Young children especially need balanced nutrition, sufficient sleep, and opportunities for play activities that build both gross motor and fine motor skills. They benefit most from a variety of activities from which they can choose. Research is proving the critical need to focus on health and physical activity during early years of development to ensure success in school and life.

A STATEMENT OF BASIC BELIEFS

The Society of State Directors of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, April, 1998

PREFACE

This document presents the Basic Beliefs of the Society of State Directors of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation concerning health education and physical education as two important components of a coordinated school health program. The beliefs reflect current thinking in these fields and are presented to provide guidance to school personnel, parents, and others who have interest in the health and education of the nations children and youth.

This document is dedicated to the memory of Simon McNeely who served as Secretary/Treasurer and Executive Director of the Society of State Directors of Health, Physical Education and Recreation from 1947 to 1998. His dedication and invaluable service and leadership as an advocate for healthy children and youth will always be remembered.

Additional copies of this document may be obtained from the SSDHPER Office, 1900 Association Drive, Reston, VA 20191-1599, Phone: (703) 476-3402.

FOREWORD: About the Society

Founded in 1926, the Society of State Directors of Health, Physical Education and Recreation is a national organization comprised of individuals employed in state and territorial departments of education who have program responsibilities in school health education, physical education, and related areas.

The Society has a strong tradition of providing leadership at the state and national levels. In the early years of its existence, the Society led the effort to encourage appointments of directors of health, physical education, and recreation in every state. The Society also played a vital role in shaping a national agenda for fitness and was instrumental in the establishment of the Presidents Council on Youth Fitness in 1956, now known as the Presidents Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

Over the years, the Society actively participated with national organizations such as the Presidents Council and the National Association for Sport and Physical Education to support quality school physical education programs. In the early 1990s, the Society collaborated with other national organizations to develop National Standards for Physical Education and assisted in their dissemination to local school districts. The Society also participated in the development of the Healthy People 2000: Health Objectives for the Nation which included important goals for school physical education and health education.

During the late 1980s and the 1990s, school health education positions in state departments of education increased substantially due to federally-funded programs created by the Drug Free Schools and Communities Act of 1986 administered by the U.S. Department of Education, and by the U.S. Centers for Disease Controls program for Comprehensive School Health Education to Prevent the Spread of HIV/AIDS and Other Important Health Problems Among School-age Youth. The Societys membership increased as a result of the additional positions. The Society provided a forum for these new leaders to learn, share, and grow professionally.

The Society also contributed to national health education initiatives including the development of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, the National Health Education Standards published in 1995, and a state collaborative project to develop student assessment in health education. Additionally, the Society contributed to the writing of Health Is Academic: A Guide to Developing Coordinated School Health Programs, published in 1998 .

In 1997, the Society convened representatives of four national organizations and a federal agency to author a consensus statement regarding the use of available health education and physical education resources. The statement, Putting the Pieces Together, encouraged professionals to use national standards, guidelines, and assessment documents to implement quality school health education and physical education programs.

The Society remains positioned to continue its leadership role to ensure that the nations children and youth receive the most effective education possible to enable them to lead healthy, active, and productive lives.

VISION

The membership of the Society of State Directors of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation envisions a nation in which all individuals exhibit personal and social responsibility toward their own well being and that of their communities.

MISSION

The Society aims to have a significant and enduring effect on the health, achievement, and life success of children and youth through school health education and physical education within a coordinated school health approach.

The Society utilizes strategic advocacy, creative partnerships, state-of-the-art professional development, and timely identification of resources to enhance the leadership capacity of its members.

PURPOSES

To promote sound programs of health, physical education and recreation in educational settings throughout the United States.

To consider critical issues relevant to the Society's mission and take appropriate actions.

To provide a basis for exchange of ideas and programs among members of the organization.

To cooperate with governmental agencies, post secondary institutions, and professional, voluntary, and civic organizations in furthering the development of programs in health, physical education, and recreation.

INTRODUCTION

Educational reform is an ongoing issue in most states and the nation. The need to improve schools is driven by government and business leaders who maintain that students are not prepared to succeed in a technological world economy. Consensus among the private and public sectors suggests that productive workers need to be effective communicators, critical thinkers, and problem solvers. Workers must be able to apply knowledge from multiple disciplines and to work collaboratively with others.

Political leaders and education officials have responded with a variety of initiatives designed to improve student performance. National and state education standards have been adopted to guide local curriculum reform. State assessment programs have been launched to measure student achievement of specific standards. Local school districts have implemented professional development programs to help teachers improve instruction so students successfully achieve the standards.

However, another threat to this country's competitiveness in a world economy has been more slowly recognized and addressed - the poor health status of the work force. It is well documented that poor worker health results in loss of work time, less productivity, and greater costs for medical insurance and health care. Preventable diseases and other health problems which contribute to the majority of poor health among workers are, in many cases, the result of inadequate knowledge, skills, and attitudes. The onset of health risk behaviors such as alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use, poor diet, and low levels of physical activity most often begin in childhood and adolescence. However, educational reform efforts sometimes do not include programs which help students learn to be healthy and active throughout life.

School health education and physical education programs not only help students acquire knowledge and skills to be healthy future workers, but they also contribute to students ability to learn. Healthy, physically active students learn better because they are more alert and have better school attendance. When political and education officials acknowledge that healthy students are better learners and better learners result in healthier, more productive workers, health education and physical education become integral in reform efforts rather than being subjected to reduced instructional time or elimination.

Importantly, health and physical educators must realize that to be included in reform efforts means they must be willing to look critically at their programs and make improvements to meet the needs of all students. Additionally, they must recognize their programs cannot address all the health needs of students and they therefore must be willing to collaborate with other staff, parents, and community agencies to meet those needs.

These Basic Beliefs give suggestions for providing quality health education and physical education as important components of a coordinated school health program. Political leaders, education officials, school personnel, parents, and others interested in the health and education of the nations youth are encouraged to give thoughtful consideration to the Beliefs presented.

A COORDINATED SCHOOL HEALTH PROGRAM

For many years the literature referred to a school health program as being comprised of three components - health education, health services, and a healthy school environment. In 1987, Allensworth and Kolbe suggested the need to conceptualize in a broader context the school health program to include the physical education program, the counseling and psychological services program, the food service program, health promotion for the faculty and staff, and integrated efforts of the school, community, and parents to address the health of students.

The rationale for an expanded model, called the comprehensive school health program, was simple - by coordinating the efforts and resources of programs designed to improve the health of students and staff, the result could produce greater effectiveness than if delivered in isolation. Because the intent was to encourage coordination, the expanded model is now known as the Coordinated School Health Program.

Concerning a Coordinated School Health Program, we believe that:

A coordinated school health program enhances the effects of each individual component thus creating a whole that is greater than the sum of its individual parts. This increases the likelihood that young people will learn personal and social responsibility for their own health and that of their community.

A coordinated school health program is multi-dimensional which increases the probability of having a healthy studentone who is ready to learnand one who will learn to his/her potential.

A coordinated school health program avoids unnecessary duplication and ensures that needed services, programs and education are provided to all students in an efficient, effective manner.

The state education agency and the state health agency must work with other state agencies and not-for-profit organizations to model effective collaboration for local school districts and communities. Local school districts should work with community agencies and organizations, parents, and students to develop a coordinated school health program.

A coordinated school health program encourages positive health outcomes for each student and helps students make responsible decisions regarding their health. Healthy outcomes are essential to the students optimal growth, development and academic achievement.

SCHOOL PROGRAMS OF HEALTH EDUCATION AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION

A coordinated school health program is a school-based program with a broad spectrum of activities and services which take place in schools and the surrounding communities to enable all members of the school community to enhance their physical, mental and social well-being.

A coordinated school health program encourages the maximum use of school facilities and equipment in order to offer a broad program of recreation for students, parents and community members.

THE SCHOOL HEALTH EDUCATION PROGRAM

The school health education program is a planned, sequential curriculum for students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade that addresses the physical, mental, emotional, and social dimensions of health. The curriculum is designed to motivate and enable students to maintain and improve their health and not merely to prevent disease. Activities are planned to develop decision-making competencies related to health and health-behavior.

Traditionally, the school health education curriculum has encompassed health topics or content areas such as the following: disease prevention and control, safety and prevention of unintended injury, nutrition education, personal health practices, mental and emotional health, substance abuse prevention, family health, growth and development, consumer health, and environment/community health.

In recent years, it has been suggested that school health education curriculum give added emphasis to six categories of behavior which, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are the leading causes of mortality and morbidity among this nations youth and which may contribute to future health problems. The risk behavior categories are 1) behaviors which may result in intentional and unintentional injury, 2) tobacco use, 3) alcohol and other drug use, 4) behaviors which may result in HIV infection, other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and unintended pregnancy, 5) poor dietary behavior, and 6) physical inactivity.

In 1995, national standards in health education were published in a document titled, National Health Education Standards: Achieving Health Literacy. The intent was to establish commonality of purpose and consistency of concepts in health education. The standards provide a foundation for curriculum development, instruction, and assessment of student performance. The desired outcome of the national health education standards project is to produce health literate students.

Health literacy is the capacity of individuals to obtain, interpret, and understand basic health information and services and the competence to use such information and services in ways which enhance health. Simply put, health literacy is being well-educated about personal, family, and community health issues. Additionally, a health literate person is a critical thinker and problem solver; a responsible, productive citizen; a self-directed learner; and an effective communicator.

The national standards document can be used as a resource for health education curriculum and assessment development at the state and local levels. The standards provide a conceptual framework through which traditional content areas and CDC risk behaviors can be incorporated. However, state and local educators will prioritize the content to determine which health topics are essential at each level based on the needs of the students and communities they serve. It is anticipated that the implementation of the national standards will ultimately result in improved health literacy and educational achievement for all students. This, we believe, will lead to improved health in the United States and will thus help national education and health promotion goals be attained.

Concerning the School Health Education Program, we believe that in order to achieve optimum results:

School health education should be delivered within the context of a coordinated school health program.

The program should be supported by policy and funding which demonstrates commitment from the local board of education and administration enabling teachers to fully implement the curriculum. Staff and curriculum development should be funded at the same levels as other core curricular areas.

The school health education curriculum should be comprised of sequentially organized lessons taught pre-k to 12th grade to provide developmentally-appropriate progression of knowledge, attitudes, and skill acquisition necessary to reduce health risk behaviors and to promote health literacy and a healthy lifestyle. The curriculum should focus on health promotion and not merely the study of health problems and disease prevention.

Students, parents and appropriate members of the community should be involved in health education curriculum development.

A professional in the school or district with appropriate training in school health education should be designated to provide leadership, staff development opportunities, and to coordinate the school health education program to ensure consistency in program design, delivery, and evaluation.

School health education courses should be taught by a well-prepared instructor, one who holds a professional degree in health education and is certified by the state to teach health education. Guest speakers and other outside resource people should be used to enhance, not replace, the instruction which is provided by a certified teacher.

Curriculum materials, instructional strategies, and assessment procedures should be aligned with standards, evaluated and updated continually to reflect changing information, best practices, and priority needs of students.

School health education should be taught as an essential academic subject which is connected and reinforced through other disciplines such as language arts, science, physical education, and family and consumer science.

On-going professional development should be provided for those responsible for health instruction to ensure they are current in health information and instructional strategies, are able to use advancing technology, and are best able to help all students reach high standards of health literacy.

Adequate instructional time must be provided to effectively implement the curriculum. The amount of instructional time should be similar to that which is provided for other academic disciplines.

Credit in health education should be a requirement for graduation from high school.

Interactive instructional strategies based on researched, effective practices should be used.

Student achievement in health education should be assessed using a variety of methods which involve students active participation in determining their educational progress and future needs in achieving the standards.

National and state standards and guidelines should be utilized in developing, implementing, and evaluating the school health education program.

THE SCHOOL PHYSICAL EDUCATION PROGRAM

Physical education is an essential and integral part of the total education program and makes significant contributions toward the achievement of desirable education and health outcomes through the medium of physical activity and related experiences.

Quality physical education programs promote the physical growth and development of children and youth while contributing to their general health and well-being. They are based on a written curriculum reflecting a planned sequence of experiences in a variety of activities beginning with basic movement skills and progressing toward complex skills in work, sports, dance, aquatics, and other forms of human movement.

Quality physical education programs help students acquire the knowledge and skills to achieve a personal level of physical fitness, including cardio-respiratory efficiency, endurance, flexibility, agility, balance, muscular strength, speed, power, coordination, and rhythmic response. Constructive use of time, including leisure hours, keeping fit and enjoying physical forms of recreation during the school years and continuing throughout adult life is addressed.

In 1992, the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) published twenty Outcomes of Quality Physical Education Programs, which were revised as the seven content standards for Physical Education. The physical education content standards, sample benchmarks, and assessment examples were published in 1995 by NASPE in Moving Into The Future - National Standards for Physical Education: A Guide to Content and Assessment. The document describes a physically educated individual and presents practical ways physical educators can assess student achievement in becoming physically educated and in meeting the national standards.

In 1996, the Surgeon General of the United States issued a report on physical activity and health in which rationale was presented for providing quality school physical education programs to address physical activity needs of youth. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published in 1997 Guidelines for School and Community Programs to Promote Lifelong Physical Activity Among Young People in which physical activity was identified as an essential component of a healthy lifestyle. The NASPE standards and assessment document, Surgeon Generals report, and the CDC guidelines may be used as resources for physical education curriculum and assessment development at the state and local levels

Concerning School Physical Education programs, we believe that:

To achieve optimum results school physical education should be delivered within the context of a coordinated school health program

The program should be supported by policy and funding which demonstrates commitment from the local board of education and administration enabling teachers to fully implement the program. Staff and curriculum development should be funded at the same levels as other core curricular areas.

The school physical education curriculum should be comprised of sequentially organized lessons taught pk-12 to provide developmentally-appropriate progression of knowledge, attitude, and skill acquisition necessary to produce students who are able and motivated to be physically active for life.

Students, parents and appropriate members of the community should be involved in physical education curriculum development.

A professional in the school or district with appropriate training in physical education should be designated to coordinate the school physical education program to provide leadership, staff development opportunities, and to ensure consistency in program design, delivery, and evaluation.

School physical education instruction should be provided by a well-prepared instructor, one who holds a professional degree in physical education and is certified by the state to teach physical education.

Curriculum materials, instructional strategies, and assessment procedures should be evaluated and updated continually to reflect changing information, best practices, and priority needs of students.

Physical education should be reinforced in all subject areas whenever appropriate, likewise, physical education should reinforce the content of other subjects.

On-going professional development should be provided for the physical education staff to ensure they are current in information and instructional strategies, are able to use technology, and understand how best to meet the needs of all students.

Elementary students should receive daily instruction of at least 30 minutes, exclusive of recess time, free and supervised play periods including lunch time and secondary students should receive daily instruction during regularly scheduled class periods of the same length as other subject areas.

Credit for physical education should be required for graduation from high school.

Participation in varsity athletics, sports clubs, marching bands, ROTC should be considered as extracurricular activities and only classes or programs which allow student to meet physical education curricular objectives should be given physical education credit.

Physical education must be adapted for students who have special needs. To the extent possible, the student should participate in regular classes, with modification if necessary. If the students IEP objectives cannot be met in the regular setting, adapted classes should be provided. Adaptive services should be provided by a properly trained teacher.

Physical education class size should be the same as other subject areas.

Students should be scheduled in co-educational physical education classes. All physical education instruction should comply with federal and state gender equity regulations.

Appropriate supervision should be provided during the entire physical education class period including dressing and showering areas.

School physical education staff should be encouraged to collaborate with local parks and recreation and other youth program personnel to ensure quality community physical activity opportunities are provided for children and youth.

National and state standards and guidelines should be utilized in developing, implementing, and evaluating the school physical education program.

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