Scheduled for Pedagogy II Posters, Friday, April 4, 2003, 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM, Convention Center: Exhibit Hall A


Physical Education Teachers' Views About the Impact of Educational Reform on the Quality of Their Instruction

William Weinberg, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY and Jackie L. Lund, Ball State University, Muncie, IN

In 1990 the state of Kentucky enacted the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA). At that time this initiative was considered “the most sweeping education package ever conceived by a state government” (New York Times). Now, more than a decade later, virtually all of its initiatives remain intact. Among KERA’s most relevant reform initiatives for physical education instruction are high-stakes school accountability (reward and sanctions) that is partially based on authentic assessments, including portfolios, curricula that emphasize content integration, precisely defined benchmarks in each content area, school-based decision making (SBDM) and ungraded primary schools. Although most elements of KERA have been systematically evaluated (cf. Pankratz & Petrosko, 2000), there have been no studies that have examined how reform initiatives have impacted physical education instruction. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to ascertain how systemic educational reform has affected the instructional practices of experienced physical education teachers. Hopefully, the results of this study may be used to gauge the impact of educational reform on physical education instruction in school districts where reform is just now occurring. Subjects were elementary (n=167), middle (n=80) and high school (n=107) physical education teachers who responded to a comprehensive survey about their instructional practices. Responses pertaining to the impact of 12 reform initiatives were measured by a seven-point Lickert scale and open-ended response questions. Responses were analyzed with t-tests, ANOVA, and Chi-square (.05 level). Among the most important results were that elementary teachers indicated that all reform initiatives except for ungraded primary school significantly detracted from their teaching (overall M=2.93) and they considered content integration and school rewards/sanctions to be the greatest detractors. Many elementary teachers stated that several of the reform initiatives required too much instructional time and record keeping and detracted from their students reaching NASPE Content Standards that focus on skills and fitness. Conversely, middle and high school teachers believed that each reform initiative significantly improved their teaching (overall M=4.63) and indicated that new teacher standards and opportunities for content integration and professional development were the most beneficial. Physical education teachers considered themselves to be reasonably well informed about educational reform. They rated professional organizations and colleagues as their most important sources of information and universities and their state education department as least important.

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