Background/Purpose The focus on accreditation in Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) programs has influenced programmatic offerings. As such, the primary purpose of this study was to provide a current analysis of how undergraduate PETE programs address the revised 2008 NASPE/NCATE Beginning Teacher standards.
Method Data were collected on-line via a comprehensive survey. Approximately 600 institutions were contacted via email and 157 PETE programs responded with completed and useable surveys (26% response rate).
Analysis/Results Although the responding programs do not represent a random sample of PETE programs, the programs vary in size, type and programmatic emphases. Predominant examples of assessment strategies employed by responding programs as evidence for achieving the standards include: Standard1 (PRAXIS scores= 36.9%); Standard2 (skill application in games=31.2% and Fitnessgram=29.9%); Standard3 (plan content progression=91.8%); Standard4 (use management rules, routines, and transitions=93.8%); Standard5 (select and conduct assessments=91%); Standard6 (membership in professional organization=81%). Another area influenced by the NASPE/NCATE standards is diverse/inclusive pedagogy. Nearly all (96.6%) of responding PETE programs require adapted PE coursework, 88.7% of which include hands-on practical experiences in a variety of settings. The third recent curricular emphasis is technology; over 90% of programs in this study teach physical education-specific technology and require at least one technology course in the PETE curriculum. The final topic addressed is the type of PETE faculty professional engagement. Roughly one-third (37.9%) of programs report that one-half or more of their faculty offer continuing education to P-12 teachers, with the majority (54.8%) providing 1-3 workshops annually.
Conclusions Suggestions for improving PETE programming will be provided.