Comparing the two sets of National Health Education Standards
This is an excerpt from Health and Physical Education for Elementary Classroom Teachers 3rd Edition With HKPropel Access by Retta R. Evans & Sandra Kay Sims.
Standards for Academic Performance
Classroom teachers are expected to teach specific academic subjects and are held accountable for ensuring that their students meet those academic expectations for each grade level. Some states have prescribed a course of study for each academic area that designates the minimal student expectations for each grade level. Teachers use state standards to design lessons to address the individual needs of students in their classroom. This chapter will provide examples of incorporating health education content into the academic classroom.
National Health Education Standards
As of 2025, there are two sets of standards that are titled National Health Education Standards (NHES). One set was developed in 2022 by the National Consensus for School Health Education. The following organizations make up the National Consensus group: the American School Health Association, Eta Sigma Gamma, the Foundation for the Advancement of Health Education, the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, the Society for Public Health Education, and the Society of State Leaders of Health and Physical Education. In 2020, SHAPE America acquired the copyright for the National Health Education Standards from the American Cancer Society. In 2024, it published the third edition of these standards. Table 8.1 compares the two sets of national health education standards. You will notice similarities between the two sets of standards. Always follow the standards that your school, district, or state requires. The authors have chosen to primarily use the 2022 version by the National Consensus for School Health Education for this textbook.
Classroom teachers need to be able to connect the NHES with the four main academic areas of mathematics, English language arts, science, and social studies. One approach to integration is the focus of this chapter. The following sections outline four steps to help you create classroom activities that integrate health education into the academic curriculum. These steps will help you move from brainstorming general ideas to creating a plan to teach the activity in class.
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