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. 2024 Aug;94(8):697-707.
doi: 10.1111/josh.13475. Epub 2024 Jun 17.

Quality of Health Education Teacher Preparation Program Curricula Throughout the United States

Rachael D Dombrowski  1 , James Mallare  2 , M Elaine Auld  3 , Chelsey Hughes  4 , Jordan Fuhrmeister  4
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Quality of Health Education Teacher Preparation Program Curricula Throughout the United States

Rachael D Dombrowski et al. J Sch Health. 2024 Aug.

Abstract

Background: Undergraduate majors in education, specifically in school health education (HE), have declined considerably in the United States. Reductions in state and federal funding for K-12 public education and increased demands on educators to prioritize standardized academic outcomes versus focusing on the whole child encompass many factors leading to fewer qualified teachers and reduced quality of HE delivery within schools.

Methods: A content analysis of over 300 HE teacher preparation programs throughout the United States was conducted from 2019 to 2020 to assess available and required curriculum for pre-service HE teachers. Seven curriculum areas were reviewed: nutrition, physical activity (PA) and physical education (PE), HE, chronic disease management (CDM), social emotional learning and mental health (SEL/MH), drug abuse and tobacco prevention (DA/TP), and a methods course in teaching HE.

Results: Findings indicated program type influenced course offerings, with stand-alone HE and joint HE/PE programs providing the most comprehensive curriculum. Most programs required courses in general HE, PA and PE, and nutrition. Programs were deficient in offering courses in CDM, DA/TP, and SEL/MH.

Conclusion: This article contains recommendations to improve the quality of HE delivery in public schools, for example by ensuring that school health educators are trained in providing skills-based HE to youth, which can assist in addressing child and youth health outcomes (eg, CDM, mental health) for the nation.

Keywords: Whole School Whole Community Whole Child; curriculum; health education; health literacy; higher education; school health; teacher preparation.

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References

REFERENCES

    1. United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Survey of the Universe of Post‐Secondary Institutions; 2019.
    1. García E, Weiss E. The teacher shortage is real, large and growing, and worse than we thought: the first report in ‘The Perfect Storm in the Teacher Labor Market’ series. Economic Policy Institute; March 26, 2019. Available at: https://www.epi.org/publication/the‐teacher‐shortage‐is‐real‐large‐and‐g.... Accessed December 27, 2022.
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