FTCE Health K-12 key terms

The degree to which a person can obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make informed health decisions and act on them.

Eight standards describing what students should know and be able to do in health education, covering concepts, analyzing influences, accessing information, communication, decision making, goal setting, health practices, and advocacy.

Accurate, usable information about health concepts and behaviors that students can apply to real situations, as opposed to isolated facts memorized for a test.

The core content areas health curricula address, such as nutrition, physical activity, injury prevention, substance use, sexual health, mental and emotional health, and disease prevention.

An approach that teaches transferable skills such as analyzing influences, communication, refusal, decision making, goal setting, and advocacy alongside health content.

A grade-span-specific statement describing what mastery of a health education standard looks like for students at particular grade levels, used to plan and assess instruction.

A planned, sequential K-12 curriculum addressing physical, mental, emotional, and social health, delivered by qualified teachers as part of a coordinated school health approach.

A coordinated framework linking health and education through ten components, including health education, physical education, nutrition services, counseling, family engagement, and community involvement.

An organized approach that aligns multiple school and community components, such as health services, nutrition, counseling, and family involvement, to support student health and learning.

A group of parents, students, educators, and community members that advises a school district on health education policy, curriculum, and program planning.

A planning process that starts by identifying desired learning outcomes, then determines acceptable evidence of learning, and finally designs instruction and activities to reach those outcomes.

A clear statement of what students should know or be able to do by the end of a lesson or unit, typically naming an observable action and a content focus.

A hierarchical classification of cognitive processes, from remembering and understanding through applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating, used to write objectives and design higher-order tasks.

Temporary instructional supports, such as models, prompts, or guided practice, that help students complete tasks they could not yet do independently and are gradually removed as competence grows.

Adapting content, process, or product to students' readiness, interests, and learning profiles so that each student can access and demonstrate learning.

A proactive planning framework that builds multiple means of engagement, representation, and action or expression into instruction so diverse learners can succeed without retrofitted accommodations.

Ongoing checks during instruction, such as exit tickets, questioning, or observations, used to adjust teaching and give feedback rather than to assign a final grade.

An evaluation at the end of a unit or course that measures how well students met learning objectives and typically contributes to a reported grade or program evaluation.

A task requiring students to apply knowledge and skills to realistic situations, such as creating a health campaign, demonstrating refusal skills, or writing a personal wellness plan.

A scoring guide listing criteria and levels of quality so that performance on complex tasks is judged consistently and students understand expectations in advance.

The match among standards, learning objectives, instructional activities, and assessments so that what is taught and tested reflects the intended outcomes.

An organized set of concepts explaining why people adopt or avoid health-related actions, used to design and evaluate health education and promotion programs.

A theory holding that behavior is shaped by personal, behavioral, and environmental factors interacting continuously, with key constructs including self-efficacy, observational learning, and reinforcement.

A person's belief in their own ability to perform a specific behavior successfully in a given situation, a strong predictor of effort, persistence, and behavior change.

A framework explaining preventive behavior through perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, cues to action, and self-efficacy.

A stage-based model of behavior change with stages of precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and sometimes termination, matched to stage-appropriate strategies.

A person-centered counseling style that uses open questions, reflective listening, and affirmation to strengthen a student's own motivation and commitment to change.

Conditions where people are born, grow, live, work, and age, including income, education, housing, and neighborhood safety, that shape health outcomes and access to care.

The absence of avoidable, unfair differences in health status and access, achieved by allocating resources and support according to need so all students can be healthy.

A preventable difference in health outcomes or access to services between groups defined by factors such as race, income, disability, geography, or sexual orientation.

A characteristic, condition, or behavior that increases the likelihood of a negative health outcome, such as tobacco use, poor nutrition, or lack of supervision.

A condition or resource, such as strong family support, school connectedness, or problem-solving skills, that reduces the likelihood of harmful outcomes and buffers risk.

The capacity to adapt and recover successfully in the face of adversity, stress, or trauma, supported by caring relationships, high expectations, and opportunities to participate.

The ability to understand, respect, and respond effectively to cultural differences in health beliefs, practices, communication, and family norms when teaching or providing services.

A professional set of principles, including responsibility to the public, competence, confidentiality, and integrity, that guides decision making for health education specialists.

The ethical and legal obligation to protect students' private health information and share it only with those who have a legitimate need and a lawful basis to know.

The process of connecting a student or family to appropriate health, mental health, or social services beyond what the school or classroom can provide, while following privacy rules.

Ongoing learning, such as coursework, workshops, coaching, and professional association involvement, that maintains and updates a health educator's knowledge and skills.

A systematic process of gathering data about a population's health status, knowledge, resources, and priorities to guide program planning and identify gaps.