The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) released the 2016 School Health Profiles (Profiles) results on the DASH Healthy Youth website. The School Health Profiles (Profiles) is a system of surveys assessing school health policies and practices in states, large urban school districts, and territories. Profiles surveys are conducted biennially by education and health agencies among middle and high school principals and lead health education teachers.
The latest data indicate that some progress has been made in connecting youth to sexual health services, some aspects of health education and the provision of safe and supportive environments. However, these data also show that only a small percentage of schools teach key HIV, STD, and pregnancy prevention topics. Across states, a median of only 14% of schools taught all 19 specific topics recommended as essential components of sexual health education in middle school and a median of 38% taught all of these topics in high school. In addition, the results highlight multiple areas in need of improvement, including access to full-time nurses in schools, professional development for teachers that teach sexual health education, and other efforts to ensure safe environments for LGBT students.
The release includes:
- a comprehensive report that includes results from surveys conducted in: 48 states; 21 large urban school districts; and four territories
- a fact sheet describing Profiles and highlighting key 2016 results
- a PowerPoint presentation that presents state results, by quartiles, on a U.S. map
- all questionnaires and item rationales
- information on how to obtain Profiles datasets
- technical documentation for data analysis
For more information about School Health Profiles:
- Website: www.cdc.gov/schoolhealthprofiles
- Email: [email protected]
