National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 Physical Education

Focused on physical literacy and measurable outcomes, empowering physical educators to help students meet the Common Core standards, and coming from a recently renamed but longstanding organization intent on shaping a standard of excellence in physical education, National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 Physical Education is all that and much more. Created by SHAPE America -- Society of Health and Physical Educators (formerly AAHPERD) -- this text unveils the new National Standards for K-12 Physical Education. The standards and text have been retooled to support students' holistic development.

This is the third iteration of the National Standards for K-12 Physical Education, and this latest version features two prominent changes:

- The term physical literacy underpins the standards. It encompasses the three domains of physical education (psychomotor, cognitive, and affective) and considers not only physical competence and knowledge but also attitudes, motivation, and the social and psychological skills needed for participation.

- Grade-level outcomes support the national physical education standards. These measurable outcomes are organized by level (elementary, middle, and high school) and by standard. They provide a bridge between the new standards and K-12 physical education curriculum development and make it easy for teachers to assess and track student progress across grades, resulting in physically literate students.

In developing the grade-level outcomes, the authors focus on motor skill competency, student engagement and intrinsic motivation, instructional climate, gender differences, lifetime activity approach, and physical activity. All outcomes are written to align with the standards and with the intent of fostering lifelong physical activity.

National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 Physical Education presents the standards and outcomes in ways that will help preservice teachers and current practitioners plan curricula, units, lessons, and tasks. The text also

- empowers physical educators to help students meet the Common Core standards;

- allows teachers to see the new standards and the scope and sequence for outcomes for all grade levels at a glance in a colorful, easy-to-read format; and

- provides administrators, parents, and policy makers with a framework for understanding what students should know and be able to do as a result of their physical education instruction.

The result is a text that teachers can confidently use in creating and enhancing high-quality programs that prepare students to be physically literate and active their whole lives.