Healthy Kids Survey

Methodologies: Survey Research

WestEd's Healthy Kids Survey (HKS) is a comprehensive and customizable youth self-report data collection system that provides essential and reliable information on risk behaviors and resilience to schools, districts, and communities. Targeted at grades 5–12, since fall of 2003, the HKS has been required of all school districts in California in compliance with the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, Title IV.

The HKS enables schools and communities to collect and analyze valuable data regarding local youth behaviors that are barriers to learning, such as substance use, violence, and bullying, as well as school safety, connectedness, and the level of developmental supports that the schools provide students. Schools are also provided technical assistance in using this information to guide program decision-making and monitoring their progress in meeting student needs.

Research Questions

The reports of HKS results enable local schools to assess the following needs of local youth and schools as a guide to developing more effective programs to meet those needs:

• What are the barriers to learning and positive development that youth experience?
• What risk behaviors are most problematic for local youth?
• Are schools providing safe, drug-free, and supportive learning environments?
• Are schools meeting the developmental needs of youth that have been found to promote positive academic, social, behavioral, and health outcomes?

Methodology

The HKS consists of topical modules appropriate for grades 4 and above. In California, the Department of Education requires that all schools, in compliance with NCLB Title IV, conduct the core module biennially among students in grades 5, 7, 9, 11, and in continuation and community day schools.

Survey participation requires parental consent and is voluntary on the part of students. The data are processed by WestEd researchers and each school district automatically receives a report summarizing the results and discussing the significance of the questions, as well as a Key Findings report suitable for public dissemination. Aggregated, weighted county-level reports are also produced. All school district reports are posted on the HKS website, where they may be publicly downloaded.

The HKS is administered to every school and student in 85 percent of the districts in California. In the 30 largest districts in California — representing 29 percent of state enrollment — the HKS is administered only in a sample of schools. Only a few (all small) districts are exempt from administering the survey because they do not accept Title IV funds. The entire HKS dataset is available for analysis under a Memorandum of Understanding to preserve the confidentiality of the results.

Results

As of spring 2007, the HKS dataset consists of 2,700,000 records. Since fall 2003, approximately 900,000 student records have been added every two years from about 850–900 districts (depending on years covered) and almost 7,000 schools. Numerous policy briefs, analyses, and factsheets reporting the survey results are available on the HKS website.

The success of HKS resulted in the funding of a companion California School Climate Survey for school staff. Since fall 2004, this companion survey has been required for every school that administers the HKS survey.

Contact Information

Gregory Austin
562.799.5155
gaustin@wested.org