The goal of this Phase I research is to identify the cognitive, affective and behavioral health education/promotion needs of middle school students. (grades 5-8) in order to design an effective, commercially-viable, comprehensive school health promotion curriculum during Phase II. Specifically, the objectives of the Phase I research are (1) to identify the health information, attitudes and behaviors of middle school students in order to provide an understanding of the needs experienced by the target audience; (2) to achieve consensus about the content to be included in the health promotion curriculum to be developed in Phase II; and (3) to identify opportunities and barriers within the middle school community that will influence adoption of a health promotion curriculum. Interviews will be conducted with health experts, across the country to identify student needs; with instructional media designers to explore potential materials formats; and with professional associations and publishing houses to discuss marketing and distribution avenues. In addition, focus groups with approximately 240 middle-school students and 240 educators/youth leaders in twelve communities across the nation will be conducted to explore the health knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of young adolescents. The proposed curriculum will join the very small number of carefully-evaluated health promotion curricula developed specifically for use in the middle school.
