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IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF PHYSICAL
EDUCATION IN RURAL SCHOOLS
by Nick
Cutforth & Elaine
Belansky
Rural Physical Education
Since 2006,
we've interviewed upwards of 40 K-12
physical education teachers throughout
rural Colorado. And we usually hear
a very similar story: physical education
teachers wear many hats during the school
day; often they haven't received high
quality physical education training;
sometimes they don't know about or have
the resources to attend physical education
conferences or workshops; their principals
are fairly hands off when it comes to
overseeing their curriculum and quality
of instruction; they have an annual
physical education budget of about $300;
and they tend to feel somewhat isolated
both in their school building and from
the broader physical education community.
Take the
physical education teacher from a small
town in southern Colorado, as an example.
Originally certified in elementary education,
he was asked to teach physical education
by his principal 15 years ago. He describes
the challenges: "Besides being
in a dusty poorly lit gym for most of
the day I find it hard to come up with
activities for a broad of a range of
children on a weekly basis." A
common sentiment expressed by teachers
was, "We do have a district curriculum
but I couldn't tell you where it is."
And a veteran rural physical education
teacher who is highly respected in her
community said, "I’ve been
teaching here for 30 years and we've
never had a physical education workshop."
In the San
Luis Valley (SLV) - a rural region of
Colorado that is the size of Connecticut
- childhood obesity rates are higher
than the state average (approximately
38% vs. 26% of 5th graders), 70% of
students qualify for free or reduced
lunch (and this figure is over 90% in
several SLV schools), and few opportunities
exist for low income families to participate
in structured physical activity (e.g.,
there is only 1 Boys and Girls Club
in the entire region).
Despite the
need for quality physical education
in the SLV, our interviews with physical
education teachers suggest that schools'
physical education curricula are often
inadequate or non-existent: most physical
education teachers aren't able to articulate
goals and objectives for their curriculum,
physical education classes are held
in aging facilities that lack equipment,
and lesson content is developmentally
inappropriate, and tends to focus on
team sports rather than on physical
fitness and skill development which
are stronger determinants of healthy
exercise habits.
In addition,
a large number of SLV physical education
teachers are not certified and/or licensed
to teach physical education. Just as
the above mentioned stories illustrate,
physical education teachers in the SLV
feel isolated, and typically do not
receive any physical education-related
professional development. Many of them
do not know about existing resources
such as AAHPERD; however, their "wish
list" consists of wanting more
physical education time with students,
more professional development opportunities
around individualizing activities for
different skill and ability levels,
enough equipment to provide a quality
program, and to feel more connected
to other physical education teachers
in the region. In focus groups, students
confirm many of the concerns raised
by physical education teachers (i.e.,
lack of equipment, repetitive and boring
activities in physical education class).
Given high
poverty and childhood obesity levels
in the SLV, accompanied by few structured
and affordable opportunities to be physically
active outside of school, the role of
physical education programs in building
a generation of lifelong movers is vital.
However, school administrators are under
pressure to focus attention on other
priorities related to academic achievement,
making it challenging for them to devote
energy and attention to health-related
issues (Belansky,
Cutforth, Delong, Ross, Scarbro, Gilbert,
Beatty, & Marshall, 2009).
Thus, university
researchers, physical education teachers,
and community health experts have an
important role to play in advocating
for quality physical education programs
and supporting schools' efforts to create
environments and policies that promote
health and physical activity. Indeed,
our research has shown that schools
appreciate university researchers facilitating
schools in a process to plan and implement
environment and policy changes that
increase opportunities for physical
activity; in part, schools say this
is because universities are in a unique
position to bring important resources
to the table such as the latest evidence-based
practices (Belansky,
Cutforth, Chavez, Waters, & Horch,
2009).
The
San Luis Valley Physical Education Collaborative
The San Luis
Valley Physical Education Collaborative
("Collaborative")
was formed in February 2009 to tackle
the problem of children's' limited access
to quality physical education opportunities
in the SLV. Supported by two grants
(approximately $18,000) from the University
of Colorado and the University of Denver,
the Collaborative brought together 18
diverse individuals representing K-12
education and community health in the
SLV, higher education, and state and
national physical education organizations
for nine 6-hour meetings from March
2009-January 2010.
The Collaborative's
goal was to refine a roadmap to improve
the quality of physical education in
SLV K-12 schools, and to submit a grant
application to implement the roadmap
across all 14 schools districts. The
initial roadmap we developed used Green
& Kreuter's (1999) PRECEDE framework
along with Intervention Mapping (Bartholomew,
Parcel, Kok, & Gottlieb, 2006)
to acknowledge the various stakeholders
needed to ensure high quality physical
education (school boards, superintendents,
principals, parents, physical educators,
other educators, and students) and the
personal and environmental determinants
needed of each of those stakeholders
to assist in creating higher quality
physical education.
Our Collaborative
used several approaches to further build
on the roadmap: brainstorming, literature
searches, and conducting individual
interviews with state and national experts
and focus groups with stakeholder groups.
This new and improved roadmap (see
Figure 1) formed the basis
of a grant proposal to the Colorado
Health Foundation entitled "Implementing
Evidence-Based School Environment, Policy,
and Curricular Changes to Increase Opportunities
for Healthy Eating and Physical Activity
in Low Income, Rural Colorado."
This $1.8M, 3-year proposal was funded
in October 2010 and has two components:
Adapted Intervention Mapping (not described
here) and the San Luis Valley Physical
Education Academy ("Academy").
One reason
for the somewhat high price tag is that
the Collaborative decided it was important
to implement SPARK (www.sparkpe.org)
and provide schools with SPARK equipment
across the 47 SLV schools. We see SPARK
as an initial step to building physical
educators' capacity to provide quality
physical education; however, our hope
is to eventually work with school districts
to create physical education curricula
that integrate skills for lifelong movement,
and the nearby natural and beautiful
landscapes unique to the SLV such as
hiking trails along the Rio Grande River,
Penitente Canyon, and the Great Sand
Dunes.
The
San Luis Valley Physical Education Academy
The goal
of the Academy is to improve the quality
of physical education in SLV K-12 schools
in order to build physically active
lifestyles among rural, low income students.
The Academy will base its approach on
four interdependent evidence-based components
integral to improving physical education
quality (Prusak,
Pennington, Vincent, Beighle, &
Morgan, 2010):
- Common curriculum and instructional
strategies enabling physical education
teachers to speak the same language
when discussing teaching experiences
and advocating for physical education's
impact on student achievement, and
building physically active lifestyles
(in our case, we will be using SPARK).
- Professional development for physical
education teachers and principals
in teaching, assessment, observation,
and reflection; equipment and curriculum
materials; and time to act as a peer
support system.
- University-school partnerships
enabling schools to incorporate the
latest physical education evidence-based
practices.
- Site Coordinator supporting physical
education teachers and district administrators,
removing barriers and elevating the
importance of physical education.
The Academy's programs and services
will include:
- Half-Day Orientation Session for
all 14 SLV school districts.
- 2 1-day SPARK workshops and 1 booster
session each for physical education
teachers in K-2nd grade; 3rd-6th grade;
middle school; and high school, and
SPARK equipment.
- SPARK Train the Trainer.
- Monthly school site visits to physical
education teachers and principals
for ongoing support.
- Biannual meetings with superintendents
and school boards.
- Communities of practice.
Concluding Remarks
In this article we have noted the
desire of rural physical education teachers
to update their skills and elevate the
importance of physical education in
their schools, and the role university
researchers can play in supporting the
process. We expect the Academy to equip
SLV physical education teachers with
curricula and instructional strategies
that are evidence-based and relevant
to their settings. We believe that these
teachers' physical education programs
will provide meaningful activities that
increase students' skill levels, enjoyment,
confidence, and cooperation, while also
increasing their moderate to vigorous
physical activity levels, both inside
and outside school so that they enjoy
and integrate daily activity in their
lives.
references
figure 1
Nick Cutforth, PhD,
is Professor of Research Methods and
Statistics at the Morgridge College
of Education at the University of Denver,
and Adjunct Professor with the Rocky
Mountain Prevention Research Center
at the Colorado School of Public Health,
University of Colorado Denver. He taught
physical education for 15 years to K-12
urban students in London, England; Chicago,
Illinois; and Denver, Colorado. He has
co-authored two books: Youth
Development and Physical Activity: Linking
Universities with Communities
(Human Kinetics, 2000) and Community-Based
Research and Higher Education: Principles
and Practices (Jossey-Bass,
2003). Nick's current research involves
school-based intervention studies related
to physical activity and healthy eating
among elementary school students in
the San Luis Valley in rural Colorado.
Elaine S. Belansky, PhD,
is Assistant Professor in the Department
of Community, and Behavioral Health
and Associate Director of the Rocky
Mountain Prevention Research Center
at the Colorado School of Public Health,
University of Colorado Denver. Dr. Belansky
is a social psychologist with a focus
on positive child and adolescent development,
and the role that peers, family, and
schools play in developing physically
and psychologically healthy children.
Dr. Belansky's work has published in
the areas of physical activity, nutrition,
school wellness policies, community-based
participatory research, gender roles,
and adolescent development. She has
received grants to build healthy school
environments and policies from the Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation, the Centers
for Disease Control, and most recently,
the Colorado Health Foundation.
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