Overview

Health Education provides students with the knowledge and skills they need to be healthy throughout their lifetime.  The intent of a comprehensive health education program is to motivate students to maintain and improve their health, prevent disease, and avoid or reduce health related risk behaviors.

Standards Development Process

The Maryland State Board of Education, through the State Superintendent of Schools, formed a Health Education Standards Committee comprised of local school system supervisors, classroom teachers, department heads, MSDE staff, and representatives from Maryland colleges and universities. The committees met periodically over two years to develop the standards, indicators, and objectives that comprise the Voluntary State Curriculum.

Health Education Voluntary State Curriculum

The Maryland Health Education Voluntary State Curriculum (VSC) weaves the skills from the National Standards into seven content standards. The VSC is a curricular framework for teachers, central office staff, students, parents, and the other stakeholders. The curriculum documents are formatted so that each begins with content standards or broad, measurable statements about what students should know and be able to do.

Indicator statements provide the next level of specificity and begin to narrow the focus for teachers. Finally, the objectives provide teachers with very clear information about what specific learning should occur.

The Health Education VSC has seven Standards:

1. Mental and Emotional Health – Students will demonstrate the ability to use mental and emotional health knowledge, skills, and strategies to enhance one’s self-concept and one’s relationship with others.

2. Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs - Students will demonstrate the ability to use drug knowledge, decision-making skills, and health enhancing strategies to address, the non-use, use, and abuse of medications, alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs

3. Personal and Consumer Health - Students will demonstrate the ability to use knowledge, skills, and strategies to develop sound personal and consumer health practices involving the use of health care products, services, and community resources.

4. Family Life and Human Sexuality – Students will demonstrate the ability to use human development knowledge, social skills, and health enhancing strategies to promote positive relationships and healthy growth and development throughout the life cycle.

5. Safety and Injury Prevention - Students will demonstrate the ability to apply prevention and intervention knowledge, skills, and processes to promote safe living in the home, school, and community.

6. Nutrition and Fitness - Students will demonstrate the ability to use nutrition and fitness knowledge, skills, and strategies to promote a healthy lifestyle.

7. Disease Prevention and Control - Students will demonstrate the ability to apply prevention and treatment knowledge, skills, and strategies to reduce susceptibility and manage disease.

Click here to view the Voluntary State Curriculum in Health Education 

National Standards in Health Education

To help students adopt and maintain healthy behaviors, health education should contribute directly to a student’s ability to successfully practice behaviors that protect and promote health and avoid or reduce health risks. The National Standards in Health Education describe when those skills and behaviors should be practiced.

The National Standards in Health Education are:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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