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Trends in Professional Development for and Collaboration by Health Education Teachers—41 States, 2000‐2010
Author(s) -
Brener Nancy D.,
McManus Tim,
Wechsler Howell,
Kann Laura
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of school health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.851
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1746-1561
pISSN - 0022-4391
DOI - 10.1111/josh.12088
Subject(s) - professional development , medicine , health education , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , logistic regression , medical education , family medicine , gerontology , environmental health , psychology , public health , nursing
BACKGROUND Professional development ( PD ) and collaboration help ensure the quality of school health education. The purpose of this study was to examine trends in the percentage of lead health education teachers ( LHETs ) receiving PD on health topics and collaborating with other school staff on health education activities. METHODS This study analyzed representative data from 41 states participating in School Health Profiles surveys between 2000 and 2010. Logistic regression examined linear trends in the percentage of LHETs who received PD on 12 topics and who collaborated on health education activities. RESULTS Significant increases in the percentage of LHETs receiving PD on nutrition and physical activity and significant decreases in the percentage of LHETs receiving PD on alcohol‐ and other drug‐use prevention and human immunodeficiency virus prevention were seen. Significant increases in the percentage of LHETs who collaborated with physical education staff and nutrition services staff were seen in 29 and 39 states, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Although 10‐year increases in PD and collaboration in the areas of nutrition and physical activity are encouraging, PD and collaboration in other topic areas still need improvement. These results will help states target more resources toward PD and collaboration in areas where they have been decreasing.