This theme issue of "Journal of Teaching in Physical Education" constitutes the first concentrated effort to reflect on critical dimensions and issues related to the quality of doctoral programs in Sport Pedagogy/Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) in the United States (hereafter referred to as D-PETE programs). For a number of years now,…

The notion of an impact factor was first posited by Eugene Garfield (1972) to study the use, prestige, and status of scientific journals. The Institute for Scientific Information created the impact factor as a means to measure the number of times an "average article" published in a journal was cited over a particular time period ("The impact…

When comparing research strategies in physical education, it serves no purpose to characterize the quantitative approach as contrived, unnatural, rigid, ahistorical, and simplistic while describing the qualitative approach as natural, responsive, context-relevant, flexible, and complex. What is needed is dialogue regarding similarities and…

Although strategies for rewarding teachers abound, many of these schemes are failing because they do not acknowledge the psychological nature of teachers. This paper explores the role of these psychological factors in incentives, motivation, and commitment to the profession. (MT)

The assumptions underlying career ladders for teachers are discussed to highlight their strengths and weaknesses. It is suggested that career ladders serve the evaluation needs of administrators, not the needs of teachers. The career lattice is offered as a way of meeting teacher needs. (Author/MT)

Discusses the definition of content knowledge for physical education, suggesting that teacher educators have largely given up the historic content knowledge of the field, thus eliminating the possibility of developing a serious body of pedagogical content knowledge for teaching. The paper examines the root problem in defining pre-professional…

Connects Daryl Siedentop's speech, "Content Knowledge for Physical Education," with two others: "Curriculum Innovation: Toward the 21st Century" and "Physical Activity Cultures for Children and Youth: Redefining Physical Education," responding to seven issues: the nature of content knowledge; status, professional…

Critiques Siedentop's keynote address, "Junior Sport and the Evolution of Sport Cultures," reviewing and rationalizing Siedentop's four goals for junior sport (educative, public health, elite development, and preserving, protecting, and enhancing specific sport practices), discussing Siedentop's views on sport as a collective cultural…

Provides a history of the development of a curriculum and instruction model called Sport Education (which provides authentic, educationally rich sport experiences in the context of school physical education), reviewing theoretical and practical connections of Sport Education to other curricular and instructional models and exploring issues related…

Critiques Daryl Siedentop's paper, "Sport Education: A Retrospective," providing background on play theory, which underpins Siedentop's play education theory and subsequently the sport education (SE) model, examining assumptions that Siedentop believes undergirds SE, suggesting a change in the definition of SE to be more global, and…

Provides an overview of the field of teacher effectiveness research, describing the approaches one professor and his students have taken in their programmatic research examining teacher effectiveness from an ecological perspective of classroom life. The paper emphasizes methodologies, explaining that good data are the key to successful research,…

Critiques Daryl Siedentop's lecture, "In Search of Effective Teaching: What We Have Learned From Teachers," addressing aspects of effective teaching research that appear to be missing from or less evident in Siedentop's work and commenting on Siedentop's overall contributions to the literature on effective teaching in physical education…

This article introduces seven elementary physical education specialists who are the subjects of a year-long study on effective teachers. It also justifies the use of the term "effective" when talking about them. Objective and reputational data are presented to justify the decision to include the teachers in the sample. (IAH)

This article explores the conceptual and operational distinctions between effectiveness and expertise. Interviews, observation, and review of related literature suggest: (1) effectiveness and experience are necessary but not sufficient for achieving expertise; (2) expertise is specific to subject matter and context; (3) expertise can be explained…

This article summarizes the themes which emerged from a year-long study of effective elementary physical education teachers. Themes include: the paradox of professional status, seriousness toward the profession; the politics of inclusion; professional isolation; lack of power; the expansion of teachers' scopes as they gain experience; and outside…