Tobacco (T)
• Violence Prevention (V), and
• Comprehensive Health Education (CHE)

It's important to review the healthy behavior outcomes, knowledge expectations, and the skill expectations needed to meet these outcomes because they must reflect your local community needs and conform to the curriculum requirements of your state or school district. Add, delete, or revise items to meet your community needs and curriculum requirements. After that is done, then your team is ready to analyze a curriculum.

To select the appropriate topic module, determine if the curriculum clearly focuses on a single topic, such as tobacco; only on two or three topics, such as nutrition and physical activity; or if it is a comprehensive health education curriculum.

If the curriculum focuses on a single topic, select the appropriate module. If it's clear that the curriculum is intentionally limited to a specific number of topics, use the corresponding modules that address these topics. If a curriculum is determined to be a comprehensive health education curriculum, use the CHE module.

The CHE module should not be used to analyze a single topic curriculum, even if the curriculum under review addresses all grade levels. Likewise, multiple single-topic modules should not be used to analyze a comprehensive curriculum.

An analysis of a comprehensive curriculum should examine the extent to which a curriculum:

• Addresses priority knowledge expectations in multiple health topics within a single grade group and across grade groups;
• Addresses specific skills and expectations in particular health topics and at particular grade levels; and
• Provides sufficient opportunities for students to practice essential skills across the curriculum.

These aspects of the CHE analysis components are not found in single-topic modules.

The Health Topic Modules analyze the core of the curriculum, that is the knowledge and skills that contribute to health-promoting behavior.

This information from the HECAT can also be used directly or modified to inform the development of a health education scope and sequence.

Module Example (Sexual Health)

Let’s demonstrate how to fill out one of the Health Topic Modules. For this example, we’ll focus on the Sexual Health Module.

The knowledge and skill expectations included in this module were developed through a rigorous process guided by research on the types of knowledge, skill, and experience that help students in grades pre-k through 12 adopt and maintain the specific healthy behavioral outcomes that promote sexual health and prevent sexual risk-related health problems.

The module is organized by the National Health Education Standards and is specifically grouped by Standard 1, essential knowledge expectations, and Standards 2-8, essential skill expectations. It is further categorized by grade groups: pre-K through Grade 2; Grades 3 through 5; Grades 6 through 8; and Grades 9 through 12.

For our example, we will focus on grade group 3 through 5.

STANDARD 1

The Standard 1 curriculum analysis will result in a single score that reflects the extent to which the curriculum addresses the knowledge expectations related to sexual health. Each expectation corresponds with one or more healthy behavior outcomes listed on the first page of that module. This allows your review team to add, delete, or revise items to meet your selected healthy behavior outcomes, the curriculum requirements of your state or school district, and community needs.

As they review a curriculum, team members check the box next to each sexual health-related knowledge expectation addressed in the curriculum they are reviewing. A knowledge expectation is considered “addressed” if there is sufficient information provided in the curriculum for students to be able to demonstrate understanding of this concept. Some knowledge expectations might require more evidence than others.

Then, looking at the number of items checked, you can determine a Knowledge Expectations Coverage Score for this standard and for the grade group. In our example, our sheet has some of the items checked, but not a majority of them, so the score for Standard 1, Grades 3 through 5, is a “2.”

If the curriculum addresses more than one grade group, complete a separate analysis of Standard 1 for each group.

STANDARDS 2-8

Standards 2–8 focus on what students should be able to do by the end of a specific grade level span. This section will result in two ratings for each standard:

• How well the skill expectations are covered for that standard, and
• The extent to which the curriculum provides opportunities for students to understand and practice the skills necessary to meet these skill expectations.

The skill expectations are listed, much the same as the knowledge expectations were for Standard 1. Again, we’ll focus on Grades 3 through 5.

In analyzing and scoring these expectations, look for evidence this expectation is fully met, and then check the expectation statement if it can be found in the curriculum. For our example, all of the skill expectations have been met for Standard 2, Grades 3 through 5. Therefore, the Coverage Score is a “4” in this case.

The second score for Standards 2-8 is the student skill practice analysis. This emphasizes the importance of practicing skills to improve skill learning.

The student skill practice questions are the same in all topic modules, for every skill listed in Standard 2-8, and for every grade group. The focus is on the number of opportunities students have to practice the skills needed to meet the standard and their ability to assess their own progress in developing skills.

Note that questions two and three focus on practicing the skills needed to meet the standard. This calls for analyzing the extent to which the curriculum addresses more than one skill expectation and the full range of skill-building activities to determine if the criteria have been met.

Check the box if a criterion is met and total the number of checks for the Student Skill Practice Score.

For our example, one box is checked, so the Student Skill Practice Score for Standard 2, Grades 3 through 5 is a “1.” Unfortunately, skill practice is commonly given little attention or time in a curriculum. This element may score poorly across skill standards. Skill practice can be strengthened by teacher instruction through augmented lessons or training. Keep in mind, skills don’t have to be practiced for every standard, health topic, and grade level. They can be varied throughout and across standards, topics, and grades to help students develop skills that can be applied in a variety of situations.

Repeat this process, totaling the student skill expectations and student skill practice scores for each of the Standards 2-8.

Take the results from analyzing each standard and transfer those scores to the Overall Summary Forms. Once the curriculum analysis has been conducted for all health topic modules, it’s time to tabulate scores in the Overall Summary Forms.

Now, we have come to the portion of the training to discuss the overall summary forms in greater detail.

Overall Summary Forms

After you have completed the preliminary consideration analyses, curriculum fundamental analyses, and health topic modules, you are ready to transfer your scores to the appropriate sections of the Overall Summary Forms for analysis.

The Overall Summary Forms can be used for two purposes:

• To keep track of your progress in completing the HECAT analysis; and
• To inform discussions and decisions by your curriculum review team.

The Overall Summary Forms are:

1. The Individual Curriculum Summary Scores. This form is used to consolidate scores across the modules for a single curriculum;
2. The Multiple Curricula Comparison Scores. This form is used to compare scores across multiple curricula or grade groups by consolidating Individual Curriculum Summary Scores; and
3. The Curriculum Summary Score Notes provides space to capture critical comments throughout the analysis.

Use a separate form for each grade group or health topic module.

Here’s an example of the Individual Curriculum Summary Score form filled out for grade group 3 through 5 using the Sexual Health module.

Remember, these forms are only to consolidate information across different analyses. We will talk more in the next video about how to interpret and use the information on these Summary Score forms.

After Completing the HECAT

After completing the Overall Summary Forms and curriculum analysis, it’s time to review the results to make recommendations for curriculum selection or revision.

You will need to develop a selection or revision process that works best in your setting. Here are some recommended steps:

1. Convene a meeting. Schedule a meeting of the health education curriculum review committee to discuss the completed HECAT analyses. Include any additional individuals who will be responsible for revising locally developed curricula.
2. Review the scores and comments. Review the scores for the Preliminary Curriculum Considerations completed in Chapter 4 and determine whether to eliminate any curricula based on concerns about the accuracy and acceptability of content, feasibility of implementation, and cost. Review the recommendations for how to overcome the problems that were identified.
3. Reach a consensus on final scores. There should be consensus for the scores of the health topic modules for each curriculum when reviewers’ scores are not consistent. Focus the discussion on those items for which there is a difference of two or more points. If consensus is not possible, the scores can be averaged. If the scores are already consistent, use this opportunity to have team members explain their scores. Once consensus is achieved, the team can discuss identified strengths and weaknesses.
4. Identify important items. The HECAT process doesn’t assume all scoring areas have the same value although the same 0-4 scores are assigned for each area. Your team may decide that some criteria matter more than others when selecting an appropriate curriculum. For example, your team might consider refusal skills from the Standard 4 “communication skills practice” score to be more important than the Standard 1 “knowledge expectations” score when selecting a middle school alcohol abuse or sexual health curriculum. It appears these scores have the same value on paper, but the committee might consider this and other score areas as being more important when determining the curriculum that is selected.
5. Rank curricula. If using the HECAT to review one curriculum, skip to the next step. If comparing more than one curriculum, use the Multiple Curriculum Comparison Scores form. Rank curricula from strongest to weakest.
6. Make curricula and analyses available to the public for comment, if required. Drawing upon a health education curriculum review committee that represents a broad range of school and community perspectives can help ensure that the analysis results and curriculum recommendations match the interests of the public. Sharing your analysis results with the public is even more transparent and demonstrates confidence that your process was fair, objective, and inclusive of others so the public can trust in the findings.
7. Review public comments if solicited, and consider whether the ranking of the curricula should be revised based on the input received. The HECAT coordinator and members of the review team should examine all public comments, considering the implications of comments for ranking each curriculum. Remember, though, that no single opinion should immediately override your objective and systematic review committee process.
8. Use final ranking and public comments to make curriculum recommendations for selection or improvement. Use the final ranking to make recommendations for selecting a packaged curriculum or making revisions to a locally developed curriculum.
9. Assign curriculum revisions, supplements, and improvements. Revisions, supplements, or improvements to a curriculum should be assigned to a writing team made up of review team members or other health educators who have experience and expertise in writing curricula.

Now, let’s take a moment to check your knowledge on using the HECAT by answering a few questions.

Next Steps

You have learned how the HECAT can be used to review and select a health education curriculum. You have heard how the HECAT can be used to update and improve your health education scope and sequence, inform health education assessment, and even help you select health education resource materials. It also provides essential content that will help health teachers improve their health instruction.

To learn more about the HECAT, visit the CDC’s HECAT homepage at CDC.gov/healthyyouth/hecat. You can also dive deeper into the National Health Education Standards and the characteristics of an effective health education curriculum.

Download a print version of the HECAT for your next curriculum review. It can be found in the Resources section of this training.

Read the entire HECAT to become familiar with its contents, beginning with the Overview and Chapter 1, General Instructions. This will help you determine how the HECAT can meet your curriculum analysis, development, or selection needs. Chapter 1 provides essential background information and instructions for conducting a health education curriculum review.

Read the remaining chapters to review the curriculum, and complete the forms for your analysis using the HECAT.

This training can be used as a reference as you begin your HECAT implementation.

Thank you for participating in the Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool course.

Finally, you can print a Certificate of Completion by clicking on the certificate link also in the Go Further section.

We hope you have learned more about the Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool by participating in this course, part of the “Training Tools for Healthy Schools” e-Learning series.