Navigational Stars

Standards-Based:  All teaching and learning is focused on student achievement of learning standards (both National and NYS).  Health literate youth have the knowledge, skills and ability (the KNOW and CAN DO) to maintain and enhance personal health and fitness, create and maintain safe environments, and manage personal and community resources.  All New York State teachers with responsibility to teach health education should have made the transition to standards-based instruction at this time.

Skills-Driven: Health literacy requires educators to switch from a content-driven to a skills-driven approach.  Young people need to learn, practice and apply skills successfully, numerous times, with positive reinforcement and social support to enhance and maintain personal health and safety.  A skills-based approach enables young people to develop the competence and confidence to effectively apply health skills to a variety of health-related situations.

Scientifically Research-Based: Over the last thirty years we have learned a great deal about "What Works" in health education.  Peer reviewed research and evaluation literature continues to identify effective theory-based health education programs, curricula, processes, and strategies.  Our role as health educators is to become familiar with the scientifically research-based trends and integrate promising programs and strategies into our practice to enable young people to reach the standards.

Learner-Centered:  All students need to be at the center of learning.  They need to have multiple opportunities to construct thier own knowledge and skills and personally apply them to relevant health situations.  The role of the health educator is to facilitate opportunities and experiences that engage and challenge young people to assess, explore, discover, question, personalize, apply, adopt and evaluate learning.

Strength-based:  Health education (all education) is most effective when it takes a positive youth development approach, building on young people's existing strengths, skills and competencies.  Strength-based health education builds character.  Young people are most likely to build character and adopt healthy behaviors when they know what they have to do, believe they will be able to do it, have successfully practiced it, and believe that the healthy behavior will benefit them.  Health education needs to be positive.

Authentic:  Health education needs to provide real life learning experiences and personal applications of health knowledge and skills in relevant situations.  Assessments need to demonstrate the actual personal application of health knowledge and skills through peresonal wellness plans, logs, reflective journals, demonstrations, simulations, role-plays, community service learning and other tangible products and performances.

Other navigational stars, that are not directly addressed by an educator in the classroom, include:
   ~Integrated Into the Total Education Program
   ~Provided by Qualified and Skilled Teachers
   ~Fully Supported by the School and Community
   ~Coordinated School Health Framework

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