The middle school originated out of an understanding for the need of a learning environment geared specifically to the needs of the early adolescent. The transition from concrete to formal operational thought and the affective and psychomotor developmental stages demonstrate the uniqueness of the early adolescent experience. (JN)

The literature in this annotated bibliography was selected to identify and interpret the holistic value of physical education within the general school curriculum and to illustrate the necessity of physical education as a major course of study. The first group of studies cited in the bibliography focuses on the historical development of physical…