The purpose of this article is to provide practical applications for eccentric focused RT through the lens of DI that K-12 PE teachers can incorporate within their curriculums. Within the DI framework, differentiated assessments are key to measure readiness and the product of learning. The Brockport Fitness Tests are presented as a strategy to…

Standards 3 and 5 for the SHAPE America National Standards for K-12 Physical Education address the importance of maintaining a health-enhancing level of physical activity and valuing physical activity. A number of helpful tools, including Godin-Shephard Leisure-Time Physical Activity Questionnaire and The Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES)…

The educational reform movement in the United States has resulted in a variety of states moving toward a system of value-added modeling (VAM) to measure a teacher's contribution to student achievement. Recently, many states have begun using VAM scores as part of a larger system to evaluate teacher performance. In the past decade, only "core…

With the focus placed on accountability as a result of No Child Left Behind (2001), assessment has come to the forefront of education. However the situation has arisen where teachers teach to the test instead of the test measuring what the students have learned. Learning is a permanent change in a person's skill, knowledge, or behavior due to…

This article is intended to provide coaches, parents/guardians and school administrators with specific guidelines that identify coaching practices that are in the best interests of the adolescent female athlete (appropriate) and those that are counterproductive or even harmful (inappropriate). These guidelines can be used as a self-assessment for…

Physical inactivity is of concern for the majority of age groups within the United States. Limited engagement in physical activity (PA) has been linked with an increased risk for a host of health problems, including but not limited to heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Benefits of PA are widely documented and accepted yet many people, especially…

By definition, conceptual knowledge is rich in relationships and understanding the kind of knowledge that may be transferred between situations. Despite the lack of importance that Conceptual Physical Education has been given in previous physical education reform efforts, research findings have shown that Conceptual Physical Education along with…

Student motivation is a critical issue within all educational fields, including physical education. In regard to physical education, the term motivation is commonly defined as the "ability to energize behavior." Energizing behavior is imperative as student participation and engagement is deemed a critical component to the overall learning and…

Designing and implementing assessment instruments are ongoing challenges for physical educators. The initial design phase includes asking the question, "What do I want the students to know and/or be able to do?" Seemingly, the question is direct and should lead to a concrete answer. In addition to designing assessment instruments, one of the most…

In recent times, physical education teachers have become increasingly aware of the "games-understanding approach" to teaching. As more physical education teachers implement physical education programs that include a games-understanding model, they are becoming increasingly in need of appropriate and authentic assessment strategies. If one accepts…

This is the fourth and final article in the "PE Metrics" series that focuses on assessing the National Standards for Physical Education (NASPE) for Standard 1. The first article focused on assessment of student learning. The second described formative and summative assessments and provided considerations on how to implement assessment within…

Ensuring that learning takes place in physical education has been a challenge to physical educators for many years. "Busy, happy, and learning" is a variation of Judith Placek's (1983) landmark concept, defined in her article "Conceptions of success in teaching: Busy, happy and good?" In this article, Placek argues that many physical educators are…