Why Baptist HealthTeacher?

Originally developed in 1999 by health educators and health professionals, the goals of HealthTeacher are to:

• Increase the health literacy of all teachers
• Enable teachers to overcome constraints that limit health education in the classroom
• Provide the knowledge, skills and tools that increase the health literacy of all students
• Engage parents and other key community stakeholders to reinforce healthy behaviors among children 

HealthTeacher measures outcomes through benchmarking in four ways: 

• Teacher Satisfaction – Online surveys are designed to obtain qualitative feedback regarding the online content and resources available for educators and the value they drive from HealthTeacher.com in improving student health literacy.
• Usage Analysis – HealthTeacher.com automatically compiles teachers’ online navigation of the lesson plans and resources.  Reports are available online for designated administrators for analysis.
• Observational Data – Accounts of district personnel’s responses to training, content, implementation and collaboration are collected through the Baptist HealthTeacher Health Education Coordinator’s interaction with the schools.
• Knowledge Gains – School districts have the option of participating in HealthTeacher’s online pre- and post-testing system to help gauge students’ knowledge and skill levels. 

The 2010 survey demonstrated 83.9 percent overall teacher satisfaction and 72.4 percent enhancement in teachers’ personal knowledge of health.  It also showed 51.5 percent noticed improvement in students’ health knowledge, and improved connectedness with teachers and students by 77.9 percent. 

HealthTeacher is committed to education, outreach and the promotion of health literacy in their communities.  Their support for children’s health extends beyond the pages of their website. An example of this is their work as the founding partner of the Blue Apple Awards which recognizes exceptional school health programs.