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: The Individual Curriculum Summary Scores form,
which consolidates scores for a single curriculum; The Multiple Curriculum Comparison Scores
form, which compares scores across multiple curricula and grade groups, and
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.