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Explore. Define. Measure: An Integrated Curriculum for the Elementary Classroom

An Evidence-Based Practice

Description

“Explore. Define. Measure: An Integrated Curriculum for the Elementary Classroom” (EDM) is the educational component of the Asthma 411 Initiative in St. Louis, Missouri and aims to increase asthma awareness among elementary school children using an integrated asthma curriculum. EDM consists of 15 lesson plans, which concentrate on nine major asthma concepts. Teachers are trained to deliver the lessons plans and are able to incorporate practical asthma information into current elementary school core curricula.

Goal / Mission

The EDM program integrates asthma education into elementary school core curriculum with the intentions of raising asthma awareness and increasing asthma management knowledge.

Impact

The EDM program provides students the opportunity to increase knowledge and develop health literacy about asthma as well as expand the availability of resources for teachers.

Results / Accomplishments

The effectiveness of the curriculum was evaluated between January and May 2007 using an experimental study design with 167 intervention students and 69 comparison students. Fifteen fourth and fifth grade teachers were trained to incorporate a 15-lesson asthma curriculum into their core curricula. The comparison group consisted of four classrooms without the asthma curriculum. Only ten out of 15 intervention teachers reported their students’ pre- and post-test scores; thus, investigators analyzed data per protocol. The study assessed the EDM program based on the outcomes of gained asthma knowledge and teacher acceptance of the program. Asthma knowledge was evaluated using 18-question pre- and post-tests and standardized scoring rubrics.

Intervention and comparison students began with comparable baseline levels of asthma knowledge. Asthma knowledge increased 26.6% and 39.3% among fourth grade and fifth grade intervention students, respectively. The post-test mean score for intervention students was 26.0% higher than the post-test mean score for comparison students.

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)
Controlling Asthma in St. Louis
Primary Contact
Emily V. Pike
School of Public Health
Saint Louis University
St. Louis, MO
Pikeev@gmail.com
Topics
Health / Respiratory Diseases
Health / Children's Health
Organization(s)
Controlling Asthma in St. Louis
Date of publication
2011
Date of implementation
2006
Geographic Type
Urban
Location
St. Louis, MO
For more details
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21337052
http://www.asthmacommunitynetwork.org/node/930
Target Audience
Children
Submitted By
Tiffany Gee, Jennifer Kahng, Sadaf Sareshwala - UC Berkeley School of Public Health

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  3. Detroit's Asthma Education Project
  4. King County Asthma Program

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An Evidence-Based Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.
  2. The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures showing improvement in the outcome(s) of interest after the implementation of the program (i.e. increase in smoking cessation, not just the delivery of a smoking cessation program). The outcome measure(s) is/are compared at relevant time periods before and after the intervention or program implementation. Alternatively, the evaluation study compares the outcome(s) between an intervention group and an appropriate control group.
  3. The study is of peer-review quality and presents numbers in a scientific manner; measurements of precision and reliability are included (e.g. confidence intervals, standard errors), results from statistical tests show a significant difference or change in the outcome measure(s), and relevant point estimates and p-values are presented. Note: if the results from an evaluation of a program are presented in a scientific manner and the outcome measure is improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant, the practice is classified as effective and not evidence-based.