What is the California Healthy Kids Survey?
The California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) is an anonymous, confidential student and school staff report of attitudes, health risk behaviors, and protective factors. The survey gathers information on behaviors such as physical activity and nutritional habits; alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use; school safety; and environmental and individual strengths. Used by California schools since 1997, the CHKS consists of age-appropriate survey instruments for students in grades five, seven, nine, and eleven and is designed in a flexible, modular format that can be customized to meet local district needs. The CHKS is intended for use in planning and evaluating student support programs, primarily alcohol, tobacco, other drug, and violence prevention programs.
Why is the CHKS Required?
The CHKS is a requirement of funding for districts that accept federal Title IV Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities (SDFSC) funds or state Tobacco-Use Prevention Education (TUPE) funds. Title IV Section 4112 requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to implement a Uniform Management Information and Reporting System that collects information on the incidence and prevalence of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use and violence by youths in schools and communities that shall be collected through anonymous student and teacher surveys. Title IV Section 4115 requires that school districts plan, implement, and evaluate their programs using the Principles of Effectiveness. These principles include conducting a needs assessment through data gathering and analysis, choosing a science-based program proven to be effective in reducing the problem behaviors identified through data analysis, establishing performance objectives for reducing the problem behaviors, and using data to evaluate progress and improve the program. The CHKS is integral to the Principles of Effectiveness because it provides data for program planning, performance objectives, and program evaluation
My District Needs to Administer the CHKS. How Do I Get Started?
The CDE contracts with WestEd to assist districts in administering the CHKS. WestEd maintains the survey forms; provides training and technical assistance through regional workshops on CHKS administration and data use; provides answer sheets and scoring of the surveys; prepares reports of CHKS results; and operates a toll free line (888-841-7536).
If your district needs to administer the CHKS, you should begin planning at least one semester before the actual survey administration time. Materials and instructions can be found on WestEd's Web site. As a first step, visit the WestEd (Outside Source) Web site and download the CHKS guidebook.
Sample Consent Letters and Forms
CHKS Active Consent Letter (English) (DOC; 25KB; 1p.) | PDF (English) (11KB; 1p.)
Available Translations of the CHKS Active Consent Letter
The Active Consent letter is distributed to parents informing them of the Survey.
CHKS Passive Consent Letter (English) (DOC; 25KB; 1p.) | PDF (English) (19KB; 1p.)
Available Translations of the CHKS Passive Consent Letter
The Passive Consent letter is distributed to parents so they may encourage their child to participate in the Survey.
CHKS Active Consent Form (English) (DOC; 37KB; 1p.) | PDF (English) (18KB; 1p.)
Available Translations of the CHKS Active Consent Form
The Active Consent Form is distributed to parents so they may grant permission for their child to participate in the Survey.
CHKS Passive Consent Form (English) (DOC; 35KB; 1p.) | PDF (English) (22KB; 1p.)
Available Translations of the CHKS Passive Consent Form
The Passive Consent Form is distributed to parents so they withdraw their child from the Survey.
CHKS and Academic Achievement
Data collected with the CHKS has helped to produce the following documents that describe the link between health status and student achievement and discuss how incorporating health and prevention programs into school improvement efforts can produce positive achievement gains.
Ensuring that No Child Is Left Behind (PDF; Outside Source)
This non-technical report has shown that meeting the basic developmental needs of students—ensuring that they are safe, drug-free, healthy, and resilient—is central to improving their academic performance.
Using the CHKS to Help Improve Schools and Student Achievement (PDF; Outside Source)
This document explains how the CHKS can be used to help improve schools and student achievement. It briefly describes survey content and rationale, and provides a short synopsis of recent research linking health with achievement.
Factsheet 1 (PDF; Outside Source): Health Risks, Resilience, and the Academic Performance Index
This brief report describes how schools where students are low in health risk factors and high in protective factors have higher API scores than other schools. This report is based on the longer report described under Health and Achievement, below.
This report describes how health risk and resilience are longitudinally related to subsequent changes in standardized test scores. The results indicate that health risk and low levels of resilience assets impede the progress of schools in raising test scores.
