Strong bodies versus strong minds

All photos courtesy of the Illinois State Board of Education.

Park and recreation programs could be affected if public schools no longer provide daily physical education.

By Barb Valiukenas Editor

One of the traditions in Illinois' public schools is the subject of a statewide debate focusing on the value of keeping it as a required daily course. Physical education or the "gym class" most of us loved or hated is in jeopardy.

For State education officials, school administrators, teachers and other concerned professionals, the issue involves cost, necessity, overall effectiveness and competition with academic studies. Many of the 1,800,000 students enrolled in Illinois' public schools view the issue in terms of class schedules, a social opportunity, and a required demonstration of physical endurance and skills.

Some history

The Physical Training Act of 1915 required all schools and institutions receiving State support to provide physical education courses for not less than one hour each week. In 1944 the General Assembly approved, without opposition, legislation that mandated a minimum of 200 minutes of physical education each week.

In 1957 the physical education law was amended so the mention of lunch periods and recess was removed. The time requirement was changed to require daily instruction in health and physical education. Health education subsequently became a separate subject area in 1973.

The statutory requirements for physical education have not been changed since then despite various legislative attempts to alter or delete the mandate during recent years. State statutes do not dictate the content of the physical education curriculum, nor is the State Board of Education required or authorized to approve it. The State has provided curriculum materials at the request of the local school district.

The Board's Public School Approval Section monitors physical

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education by reviewing class schedules during school visitations to determine compliance with the minimum standards of the law. Therefore, recognition status does not necessarily relate to the quality of the physical education program, but only to its existence and the time devoted to it.

The State's position

Following a three-year study of educational mandates, the State Board of Education feels that the present daily physical education requirement is no longer feasible. Nelson F. Ashline, Illinois' executive deputy superintendent of schools, says the Board is approaching the subject from two perspectives.

"From the perspective of our mandate study, our present law is flawed because it treats all of the kids the same," he explained, "without regard to individual needs.

"It requires every child, from kindergarten through the twelfth grade, to have a daily physical education period comparable in length to the time spent on other subjects. It doesn't recognize observable individual differences in youngsters.

"The time element for our schools is static . . . they only have so many hours in a day to do what they are required. Moreover, they are receiving more pressure from our colleges and universities to better train students in academic areas," he explained.

"Physical education is the most pervasive of all the mandates, and it is competing with the potential for students to take academic electives and doing so regardless of their state of physical development."

Ashline says the Board is also viewing physical education in terms of its overall educational reform plan.

"We consider physical education a major and important part of a child's development," Ashline said, "but we want to allow for the possibility of a variety of ways to deliver the instruction. We also want to know how well the law is working in terms of being able to meet student needs and we can only do that by measuring their performance."

The State Board will present both approaches to Illinois lawmakers this spring. It is proposing that:

• Daily physical education be retained in grades kindergarten through 10. However, each district would determine the length of physical education instruction based on student needs.

• Districts offer elective physical education in grades 11 and 12.

• Districts have the option to excuse students (without credit) from required physical education classes while they are involved in school-sponsored sports or athletic programs of an equivalent nature.

The Board has also made physical development and health one of the six fundamental areas of learning in its educational reform package. As a result of their schooling students would be able to understand the physical structure, development and functions of the human body; the principles of nutrition, exercise, efficient management of emotional stress, drug use and abuse; the prevention and treatment of illness, and consumer health and safety. They would also demonstrate basic skills and physical fitness necessary to participate in a variety of conditioning exercises or leisure activities.

If enacted, the State Board would approve the objectives and methods for assessing their achievement. Districts would then be accountable to the State and parents for their success or failure in helping students achieve those goals. Ashline says this approach will provide accountability and a tool for measuring student performance.

'Children need better, not less, physical education.'

Differing opinions

Opposition to the State Board's plan is mounting from several sources. The Illinois Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (IAHPER) says school children need better, not less, physical education.

Dr. Marian Kneer, professor of physical education at the University of Illinois, Chicago Circle, and a IAHPER member, says the State has never really enforced the current physical education mandate.

"There is about 90 percent compliance at the high school level, but it's far worse in elementary schools where recess is often considered as part of physical education," Kneer noted. "Physical education should have kids get their heart rate to within 20 minutes of the target rate for their age.

"All evidence shows that, without a daily physical education period, kids won't get enough exercise to promote their cardiovascular system," she said.

"Reports indicate that kids spend 26 hours each week watching television," she said. "When you put that with the time they sleep and spend in school, what's left for exercise?

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Physical education must be offered on a daily basis in the schools."

Kneer is also chairman of the Joint Committee on Curriculum and Legislation for the Illinois Association for Professional Preparation in Health, Physical Education and Recreation (IAPPHPER) and IAHPER. She says the State Board can promote physical education by providing more support and guidance for the schools, enacting learner outcomes that will hold schools accountable and strengthening the portions of the current learner outcomes regarding fitness.

Union concerns

Teachers' unions have also expressed opposition to any plans which attempt to eliminate the daily physical education requirement. Penny Strong, press secretary for the Illinois Education Association (IEA), says that association "will continue to fight to keep the daily physical education mandate as an integral part of education for kids."

Unions want to keep the daily requirement.

Figures obtained from the Illinois State Board of Education indicate that there were 2,925 full-time elementary school (K-8) teachers statewide during the 1983-84 school year with main assignments in physical education. There were an additional 3,344 full-time physical education teachers at the high school level. (These figures do not include individuals who teach physical education as a part-time assignment.)

Approximately $68 million was spent on salaries for full-time elementary physical education teachers last year. The full-time high school instructors were paid approximately $88 million.

The total years of teaching experience for the downstate high school physical education instructors averaged 15 years. In Chicago the average was 18.2 years.

In contrast, there were 3,216 full-time teachers employed in high schools during the 1983-84 term with main assignments in math. Approximately $86 million was spent for their salaries. Their total years of teaching experience averaged 15.8 years downstate and 15.2 years in Chicago.

Mutual goals

Despite differing opinions on the amount of time necessary for physical education in the schools, both the State Board and the IAHPER agree that a lack of uniform, required fitness testing has made it impossible to accurately judge the success of the current physical education mandate. A recent statewide attempt to measure the overall fitness of Illinois' public school students occurred during the late '70s. The Department of Physical Education at Northern Illinois University then conducted an "Evaluation of the Health Related Physical Fitness Status of Youth in the State of Illinois." Professor Sharon A. Plowman, who coauthored the project, indicated some 25,000 students in grades kindergarten through 12 participated on a voluntary basis.

It has not been possible to accurately judge the success of the mandate.

"Our intent was not initially to compare Illinois students to students in other states," Plowman explained. "We were providing a vehicle for students to determine their fitness relative to students of the same age and gender in their district.

"The State's current health fitness norms are also provided so schools and students can compare their fitness levels to youths in other parts of the State."

Participating school districts were charged 10 cents per student to cover the expenses of using opscan forms and computer processing. According to Plowman, some districts have elected to use the testing service on

FITNESS FESTIVAL The Governor's Council on Health and Physical Fitness and the City of Springfield are piloting a citywide Fitness Festival on May 18 and 19. A variety of fitness sports and activities — bike rides, fun runs, volks-marches, dances, weight lifting contests, bowling and so forth — will be held at various locations around the city. In addition, there will be a Fit Fest at the State Armory. Included will be booth exhibits, stage demonstrations, sports and fitness celebrities, clinics, and health and fitness screenings. Council Executive Director Jim Listen says children, senior citizens, able-bodied and disabled persons will be able to enjoy both competitive and noncompetitive events. May has been designated as National Physical Fitness and Sports For All Month. Listen hopes the Springfield project will be adopted by other Illinois communities. Additional information is available from him at the Illinois Governor's Council on Health and Physical Fitness, 525 W. Jefferson, Springfield, IL 62706.

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an ongoing basis while others have only participated one time. To date, no follow-up studies have been done to compare student performance in a particular district over a period of several years. School districts can still participate in this assessment.

Different tests

The IAHPER has developed performance statements and assessments to test students' knowledge of, and skills in, physical and health-related fitness, fundamental movement, integrated movement patterns and creative movement. Districts participating in the voluntary program will administer these tests to students after the third, sixth, ninth and twelfth grades.

The State Board of Education co-sponsored the development of the performance statements/assessments with the IAHPER. The two groups are also hosting five workshops this spring (see accompanying schedule). The workshops will give educators an opportunity to improve their current physical education programs and learn about the instructions for administering the assessments. The IAHPER is sending school administrators information about both the assessments and workshops.

A new approach

The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, in cooperation with the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (AAHPERD), is introducing its FITNESSGRAM program in Illinois this spring. The program has been developed by the Institute for Aerobics Research in Dallas, TX, and is sponsored by the Campbell Soup Company.

This national pilot project will involve only one school district in each state. Naperville School District 203 has been chosen as Illinois' pilot district with approximately 4,000 students in grades three through eight participating in the testing.

State Trainer Bruce W. Ferguson, a physical education teacher at Jonas Salk School in Bolingbrook, says the FITNESSGRAM is a part of the National Youth Fitness Testing and Reporting Program. Student fitness levels will be determined by their performance on the AAHPERD Youth Fitness Test.

New physical fitness tests are being offered to educators.

The test assesses cardiovascular fitness, abdominal and upper body strength, endurance, quickness, explosive power and speed measured through six individual fitness tests.

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These include the 50-yard dash, standing long jump, shuttle run, distance run, sit-ups, and pull-ups.

The results may be used as diagnostic tools in analyzing student strengths and weaknesses and in prescribing activities for individual improvement. Fitness test results can be used as a factor in determining the extent to which students have achieved the established fitness-related objectives within the comprehensive physical education program. FITNESSGRAM will also provide parents with more specific information concerning their child's fitness development, and enable a school district to better evaluate its physical education program and goals.

"Teachers will be trained to administer, score, and grade these tests as part of the school's regular physical education fitness unit," Ferguson explained.

The Institute for Aerobics Research will compile and record the results on a FITNESSGRAM which will be returned to the schools for distribution to students and their parents.

According to Ferguson, the computerized FITNESSGRAM will rank the students in relation to national norms for each test, as well as give an overall fitness score. If a student's score is below the national norm on a test item, an "exercise prescription" will be given to improve that area of fitness.

'Exercise prescriptions' will be available.

"Students are not competing against each other," Ferguson says. "The goal of the FITNESSGRAM is to have fitness become an important part of a child's daily life."

FITNESSGRAM was piloted in Tulsa, OK, during the 1982-83 school year and was adopted statewide during the 1983-84 school term. Ferguson hopes that the same pattern will develop in Illinois.

An uncertain future

IAHPER President June Wennerstrom, assistant professor of health, physical education and recreation at Illinois State University, feels that the legislature will take some action on the physical education mandate this year.

"But we don't know what that will be. There are many people involved in this issue this time," she said.

The Commission for the Improvement of Elementary and Secondary Education is one of the many groups concerned with the issue. State Sen. John Maitland (R-Bloomington), a member of the Commission, believes the current physical education mandate should be relaxed. The Commission, he says, will be offering legislation which gives 11th and 12th grade students the right to opt out of the daily requirement if:

'People will care if the issue is public enough.'

• remedial work necessary for graduation conflicts with physical education,

• a course needed for college entry conflicts with physical education or

• students are athletes involved in school sports.

And the public's reaction? Kneer and Wennerstrom both feel that the public is confused about the physical education issue.

"We have to bring the issue to the public," Wennerstrom said. "If we eliminate physical education, there will be more television and more health problems. It we can make the issue public enough, people will care."

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