The HECAT Online curriculum analysis task contains modules to address specific health-topic curricula and comprehensive health education curricula. Each module contains a description of the health topic to be addressed, including the healthy behavior outcomes (HBOs) relevant for a curriculum in that area. The Health Topic Modules are:
Each module is intended to be completed by a curriculum review team. Further details on team assignments can be found in the Using HECAT Online to Perform a Curriculum Analysis document found in a link on the Curriculum Analysis page.
All modules use the National Health Education Standards as the framework for analysis. This framework helps determine the extent to which the curriculum is likely to enable students' mastery of the essential knowledge (Standard 1) and skills (Standards 2–8) that promote healthy behaviors.
Because school curricula must meet local community needs and conform to the curriculum requirements of the state or school district, users are encouraged to review the HBOs, knowledge expectations, and skill expectations before using any module to analyze a curriculum. Users should add, delete, or revise items to meet community needs and curriculum requirements.
If a curriculum clearly focuses on a single topic, such as tobacco, use the individual health topic module that addresses that topic (e.g., Module T). If a curriculum focuses on HBOs related to only two or three topics and it is clear that the curriculum is intentionally limited only to those topics (e.g., only nutrition and physical activity; or only sexual health and violence prevention), use the two or three topic-specific modules that address these topics (e.g., Modules FN and PA; Modules SH and V). If the curriculum is designed for multiple grade spans and addresses two or more health topics it may be considered comprehensive. Analysis of a comprehensive health education curriculum allows for cross-module comparisons, whereas, analyzing individual modules does not. Further information on comprehensive evaluations can be found in the Using HECAT Online to Analyse Comprehensive Health Education Curriculum (CHE) document found in a link on the Curriculum Analysis page.
Last updated: July 30, 2021