Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance
ISSN: 0730-3084 (Print) 2168-3816 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ujrd20
The National Physical Education Standards and
Grade-level Outcomes: The Future of Elementary
Physical Education
Shirley Ann Holt/Hale & Dan Persse
To cite this article: Shirley Ann Holt/Hale & Dan Persse (2015) The National Physical Education
Standards and Grade-level Outcomes: The Future of Elementary Physical Education, Journal of
Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 86:7, 14-16, DOI: 10.1080/07303084.2015.1064687
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07303084.2015.1064687
Published online: 21 Aug 2015.
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Date: 25 September 2015, At: 10:20
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Implementing the New National Standards
and Grade-level Outcomes
The National Physical
Education Standards
and Grade-level
Outcomes:
The Future of Elementary
Physical Education
I
Shirley Ann Holt/Hale
Dan Persse
n 1991 the National Elementary Physical Education
Conference in Estes Park, Colorado opened with the question, “Where does elementary physical education go from
here?” The question was framed with the analogy from
the classic in children’s literature, Alice’s Adventures in
Wonderland, in which Alice falls down the rabbit hole and meets,
among other interesting characters, the Cheshire Cat. The conversation goes like this:
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
asks Alice.
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” replied
the Cat.
“I don’t much care where…,” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go!” said the Cat. (Carroll,
1865, pp. 117–118)
Twenty-four years later, we are still asking the question about
elementary physical education. While quality programs exist in
many schools, there are still elementary schools and school districts where there is very little direction and very little educational
purpose for their physical education programs. Some of these programs stick to the philosophy of keeping students “busy, happy
and good” (Placek, 1983) and a criterion for success based on no
injuries and no one sent to the office for misbehavior.
An abundance of research tells us the importance of elementary physical education and the significant impact it has on adolescent and adult physical activity. Early physical activity and physical education experiences are considered one of the most reliable
14
Volume 86 Number 7 September 2015
predictors for lifelong physical activity (Ennis, 2010). Motor-skill
competence provides the foundation for successful participation in
sports, games and lifetime physical activities (Clark & Metcalfe,
2002; Corbin, 2001; Stodden, Langendorfer, & Roberton, 2009;
Stodden, True, Langendorfer, & Gao, 2013). Skill acquisition is the
key to motor-skill competence. The message from Seefeldt in 1980
is just as pertinent today: “There is a level of motor skills proficiency that must be attained for successful participation in physical
activity. Individuals who do not attain that level of proficiency will
ultimately drop out of participation” (pp. 314–323).
Where does that level of motor-skill proficiency come from? Do
motor skills develop naturally as a product of maturation? The
answer is no! Motor-skill development is the product of practice,
encouragement and instruction (Clark, 2007; Gallahue, Ozmun,
& Goodway, 2012). Motor-skill patterns and motor-skill competence are the result of purposeful curricular choices, quality teaching and multiple opportunities for deliberate practice — practice
designed primarily for the purpose of “attaining and improving
skills” (Ericsson, Krampe, & Tesche-Römer, 1993, p. 367) as opposed to “mindless routine performance and playful engagement”
(Ericsson, 2006, p. 694).
Shirley Ann Holt/Hale (holthale@aol.com) is a retired elementary physical
education specialist at Linden Elementary School in Oak Ridge, TN. Dan
Persse is an elementary physical education specialist at Blaine Elementary
School in Blaine, WA.
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Motor-skill competence comes from skill acquisition; skill acquisition comes from developmentally appropriate physical education content and differentiated instructional teaching. Children
who attain skill competence in these programs will experience
success and enjoyment (Corbin, 2001; Ennis, 2010). When quality
physical education programs provide lessons with enjoyment and
success, students are willing to practice longer and at higher levels
of concentration. Appropriate practice (Silverman, 2011), success
and enjoyment result not only in skill acquisition but also in a love
of physical activity and movement that leads to continued practice
and intrinsic motivation for activity.
The newly revised National Standards and Grade-level Outcomes for K–12 Physical Education (SHAPE America – Society
of Health and Physical Educators, 2014) delineate what students
should know and be able to do to be physically literate and prepared for a lifetime of healthful physical activity. Elementary physical education serves as the foundation for those skills, knowledge
and dispositions. It is during the early years of elementary school
that skills are developed, habits are formed, and values are shaped.
Elementary physical education is the foundation for middle and
high school physical education, as well as the foundation for future
physical activity. With the National Standards and grade-level outcomes, we now have not only the goal of physical education and the
standards for attaining that goal, but also the benchmarks and outcomes as measures of progress toward the goal of physical literacy.
The Skills of Elementary Physical Education
Standard 1: Competency in a Variety of Motor Skills and Movement Patterns. Fundamental motor skills fall into three categories:
locomotor, non-locomotor and manipulative. Locomotor skills include hopping, galloping, running, sliding, skipping, leaping and
jumping. Non-locomotor skills or axial movements include bending, curling, stretching, twisting actions; balancing and transferring
weight. Manipulative skills include throwing, catching, dribbling,
kicking, volleying and striking with short and long implements. The
goal of each fundamental motor skill is a mature pattern of performance and combinations of skills needed for a variety of activities.
The critical elements of a mature pattern of performance accompany each locomotor and manipulative skill in the National
Standards and Grade-level Outcomes (SHAPE America, 2014, p.
18–25). Critical elements for developmentally complex mature
patterns are broken down into attainable segments for the sequence of grade levels K–5. Table 1 illustrates the critical elements
for the skill of kicking.
Combinations of skills and maturing patterns of performance
are applied in the environments of dance, educational gymnastics,
and the practice tasks of games for upper-elementary-level students. The purpose of the application is to provide students with
opportunities to use the skill in a variety of contexts to broaden
their vision of the skill and its use. Manipulative skills are not targeted toward a specific game or sport; the focus is on small-sided
practice tasks within non-dynamic and dynamic environments.
The application of locomotor and non-locomotor skills varies
across the content areas.
Standard 2: Knowledge of Concepts, Principles, Strategies and
Tactics Related to Movement and Performance. Movement concepts accompany the fundamental motor skills as children are
building the foundation that is elementary physical education.
Movement concepts from the National Standards include space
awareness, pathways, levels, directions, shapes, time, force and
flow. Movement concepts add breadth to game skills, as well as
creativity and excitement to dance and gymnastics sequences.
Strategies and tactics add depth to offensive and defensive game
skills performance.
Grade-level outcomes are constructed for a functional understanding of the movement concept, which is a combination of
both knowledge and performance. A functional understanding of
the movement concept is then applied in dance, educational gymnastics and game environments for students in upper elementary.
For example, students “combine shapes, levels and pathways into
dance and gymnastics sequences” (S2.E2.2); and students “apply
the concepts of direction and force to strike an object” for placement and distance (S2.E3.5b). The movement concepts learned in
elementary physical education are applied throughout middle and
high school physical education, sports, and adolescent and adult
recreational physical activity.
Standard 3: Knowledge and Skills to Achieve and Maintain a
Health-enhancing Level of Physical Activity and Fitness. Fitness
for children is often filled with assumptions and misconceptions,
such as “children are little adults and benefit from adult-style fitness programs,” “no pain, no gain for children,” and “physical
education classes for children should begin with calisthenics and
end with running laps.” Children’s images of fitness include the
all-star athlete with bulging muscles and parents sweating through
crunches. However, the grade-level outcomes of health-enhancing
fitness for young children help students recognize the importance
of physical activity, the joy of participation in physical activity,
and the role that physical activity plays in fitness and good health.
Upper-elementary outcomes build on this awareness with a focus
on the components of health-related fitness (S3.E5.3), an assessment of students’ fitness (S3.E5.4a), and the design of a personal
fitness plan (S3.E5.5b).
The importance of nutrition for good health and fitness is also
addressed with outcomes pertaining to the “Good Health Balance”
(S3.E6.2) of good nutrition and physical activity, which includes
recognizing healthy foods, hydrating for physical activity, and analyzing food choices for pre- and post-physical activity and their
effect on performance and health.
Standard 4: Personal and Social Behavior That Respects Self and
Others. There are those in our profession, such as Don Hellison
(2011), among others, who would remind us that student learning
will not occur and teaching will not take place without students
displaying personal and social behavior that respects self and others. Respect is not innate; rather, attitudes and habits are developed through early experiences and observation of others. The
elementary school environment is rich in teaching opportunities
Table 1.
Critical Elements for Kicking
••Arms extend forward in preparation for kicking action
••Contact with ball is made directly below center (travel in
the air); directly behind center (travel on the ground)
••Contact with shoelaces or top of foot
••Trunk leans back slightly in preparation for kicking action
••Follow through with kicking leg extending forward and
upward toward target
JOPERD
15
student reflections help teachers to continue developing and modifying their programs and curricula in order to meet the needs of
each student Standards 1–4 contribute to Standard 5; Standards
1–5 contribute to the goal of physical literacy for all students.
Conclusion
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© Jeanie Lyons
Third-grade students participate in kicking activities
related to Outcome S1.E21.
for children to acquire attitudes of respect and subsequent habits
of respectful behavior.
The grade-level outcomes for Standard 4 reflect those opportunities to develop and portray respect, such as following directions in group settings (S4.E1.K), exhibiting personal responsibility in teacher-directed and independent group situations (S4.E1.3,
S4.E1.4), and engaging in responsible interpersonal behavior (S4.
E1.5). Diversity is not only promoted but also embraced as students “accept, recognize, and actively involve others with both
higher and lower skill abilities, into physical activities and group
projects” (S4.E4.5). From showing respect for equipment and sharing space with others as emerging skills in kindergarten (S4.E4.K),
students progress to more mature skills of responsible personal behavior in a variety of physical activity contexts and environments
in grade five (S4.E4.5a). The attitudes and behaviors that are developed and practiced in elementary physical education become the
habits of personal and social behavior that will extend well beyond
the gymnasiums and playground.
Standard 5: Health, Enjoyment, Challenge, Self-expression and
Social Interaction. When the first National Standards were published in 1995, a committee of professionals discussed, debated
and arrived at a consensus on the standards based on the definition of a physically educated person. Upon completion of the standards with a delineation of the skills and behaviors of a physically
educated person, a member of the committee said, “I really don’t
participate in physical activity for any of those reasons. I play golf
because I love the game. I love the challenge of the sport and the
joy I receive from a good day on the golf course. That’s why I
play the game!” Many scholars confirm that statement: enjoyment
of activity is a critical ingredient for a lifetime of participation in
physical activity (Corbin, 2001; Ennis, 2010; Weiss, 2013).
The grade-level outcomes for Standard 5 are written to help
students recognize the value of physical activity and the reasons
for participation. Young children love to move, and that in and of
itself is reason enough; just ask any kindergartner! The grade-level
outcomes include health, self-expression, the success that comes
from challenge, and social interaction as further benefits of being
physically active. Reflections on the reasons for participating in
selected activities (S5.E3.3) and personal expressions of the joy
and challenge of favorite activities (e.g., dance, essay, visual art
[S5.E2.5]) help children to identify their activities of choice. These
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Volume 86 Number 7 September 2015
And so, Alice, it does make a difference which way we go in
elementary physical education. The goal of physical education (i.e.,
physical literacy) determines the purpose of elementary physical
education. The grade-level outcomes establish the student learning
that should be the focus of daily lessons and yearly planning for
a quality physical education program. This purpose, coupled with
the measurable student-learning outcomes, provide the direction of
physical education for each student, each physical education experience, and each year of the foundation that is elementary physical
education.
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