Health Framework
for
California Public Schools
Kindergarten through Grade Twelve
California Department of Education
1994

This framework is based on the premise that health literacy is as important in today’s complex, challenging world as linguistic, mathematical, and scientific literacy. The major goal of this framework is to describe health education and schoolwide health promotion strategies that will help children and youths become health-literate individuals with a lifelong commitment to healthy living.

Unifying Ideas of Health Literacy

Health-literate individuals develop a growing mastery of knowledge, skills, and behaviors in four key areas critical to healthy living:

• Acceptance of personal responsibility for lifelong health.
• Respect for and promotion of the health of others.
• An understanding of growth and development.
• Informed use of health-related information, products, and services.

The content areas are not distinct from the four unifying ideas of health literacy. Rather, the unifying ideas run through and connect the content areas in a student-centered approach that makes instruction meaningful to students. A well-designed health curriculum combines the four unifying ideas with the content areas in a continuing spiral of knowledge and skill development from kindergarten through grade twelve.

This material was excerpted from the Health Framework for California Public Schools Kindergarten through Grade Twelve. California Department of Education, 1994. ISBN 0-8011-1064-5

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