IMPLEMENTATION OF A QUALITY PHYSICAL EDUCATION PROGRAM AS DEFINED BY THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR SPORT AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION OF PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS IN SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA.

摘要

Improving the quality of physical education is necessary to achieve potential health-benefits in the child and adolescent populations. PURPOSE: This study described instruction time, teacher qualifications and facilities available to support physical education in high schools (10th, 11th, 12th grades) located in Southwestern Pennsylvania, and examined whether there are demographic characteristics of the school (locale, size, socio-economic status) that affect these components. METHODS: 39 of the 91 public high schools in Allegheny, Beaver, Indiana and Westmoreland counties were recruited to participate in this cross-sectional quantitative study. The physical education department chairperson or physical education teacher designated by the school district was invited to complete an electronic self-administered survey. The online survey assessed time requirements for physical education, teacher qualifications, and instructional facilities that the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) has identified to be important for offering quality physical education programs. RESULTS: The number of days that physical education was offered per week was 2.8±1.4, 2.7±1.4, and 2.5±1.4 in 10th, 11th, and 12th grades, respectively. Physical education was offered for 104.9±54.3, 100.1±55.1, and 92.3±53.4 min/wk in 10th, 11th, and 12th grades, respectively. Further analysis showed that the allocated physical education instruction time was not influenced by physical education teacher qualifications or facilities available to support physical education instruction. Moreover, the pattern of results was not affected by school size, school locale, or socio-economic status of the school. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that high schools in Southwestern Pennsylvania do not offer physical education daily and do not offer the recommended 225 minutes of physical education per week. It does not appear that the factors recommended by NASPE influence the amount of time that is allocated for physical education instruction. However, this does not suggest that these factors do not influence physical activity time within physical education. Thus, it may be necessary to revise the NASPE guidelines for quality physical education to include participation in physical activity rather than duration of instruction time.