Scheduled for Research Consortium Pedagogy I Poster Session, Thursday, April 14, 2005, 1:15 PM - 2:45 PM, Convention Center: Exhibit Hall Poster Area I


The Reality of Reform in School Physical Education

Christina Sinclair1, Melissa Parker1 and Mary Lou Miller2, (1)University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO, (2)Jefferson County Public Schools, Golden, CO

For the past decade reform movements in education and physical education have received much attention (NAPSE, 1995; No Child Left Behind). These movements have called for standards-based education (NASPE, 1995; 2004), developmentally appropriate practices, and increased accountability for student learning. Professional associations, school districts, and institutions of higher education have worked diligently to educate the profession. In fact, accrediting agencies would now say that an undergraduate student was ill prepared if they were not conversant with these ideas. The purpose of this study was to assess the current status of physical education reform movements in Colorado K-12 schools. Five-hundred eighteen high school (N=56), middle school (N=80),elementary school (N=318), all-level (N=54) and teachers classified as "other" (N=10) responded to a 38-item questionnaire on the status of physical in their school, assessment and reporting procedures, curriculum choices, and perceived professional development needs. The status of physical education questions included 15 items regarding qualifications of teachers, time in physical education, budget, professional development support, size of class and the inclusion of and support for students with disabilities. Nine questions were developed to determine what teachers were assessing and how and to whom that information was reported. One question was used to identify the primary curricular model(s) used in a program. One open ended question asked teachers to identify professional development needs. Descriptive analysis consisted of frequency counts, means, percentages, and standard deviation calculations for all variables. Results revealed that high school and middle school teachers differed from elementary school teachers in their use of authentic assessment practices and identifiable curriculum models. Additionally, secondary teachers differed from elementary on their choices of professional involvement. These findings set the foundation for future investigations focused on the daily teaching practices physical education settings. Results may also serve as an important guide for what professional associations and institutions of higher education must do to augment reform movement attempts to enhance the quality of school physical education.


Keyword(s): assessment, college level issues, professional development

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