WED-099 - Evaluating High School Health Education Quality and Impact Through College Student Retrospective Perceptions

Brief Abstract Summary: Discover how college students evaluate the quality and value of their high school health education experiences through a multi-institutional survey grounded in the National Health Education Standards and CDC/SOPHE effective curriculum characteristics. This study explores perceived effectiveness across functional health knowledge, attitudes, skills, and health-enhancing behaviors, examines how students rank health education among other core academic subjects, and investigates variation by instructor background, state context, and students’ academic majors. Findings reveal that most students viewed their courses as moderately effective but identified gaps in instructional quality, engagement, and topic coverage.

Detailed abstract description: This presentation examines college students’ perceptions of the quality and value of their high school health education experiences. A cross-sectional survey was conducted at two public universities in the United States to assess how former students viewed the effectiveness of their most recent high school health education course. The study was guided by the National Health Education Standards, the CDC’s Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (HECAT), and SOPHE’s Characteristics of Effective Health Education Curricula. Perceived effectiveness was examined across four domains: functional health knowledge, health-related attitudes, health-enhancing behaviors, and skill application aligned with national standards.

The evaluation also explored variation by instructor background, state context, and student academic major, factors that may influence the consistency and quality of health education across schools. Students described a range of instructional models, from semester-long courses taught by certified health educators to short units embedded within physical education. Preliminary trends indicate that courses taught by health education specialists and those offering more instructional time were perceived as more effective, while courses taught by non-health teachers or delivered as brief modules were viewed as less effective. Respondents majoring in health-related disciplines rated their health education experiences more positively than non health-related disciplines.

Across the overall sample, students perceived their high school health education experiences as moderately effective, reporting gains in knowledge and attitudes but fewer opportunities for skill development or behavioral application. Most respondents rated health education as an important subject comparable to other core disciplines such as science and mathematics, though fewer assigned their experience the highest possible value rating. These findings suggest opportunities to strengthen instructional depth, student engagement, and consistency in program delivery.

The results highlight the importance of qualified health educators, sufficient instructional time, and comprehensive, standards-based curricula that engage students in applied skill development.