The HECAT (Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool) provides a framework for analyzing K-12 health education curricula. It contains guidance, analysis tools, and scoring rubrics to assess curricula based on characteristics of effective programs. The HECAT examines curricula's content accuracy, cultural acceptability, feasibility of implementation, and affordability. It also evaluates how well curricula address National Health Education Standards and promote behaviors to prevent priority health issues like substance use, nutrition, injury, and violence. The goal of the HECAT is to help schools select or improve health education curricula that will effectively influence students' health outcomes.

2. • The health education curriculum is the primary means through which
schools deliver health education. Without a curriculum, teachers would
not know what to teach and would not know the expectations of their
school district or school.
• The curriculum clarifies what health content is important, what
information is essential, and what students should be able to do as a
result of participation in health education. It should exemplify what is
expected to be achieved in health education.
• It provides the foundation for what students should learn and how
teachers should teach. It guides how teaching and learning will achieve
health outcome expectations.
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3. To adequately utilize the HECAT, a health education curriculum should contain
specific elements.
• A set of expected learning outcomes or learning objectives that contributes to
making health-promoting decisions, achieving health literacy, and adopting
health-enhancing behaviors, including promoting the health of others.
• A planned progression of developmentally appropriate lessons or learning
experiences that lead to achieving these objectives.
• Continuity between lessons or learning experiences that clearly reinforce the
adoption and maintenance of specific health-enhancing behaviors.
• Accompanying content or materials that correspond with the sequence of
learning events and help teachers and students meet the learning objectives.
• Assessment strategies to determine if students achieved the desired learning.
• A curriculum is an educational plan incorporating a structured,
developmentally appropriate series of intended learning outcomes and
associated learning experiences for students.
• A curriculum is generally organized as a related combination or series of
school-based materials, content, and events.
• A health education curriculum includes those learning strategies and
experiences delivered in the classroom setting that provide students with
opportunities to acquire the attitudes, knowledge and skills necessary for
making health-promoting decisions, achieving health literacy, and adopting
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6. Why was it developed?
Ensure that the HE curriculum that are chosen are supported by
effective/best practice and are effective in promoting Healthy behavior
Instead of having teachers or schools choose curriculum or develop
their own curriculum the HECAT allows a process that can lead to
the most appropriate and effective curricula
It is not a tool to evaluate the effectiveness of a curriculum

7. Developed a framework for assessment based on
preliminary characteristics of effective programs.(2002)
Assembled expert advisory group (2003)
Advisory group emphasized
Need to focus on essential health topics
Priority issues that should be analyzed
Curriculum content analysis needed to complement school
frameworks (National Health Education Standards)
Synthesized research related to effective programs. (2004)
Developed based on 14 characteristics of effective health education.
Focuses on a specific behavior
Is research based and theory driven
Addresses individual values
Focuses on increasing the personal
perception of risk factors
Addresses social pressure and influences

8. It is intended to assess the written curriculum
It is important to understand that it is not about delivering content it s
about giving students the tools to adopt or maintain healthy behaviors.
Contains guidance and analysis items for a complete analysis of
health education curricula that reflects research, characteristics of
effective curricula, NHES, and expert opinion and interests.
Can analyze single-topic (e.g., tobacco) or multi-topic curricula
(comprehensive).
Can be used to select a commercially-packaged curricula and review/
improve locally-developed curricula.

10. Single content curricula
Single grade or multiple grade level
curricula
Comprehensive curricula

11. In summary –
• The purpose of the HECAT is to provide state, regional and local
education agencies with a common set of analysis tools to assist with
the selection or development of health education curricula.
• The HECAT contains guidance, analysis tools, scoring rubrics, and
resources for carrying out a clear, complete, and consistent
examination of health education curricula.
• The HECAT results can help your school select or develop appropriate
and effective health education curricula, strengthen the delivery of
health education, and improve the ability of health educators to
influence healthy behaviors and healthy outcomes among school-age
youth.
• The HECAT is customizable to meet your local community needs and
conform to the curriculum requirements of the state or school district.
• Health education is but one of several interventions and factors that
can influence and improve the healthy behaviors and outcomes of
students.
Other notes:
Health education is an essential component of a school health program

13. How is the HECAT organized?
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14. Includes an overview of school health education, background
information about reviewing and selecting health education
curricula, guidance to consider during a curriculum review,
and tools to analyze commercially packaged or locally
developed school-based health education curricula.

15. Chapter 1 (Instructions) provides step-by-step guidance for
conducting a health education curriculum review. It includes
essential background information and instructions for using
the HECAT to review and improve locally developed
curriculum.

16. Chapter 2 (General Curriculum Information) guides the user
in collecting descriptive information about the curriculum,
including the developer and the year of development, topic
areas, and grade levels.

17. Chapter 3 (Overall Summary Forms) provides directions and
customizable templates for summarizing ratings scores for
the appraisal of a single curriculum or comparing scores
across curricula, using the analysis items from multiple
chapters.
Contains three forms
 Individual Curriculum Summary Scores – allows
consolidation of scores for a single curriculum.
 Multiple Curriculum Comparison Scores – allows
comparison of scores across multiple curricula or grade
groups.
 Notes – provides space to capture critical comments
from the review process

18. Chapter 4 (Preliminary Curriculum Considerations) provides
guidance and tools to appraise the accuracy and
acceptability of curriculum content, feasibility of curriculum
implementation, and affordability of the curriculum materials
including cost of implementation.

19. Accuracy — to assess the accuracy of the health, medical,
and scientific information in the written health education
curriculum.
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20. Acceptability—to analyze how well the curriculum aligns with
social norms among students, families, community member;
and, to analyze if cultural and other aspects of the school and
community are acceptable.
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21. Feasibility — to determine if the health education curriculum
content, materials, and instructional strategies can be
successfully implemented and used by health education
teachers within the available instructional time and with the
existing facilities and equipment
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22. Affordability — to assess how affordable the curriculum
appears to be, for example, to determine the costs of
sustaining curricular materials annually, what funds are
available for curriculum purchase and implementation, or
needed changes in staffing, facilities, or schedule so that
lessons in the curriculum can be implemented as written.
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23. These are essential characteristics of any curriculum. Scoring sheets
are aligned toward health education curricula. The curriculum
fundamentals require that you go deeper into the lessons. You will be
examining the learning objectives, the design of the teaching materials
are they easy to follow, and available,

25. Further, it features an integration of the National Health Education
Standards (on the left), and the application of those skills to promote
the behaviors needed to prevent the highest priority health and safety
Alcohol and Other Drug Use, Nutrition, Physical Activity, Sexual
Behaviors, Tobacco, Unintentional Injury and Violence are included
because they represent the behaviors that account for most of the
morbidity and mortality experienced by young people or they are
behaviors established in youth that will account for most of the
premature morbidity and mortality that today s young people will
experience in adulthood.
Personal Health and Wellness is a general category that includes a
number of important health issues that are not covered by the other
seven categories, as well as basic practices that are fundamental to
good health and hygiene.
The items assessing Standards 2-7 also address Functional Skills
Knowledge and General Skills Development, the building blocks of
health literacy that are the foundation for the more content-specific