Teacher Training and Implementation of CSPAP Components

Background/Purpose: Multifaceted, school-based approaches are a promising strategy to promote youth healthy behavior adoption. One approach is the Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program (CSPAP; CDC, 2013). Many current teachers have not been trained to use a CSPAP approach and Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) programs may not yet include this training. The current study, framed with the CSPAP model and informed by Guskey’s Model of Teacher Change (Guskey, 2002), studied teachers’ implementation of aspects of the whole-of-school approach over one year and can inform teacher and PETE training programs.

Method: Teachers received four training sessions, the Elementary Fitness for Life curriculum (Corbin et al., 2010) for their grade level, and mentor teacher help to implement Wellness Weeks four times during the school year. Participants (N=27) in this study were classroom teachers (22 female, 5 male; 26 Caucasian, one Mexican American) from one rural school district with 90% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch. Multiple components from the Elementary Fitness for Life Curriculum were used. Teachers reported on the number of components (i.e., physical education lesson plans, conceptual learning discussions; signage promoting healthy behaviors; chants to reinforce major messages from the lessons; Eat Well Wednesday activities; Get Fit Friday activities; newsletters and other resources on the website) used from the model during wellness weeks and number of physical activity breaks taught.

Analysis/Results: Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics to summarize what was done during the four wellness weeks across the year. Wellness week activities used were reported as follows: week 1 (M=6.03; SD=8.39); week 2 (M=2.22; SD=4.13); week 3 (M=4.62, SD=4.79) and week 4 (M=5.45, SD=6.70). Similarly, the mean number of physical activity breaks taught were reported as 7.55, 3.47, 6.42 and 5.34 across the four wellness weeks. Wellness week two had fewer activities, which may have been due to the week being close to winter holidays.

Conclusions: This study is significant because it shows that classroom teachers were able to learn how to teach healthy behaviors during wellness weeks as part of a CSPAP. To align to the CSPAP framework, it is necessary to expand our PETE programs to prepare new PE teachers to train classroom teachers and stakeholders to implement healthy behaviors across the school day and outside of schools. Consistent with Guskey’s Model, teachers had resources and observed success supporting the adoption of wellness week activities.