Certification
Examples of Acceptable Coursework for Certification in Health Education
Acceptable Health Education courses address topics such as personal health, safe and healthy environment, and health-related resources. Acceptable courses include, but are not limited to:
- courses that address the New York State Learning Standards for Health,
- courses that address competencies on the Health Education Content Specialty Test, other than the health education program planning and pedagogical content knowledge competencies, and
- content courses (not pedagogy courses) within a health education teacher education program or health major. To learn about the types of courses that are in a health education major, you could review the course catalogs of New York State institutions of higher education that have programs that lead to teacher certification in health education.
Please note that pedagogical courses, including content linking pedagogy courses, do not fulfill the content core coursework requirement (e.g., teaching methods in the content area). For this content area, unacceptable courses include courses in fitness, substance abuse, or human sexuality that are not focused exclusively on its effect on health, such as sociology or anthropology coursework focused on human sexuality, sociology or anthropology courses focused on substance abuse, exercise for sports, nutrition for sports, exercise physiology, motor development, and kinesiology.
Examples of Acceptable Courses in Personal Health
• Human Growth and Development
• Child or Adolescent Psychology
• Health Psychology
• Mental and Emotional Health
• Mind/Body Dimensions in Health
• Anatomy and Physiology
• Multidimensional Aspects of Stress
• Stress Management
• Healthy Behaviors
• Effects of Nutrition on Health
• Effects of Exercise on Health
• Disease and Illness
• Health and Disease Issues
• Chronic and Communicable Diseases
• Bereavement/Death/Suicide-related Health Issues
• Sexual Health
• STD Prevention
• Critical Health Problems
• Issues in Health and Wellness
• Wellness and Health Promotion
• Effects of Aging on Health
• Epidemiology
• HIV/AIDS Education
Examples of Acceptable Courses on a Safe and Healthy Environment
• Safety Education
• Emergency Response Topics
• Personal Safety
• Safe Home Environments
• Conflict Resolution
• Violence Prevention in the School, Community, and Home
• Effect of Environment on Health
• Healthy Social Environments
• Effects of Drugs, Alcohol, and Tobacco on Health
Examples of Acceptable Courses in Health-Related Resources and Skills
• Health Counseling
• Consumer Health Education
• School and Community Health
• Community Health
• Consumer Use of Health Services
• World Health
• Trends in Public Health
• Public Health Policies
• Health Agencies in the U.S.
• Studies on the U.S. Health Care System
• Media Literacy as related to Consumer Health
• Health Problems of the Underserved
• Contemporary Health Issues
• The Influence of Media/Culture/Technology on Health