Academic Majors and Subject-Area Certifications of Health Education Teachers in the United States, 2011-2012

Overview & Synopsis

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify academic preparation and subject-area certifications of K-12 public school staff teaching at least one health education class during 2011-2012 academic year. In general, teachers who are well qualified to teach a subject area are more likely to positively affect student achievement. Methods: Data reported for this study were extracted from the 2011-2012 U.S. Schools and Staffing Survey, a comprehensive nationally representative survey of school employees conducted periodically by the National Center for Educational Statistics. Descriptive statistics were used to identify health education teachers' academic majors and subject-area certifications. Results: Among health education teachers, 35.5% reported an academic major in health education, 30.3% reported a major of physical education, and 34.2% reported majors in other academic subjects. Approximately 60% of health education teachers were certified in health education. Among the 39.7% of health teachers not certified in health education, 35.0% reported their primary area of certification was physical education and 22.6% reported certification in elementary grades-general. Conclusions: Data revealed that in the U.S. most health education teachers did not have an academic major in health education. In addition, nearly 40% of health teachers were not certified in health education. Health education teachers that were not certified in health education were most often certified in physical education. Recommendations: A number of initiatives to consider were presented in order to have the most qualified teachers of school health education, which included a state certification, licensure, or endorsement to teach health education and an academic major in health education.