Measuring Health Literacy in Basic Education in Finland: The Development of a Curriculum- and Performance-Based Measurement Instrument

Anna-Mari Summanen (), Juhani Rautopuro, Lasse Kannas and Leena Paakkari
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Anna-Mari Summanen: Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, 40014 Jyväskylän yliopisto, Finland
Juhani Rautopuro: Finnish Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä, 40014 Jyväskylän yliopisto, Finland
Lasse Kannas: Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, 40014 Jyväskylän yliopisto, Finland
Leena Paakkari: Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, 40014 Jyväskylän yliopisto, Finland

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 22, 1-12

Abstract: This paper describes the development of an objective curriculum- and performance-based health literacy (HL) measurement instrument to assess Finnish 9th graders’ learning outcomes in the school subject termed Health Education (HE). There were four phases: (i) construction of the theoretical framework for the measurement, (ii) item generation, (iii) the field test ( n = 252), and (iv) item analysis and item selection for the main study, in which 3652 ninth grade pupils (aged 15–16) participated. Initially, 303 HL test items were formulated, of which 107 were tested in two different field test versions. Both versions exhibited high reliability as measured by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The main study contained 55 items. Testing and item analysis enabled the development of a comprehensive competence- and curriculum-based HL measurement instrument for school-aged children. Measurement of HL in schools provides information for national policies, and for developing HE as a school subject.

Keywords: curriculum; health literacy; school-age children; measurement; basic education; health education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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