Physical educators have been identified as ideal school champions to lead comprehensive school physical activity program (CSPAP) efforts within their schools. As such, they should be adequately prepared to take on this role. Faculty from three physical and health education teacher education programs have collaboratively developed the…

After-school physical activity programs are great opportunities to increase daily physical activity for adolescent youth in urban environments who often do not get the recommended amounts of physical activity needed for health benefits. Black and Hispanic youth in urban environments are particularly under-resourced in not just facilities but…

Background: This study tested the hypothesis that written district wellness policies are associated with higher rates of implementation of nutrition and physical activity practices. Methods: Written wellness policies and building level practices were assessed for schools (N = 295) within high-need districts (N = 70) in New York State. The…

The Centers for Disease Control have suggested that physical education plays a role in promoting healthy lifestyles. Prior research suggests a link between attitudes toward physical education and physical activity outside school. The current study provides additional evidence of construct validity through a validation across two instruments…

Background: For rural adolescents, schools are among the few places where environmental interventions can promote health outside of the home. The goal of this study was to assess the nutrition and physical activity (N&PA) environments of schools attended by a birth cohort and examine the association with change in body mass index (BMI) from…

As comprehensive school physical activity program (CSPAP) professional development becomes increasingly available to current K-12 physical education teachers, this special feature shifts attention to the preparation of future PE teachers and teacher educators for CSPAP. The purpose of this concluding article is to summarize the undergraduate- and…

Since its development in 2010, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have been adopted in over 40 states. While the literature discussing the implications of this initiative is robust, the research examining its effect on K-12 physical education (PE) is limited. Moreover, there is little empirical data on the effect of the CCSS on student…

Physical education teacher education (PETE) programs are often driven in large part by the external demands of state and national accreditation, such as standardized teacher certification exams. Furthermore, the state of New York requires that practicing teachers be evaluated each year through structured observations, together with quantitative…

Building on recent discussions regarding how current national standards for physical education promote cognitive outcomes over physical outcomes, the authors explore how a new era in high-stakes testing is also contributing to an emphasis on the cognitive, over the physical. While high-stakes testing has been linked to reducing the amount of…

This article was inspired by a belief in the need to connect physical education with community-based physical activity programming in minority communities. The initial steps of this reflective narrative were described in a previous article. This article describes a program called Project Guard: Make A Splash E.N.D. (End Needless Drowning), a…

This study examines the expected and experienced benefits among participants in Enhance®Fitness (EF), an evidence-based group physical activity program for older adults. We also describe the implications for program dissemination (reach, implementation, and maintenance) within the RE-AIM (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and…

The New York State Physical Education Learning Standards for K-12 students were transformed into a survey administered to a sample of teachers of physical education (N = 261), ascertaining their ratings of their knowledge, ability/skill, education/training, and attitudes on the importance of future professionals receiving training to teach…

Purpose: The purpose of this investigation was to develop an instrument that has scores that are valid and reliable for measuring students' attitudes toward fitness testing. Method: The method involved the following steps: (a) an elicitation study, (b) item development, (c) a pilot study, and (d) a validation study. The pilot study included 427…

This dissertation is a qualitative case study of how three liberal arts colleges rationalized and provided physical education courses despite a trend in higher education to reduce or eliminate physical education from the curriculum. Kalamazoo College, Bennett College for Women, and Barnard College for Women continue to provide physical education…

The rapid increase in the number of students with visual impairments currently being educated in inclusive general physical education makes it important that physical education instructors know how best to serve them. Assessment of the experiences of students with visual impairments during general physical education classes, knowledge of students'…