Background/Purpose Although it has become common for high school (HS) physical educators to teach strength training (ST) as part of the physical education (PE) curriculum, and for HS coaches to include ST in their teams' programs, there is evidence to suggest they do not possess the knowledge necessary to teach ST (Castelli & Williams, 2007; Miller & Housner, 1998). The purpose of this study was to determine the level of knowledge current and preservice HS physical educators/coaches possess regarding ST principles and methods, and determine if that knowledge was acceptable based on a minimally acceptable passing criterion of 75%.
Method Participants consisted of two groups: (a) 287 HS physical educators/coaches from 37 states; and (b) 140 physical education teacher education (PETE) students from 12 universities. A 90-question exam specific to ST and HS students/athletes (McGladrey et al., 2010) was used to assess ST knowledge.
Analysis/Results Independent one-sample t-tests revealed statistically significant differences in exam scores versus the criterion: educators, t(286) = -18.61, p < .01 (M = 59.3%); and students, t(139) = -13.12, p < .01 (M = 56.6%). Participants possessing an ST certification scored highest, and formed the only subgroup to not demonstrate a statistically significant difference versus the criterion, t(23) = -.73, p = .47 (M = 73.3%).
Conclusions Results of this study confirmed that current and preservice physical educators/coaches don't possess sufficient knowledge, and suggests that HS administrators should consider providing in-service training in ST principles and methods and encourage physical educators/coaches to obtain an ST certification.