Road Less Traveled: Results of a Pilot 25-Credit CHES Exam Eligibility Certificate Program

Throughout the United States, school-based personnel in health-related positions are being asked to demonstrate their credentials/qualifications to provide these services or risk losing their jobs. In South Carolina, teen pregnancy prevention workers with college degrees were informed that certification in a relevant area was required within a two year period. Therefore, Consolidated School District 5 partnered with KDG Consulting and Winthrop University to offer a 25-credit health education certification program to meet the alternative eligibility option for prospective candidates for the Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) exam. Over a two year period, eight courses, based on the Seven Areas of Responsibility delineated in the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc. framework, were offered to a cohort of 25 teen pregnancy prevention workers from multiple schools in District 5 in South Carolina. In this session we will review the rationale behind and the content of the eight courses comprising the certificate program, the nature of the collaboration between the school district office, the sponsoring university and the certificate program vendor, the characteristics of the program participants, the recruitment and orientation of faculty, the resources available, the implementation of that program, the CHES examination pass/fail rate of the program participants and possible explanations for those results. The session ends with a review of the didactic and political lessons learned from the experience, and time for comments and feedback on the viability of a 25-credit health education certificate program, possible sponsors, and implementation and evaluation challenges.