Can we use the HECAT to analyze and select health education textbooks?
A textbook is not typically considered a complete health education curriculum. The HECAT is designed to analyze an entire curriculum, including all the resources, such as textbooks that will be used with the curriculum. We do not recommend that you use the HECAT to analyze a single resource, such as a textbook, independent of the curriculum in which it will be used, because it will require a more extensive review than would normally be necessary for such a single resource. We recognize that schools and school districts might use a separate review process to select a textbook that will become part of an existing health education curriculum. The HECAT can help you consider what to include in a separate textbook review process. Guidance for considering how the HECAT can be useful in the review of health education resource materials, such as a textbook, is provided in Appendix 3 [PDF 23K].
Related Questions
- Does the New Jersey Department of Education approve health and family life education materials (e.g., textbooks, videos, software) or require schools to use specific materials?
- Is the Characteristics of Effective Health Education Curricula document taking the place of the HECAT (Health Education Curriculum Assessment Tool)?
- Can we use the HECAT to analyze and select health education textbooks?
