Describes how middle school physical education teachers can create and maintain a positive learning environment that will last all year long. Crucial to this enterprise is the action that they take at the beginning of the school year. During this time, successful teachers must establish class rules, develop routines, and convey expectations. (SM)

Middle school physical educators must develop good routines at the beginning of the year to develop safe, enjoyable teaching and learning environments. Management and behavioral protocols and procedures are at the heart of this environment. The paper presents questions to consider when planning the start of the school year, noting key…

Identifies amendments to Public Law 105-17 that relate to physical education and inclusion of students with disabilities, discussing their implications. The paper highlights issues related to Child Find, personnel training, and Individualized Education Plan (IEP) team members and program development. Sidebars discuss reauthorization procedures,…

Discusses ways to integrate students with disabilities into gross motor activities within inclusive physical education classes, noting reasons why students with disabilities have similar needs to students without disabilities. The paper recommends the use of peer tutors, describes different adaptations, and lists potential needs of students with a…

Explains the importance of performance assessment in physical education, addressing two questions that physical educators must consider. The first, what to assess, involves locating and identifying student achievement targets. The second, how to describe performance, includes identifying and describing a vision of success. Two examples from the…

This article is designed to spark some ideas regarding the ways in which teachers can help students more effectively and successfully communicate all the things they have learned in a physical education program, suggesting that one approach to improving communication with teachers is to use multiple intelligences when creating assessment options.…

Only assessment can tell middle school physical education teachers whether their students are learning. The paper offers a list of assessment tools, including structured observations, written tests, student logs and journals, role playing and simulations, reports, and projects. The paper also recommends using rubrics to assess the quality of…

Discusses the importance of assessing student physical-education achievement related to their ability to demonstrate responsible personal and social behavior in physical-activity settings and demonstrate understanding and respect for differences among people in physical-activity settings. Notes how to measure student understanding and use of these…

Categorizes and critiques the body of literature around the Holmes Group's three reports regarding the treatment of teaching and teacher education ("Tomorrow's Teachers,""Tomorrow's Schools," and "Tomorrow's Schools of Education"). Discusses three themes found in the literature (gender, professionalism, and epistemology) and criticism of, and…

Describes a partnership between a university and an urban school district in which university students completed a one-year immersion internship in urban schools that included students with diverse linguistic, cultural, and learning needs. Surveys of the interns, mentors, principals, and university supervisors indicated that the program was…

Evaluated an innovative cluster of seven college/school partnership projects between teachers, schools, researchers, and teacher educators at a Swedish university. Interviews with project directors and leaders, teachers, headteachers, students, and student teachers indicated that differentiated strategic partnerships are necessary in order to meet…

Explores the interpersonal dynamics of a graduate-student teaching-assistant supervisor, a department chair, a cooperating teacher, and a student teacher in a traditional university teacher-education program. Data from interviews, observations, conferences, and discussions indicated that the supervisor felt unsupported and disenfranchised,…

Examined emotional relationships between teachers and their students. Interviews with principals and seventh- and eighth-grade teachers who were very committed to several educational reforms indicated that teachers valued emotional bonds formed with students and appreciated the purposes of educating their students as emotional, social, and…

Investigated the connection between teachers' beliefs and instructional practices when the beliefs were informed by formalist thinking related to truth and caring. Responses to a teaching problem posed to middle school students and language arts teachers indicated that teachers' instructional strategies were guided by formalist beliefs, which…

Examined a classroom in which fourth graders' questions dominated the discourse, investigating how the teacher reduced forces that discourage student questions in instruction. Observation and interview data indicated that the teacher respected her students as well-intentioned learners, viewed the assumptions revealed by student questions as steps…