National Health Education Standards

SHAPE America is a proud member of the coalition that developed the National Health Education Standards.  The National Health Education Standards PreK-12 were released in Spring 2007 and provide a revision of the 1995 standards. Revisions in the new standards include:

• Revised student standards – from 7 to 8 standards
• Revision of recommended grade levels for student evaluation
• Revised and expanded student performance indicators
• New chapter on student assessment
• New chapter on equity and access for all students

Standard 1: Students will comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention to enhance health.

Standard 2: Students will analyze the influence of family, peers, culture, media, technology, and other factors on health behaviors.

Standard 3: Students will demonstrate the ability to access valid information and products and services to enhance health.

Standard 4: Students will demonstrate the ability to use interpersonal  communication skills to enhance health and avoid or reduce health risks.

Standard 5: Students will demonstrate the ability to use decision-making skills to enhance health.

Standard 6: Students will demonstrate the ability to use goal-setting skills to enhance health.

Standard 7: Students will demonstrate the ability to practice health-enhancing behaviors and avoid or reduce health risks.

Standard 8: Students will demonstrate the ability to advocate for personal, family, and community health.

Citation: 
Joint Committee on National Health Education Standards. (2007). National Health Education Standards, Second Edition: Achieving Excellence. Washington, D.C.: The American Cancer Society.

* SHAPE America holds all rights to the National Health Education Standards, including all revisions and/or derivatives. Written permission from SHAPE America is required to use these standards in other works.

Revising the National Standards

 SHAPE America is pleased to share that we, along with our partners in the health education field, are officially in the beginning stages of revising the National Health Education Standards (NHES). SHAPE America acquired the copyright to the NHES from the American Cancer Society in late 2020.

Revision Task Force

One of the first steps in this process is collecting recommendations for task force members who will guide the revision process.

We would sincerely appreciate your recommendations for colleagues you feel would be highly qualified and willing to serve on this critical task force ... or you can even put yourself forward for consideration. Please keep in mind that serving on the task force will be a 2- to 2.5-year commitment.

As you begin to consider individuals with expertise in the field of K-12 school health education who you might recommend, please keep in mind that we are striving for a mix of task force members who:

• Are diverse on multiple levels (e.g., urban/suburban/rural school environments, geographic location, school size, student population served), but especially in terms of race and ethnicity;
• Have deep content knowledge and/or a strong research background in school health education;
• Teach at the university and K-12 levels;
• Work at state departments of education and who serve as school district curriculum supervisors;
• Have expertise in social justice & equity, diversity and inclusion.

You can either share this link with individuals you feel would be a good fit for the task force or use the Submit Nomination button below. The nomination form asks interested individuals to upload their curriculum vitae.

Task force submissions are now closed.

SHAPE America will review all recommendations and present a suggested final roster to the SHAPE America Board of Directors and our partner organizations in this work. We will then reach out to individuals to inquire about their willingness to serve. The task force is anticipated to begin working in July 2021.

Health Education/SEL Crosswalk

The Crosswalk for the National Health Education Standards and the CASEL Social and Emotional Learning Competencies (Health Education/SEL Crosswalk) document aligns CASEL’s SEL competencies and related skills to the National Health Education Standards and Performance Indicators. This document will show how the NHES are aligned with the SEL competencies and sub-competencies developed by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). The Health Education/ SEL Crosswalk will also give teachers a pathway for planning a skills-based health education curriculum that aligns with social and emotional learning.

A skills-based approach to teaching K-12 health education, you'll learn practical approaches for building, teaching and assessing a health education program that will help your students become health-literate individuals.

Lesson Planning for Skills-Based Health Education offers 64 field-tested lesson plans, learning activities, and assessments for implementing a skills-based approach in your class.