Response to General Assembly Resolution No. 35
An Evaluation of Physical Fitness Programs in Indiana Schools
A Summary of Research Findings and Recommendations for Improvement

Indiana Department of Education
December 1, 2001 

Indiana General Assembly House Resolution No. 35 was adopted by voice vote on February 16, 2000, during the Second Regular Session of the 111th General Assembly. The house resolution urged the Indiana Department of Education and local school boards to provide regular fitness programs for all students. The documentation provided by the legislators that introduced the bill adequately provided research that supported the importance of strong physical fitness programs within schools. The General Assembly asked the Department of Education to assess the current fitness programs provided to Indiana students and to develop recommendations for improvement. This report is a compilation of an assessment of Indiana schools conducted in the spring of 2001. 

The Surgeon General's report on physical activity and health emphasizes that regular participation in moderate physical activity is an essential component of a healthy lifestyle (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 1997). The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) states that while children are essentially more active than adults, most do not participate in physical activities at levels that will enhance their physical fitness. Further more, the CDC states that physical activity levels in children decline as age increases through adolescence (CDC, 1997). The International Consensus Conference on Physical Activity Guidelines for Adolescents recommends that "all adolescents…be physically active daily, or nearly every day, as part of play, games, sports, work, transportation, recreation, physical education or planned exercise, in the context of family, school, and community activities" and that "adolescents engage in three or more sessions per week of activities that last 20 minutes or more at a time and that require moderate to vigorous levels of exertion" (Salis, 1994).

As reported in the Northwest Education Magazine (Sherman,2000), the CDC, Surgeon General and the journal Pediatrics, reported the following:

• As many as 25 percent of children and adolescents are overweight or obese.
• The percentage of youths who are overweight has more than doubled in the past 30 years.
• Nearly 40 percent of kids ages five to eight have conditions that significantly increase their risk of early heart disease.
• Some 70 percent of girls and 40 percent of boys ages six to 12 do not have enough muscle strength to do more than one pull-up.

The CDC developed recommendations for school and community programs promoting physical activity among young people and listed these recommendations in the 1997 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (CDC, 1997). The American Academy of Pediatrics endorsed the CDC recommendations in a policy statement published in May 2000 (American Academy of Pediatrics [AAP], 2000). These 10 broad recommendations are listed below (CDC, 1997): 

Recommendation 1. Policy: Establish policies that promote enjoyable, lifelong physical activity among young people.

Recommendation 2. Environment: Provide physical and social environments that encourage and enable safe and enjoyable physical activity.

Recommendation 3. Physical education: Implement physical education curricula and instruction that emphasize enjoyable participation in physical activity and that help students develop the knowledge, attitudes, motor skills, behavioral skills, and confidence needed to adopt and maintain physically active lifestyles.

Recommendation 4. Health education: Implement health education curricula and instruction that help students develop the knowledge, attitudes, behavioral skills, and confidence needed to adopt and maintain physically active lifestyles.

Recommendation 5. Extracurricular activities: Provide extracurricular physical activity programs that meet the needs and interests of all students.

Recommendation 6. Parental involvement: Include parents and guardians in physical activity instruction and in extracurricular and community physical activity programs, and encourage them to support their children's participation in enjoyable physical activities.

Recommendation 7. Personnel training: Provide training for education, coaching, recreation, health care, and other school and community personnel that imparts the knowledge and skills needed to effectively promote enjoyable, lifelong physical activity among young people.

Recommendation 8. Health services: Assess physical activity patterns among young people, counsel them about physical activity, refer them to appropriate programs, and advocate for physical activity instruction and programs for young people.

Recommendation 9. Community programs: Provide a range of developmentally appropriate community sports and recreation programs that are attractive to all young people.

Recommendation 10. Evaluation: Regularly evaluate school and community physical activity instruction, programs, and facilities. 

Even though the majority of the above recommendations refer to physical activity, the legislature should understand that physical fitness is an important part of and is a byproduct of physical activity. The General Assembly's reference to physical fitness is understood. But the primary problem we are looking to address is the general lack of physical activity that causes the hypokinetic (lack of activity) diseases that abound in our youth and adults in today's world.

Of the ten CDC recommendations listed above, the recommendations with particular importance to the Indiana General Assembly are policy, physical education, extracurricular activities, parental involvement, and personnel training.

Recommendation 1, Policy, is the first step for insuring that school and communities have rules to follow that will assist in the administration and implementation of physical activity programs for young people. Within this recommendation are several suggested requirements. The first is to require comprehensive, daily physical education for students in kindergarten through Grade 12 (CDC, 1997). The American Heart Association (AHA,1995) and the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE, 1994) both recommend K-12 daily physical education.

At the current time, only one state, Illinois, claims to have K-12 daily physical education. However, Illinois offers several waivers to the physical education requirement such as marching band, athletics, and cheerleading. In the recently published Shape of the Nation Report, published by NASPE, Indiana finds itself in the middle of the majority of states who offer only one year of high school physical education for graduation and no clear mandate for elementary and middle/junior high school physical education (NASPE, 2001).

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted in 1995 revealed the following statistics (McKenzie, 1993 and McKenzie, 1995):

• Only 60 percent of high school students are enrolled in physical education classes.
• Only 25 percent of high school students take physical education daily.
• Enrollment in physical education declines from 81 percent of freshmen to only 42 percent of seniors.
• Daily physical education decreased from 41 percent in freshmen to only 13 percent in seniors.

Another strong requirement of the Policy Recommendation is to require the hiring of physical education specialists to teach physical education in kindergarten through Grade 12 (CDC, 1997). McKenzie, et al., believed that trained and certified physical educators provided more time on task, imparted greater knowledge and spent greater amounts of time developing skills and allowing participation in vigorous physical activity as compared to their classroom colleagues who had little or no training in physical education (McKenzie, 1993 and McKenzie, 1995). Indiana allows certified elementary classroom teachers to teach physical education at the elementary level.

A third requirement included in the Policy Recommendation is to require that physical activity instruction and programs meet the needs and interests of all students (CDC, 1997). It is often the obese, less fit, or physically and mentally disabled students who need physical education the most. It is also this group of students who often have limited access to physical education programs or who are included in regular physical education classes with able bodied students conducted by teachers with little or no training in adapting physical education to meet the needs of this population.

The physical education recommendation (#3), emphasizes the implementation of physical education programs that develop knowledge, motor skills, positive attitudes, behavioral skills, and confidence to adopt and maintain a lifelong physically active lifestyle (CDC, 1997). The Centers for Disease Control and the National Association for Sport and Physical Education have often referred to the educational reform occurring within physical education as "The New Physical Education". The New Physical Education provides activities that engage all children in the physical education class. No child needs to wait for his turn to use the equipment. The class period is utilized efficiently to keep children actively moving. Teachers of the New Physical Education introduce students to activities they can participate in throughout their lives. Team sports activities are introduced less often than individual or dual sports activities, and an emphasis is placed on lifetime leisure activities such as hiking, climbing, golf, tennis, aquatics, and challenge courses (Sherman, 2000).

Recommendation 3 also calls for the use of physical education curricula consistent with the national standards for physical education (CDC, 1997). These standards were developed by NASPE and describe what students should know and be able to do. The Indiana Physical Education Standards are aligned with the national standards. They provide for the student to learn skills that are necessary to participate in a variety of lifelong physical activities, to exhibit a physically active lifestyle, to maintain a health-enhancing level of physical fitness, to demonstrate positive personal and social behaviors in physical activity settings, to accept and respect differences among people in physical activity settings, and to develop an understanding that physical activity can be enjoyable and act as an outlet for self expression and social interaction (NASPE, 1995).

The extracurricular activities recommendation (#5), encourages communities to provide diverse, developmentally appropriate competitive and non-competitive programs for all students. It also suggests linking students to community physical activity programs for outside of school activities(CDC, 1997). The Indiana Department of Education was recently awarded a grant from CDC to promote physical activity in pre-teens, ages 9 - 13. As part of this grant, the DOE will provide intensive one day workshop training for two middle/junior high school physical educators from each of the state's 227 middle/junior high schools. Part of this training will involve educating the teachers about physical activity programs within their communities that students could be encouraged to visit outside of school. The Indiana Governor's Council for Fitness and Sports will be a partner in these teacher workshops.

Also as a part of the middle/junior high school training, teachers will be encouraged to include parents and guardians in physical activity instruction and to promote family physical activities outside of school. This is supportive of Recommendation 6, Parental Involvement of the CDC Recommendations (CDC, 1997). Research has shown that parental support plays a positive role in determining if a child will be physically active.

The personnel training recommendation (#7), is an important consideration which is essential toward the development of physical education programs that promote physically active students (CDC, 1997). The majority of the older physical educators were trained in the traditional physical education that included a heavy reliance on team sport activities, which few adults engage in after their teen years. These teachers may not understand the concepts needed to develop positive, enjoyable physical fitness programs. It is these teachers who will benefit most from professional development in the New Physical Education. Trained physical educators will provide classes that involve a greater amount of physical activity and which impart more knowledge and skill building practice than previously taught under the traditional physical education methods (McKenzie, 1993 and McKenzie, 1995). The middle/junior high school professional development workshops will begin to address the need for training of Indiana physical educators. 

The National Association for Sport and Physical Education provided a report in support of physical education. In the 2001 Shape of the Nation Report, the association stated (NASPE, 2001):

The importance of physical education in promoting the health of young people has been a part of the health objectives for the nation since 1990. Healthy People 2010 includes three objectives related to school physical education:

1. Increase the proportion of the nation's public and private schools that require daily physical education for all students.

2. Increase the proportion of adolescents who participate in daily school physical education.

3. Increase the proportion of adolescents who spend at least 50 percent of school physical education class time being physically active.

Within the Shape of the Nation Report 2001, the National Association of Sport and Physical Education provides ten recommendations. These recommendations, which do not differ greatly from past recommendations, are:

• All students, including those with special needs, receive quality physical education as an integral part of K-12 education.
• Elementary school children receive a minimum of 150 minutes per week of instruction in physical education; middle and high school students receive a minimum of 225 minutes per week of instruction in physical education.
• All states develop standards for physical education that reflect the National Standards (NASPE, 1995).
• All states set minimum standards of achievement in physical education.
• Meeting standards in physical education be a requirement for graduation.
• Other courses and activities that include physical activity should not be substituted for instructional physical education.
• Physical activity needs to be incorporated into the school day in addition to physical education through recess at the elementary level, physical activity breaks, physical activity clubs, special family fitness events, etc.
• Teachers who are specially prepared and licensed in physical education deliver physical education instruction at all levels.
• Parents need to set a good example by being active themselves and becoming more effective advocates for quality physical education.
• Communities need to develop and promote the use of safe, well-maintained and close-to-home sidewalks, bike paths, trails, and recreation facilities.

At the current time, Indiana meets only three of these recommendations; developing standards that reflect the national standards, setting minimum standards of achievement for physical education, and not allowing substitution for physical education. 

Perhaps the most influential report on physical education and physical activity that has been published since the Healthy People 2010, is a report to the President from the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Education titled Promoting Better Health for Young People Through Physical Activity and Sports (U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services [HHS] and Department of Education [DOE], 2000). This report presents a "pay me now or pay me later" response to the dire state of health of the nation. The sedentary lifestyles of our youth threaten to reverse the progress that has been made during the past decade in reducing the deaths due to cardiovascular heart disease. The nation is at risk for increased incidents of not only heart disease, but also colon cancer, diabetes, and osteoporosis, with one of the largest victims being the nation's pocketbook. The cost of obesity related diseases alone is estimated to be almost $100 billion per year. The report continues to relate obesity in children to other diseases that were previously seen only in adults. The following statistics illustrate the percentage of children who are considered obese (HHS and DOE, 2000):

Of children five to ten who are overweight, 61 percent have one or more cardiovascular disease risk factors, and 27 percent have two or more. The negative health consequences linked to the childhood obesity epidemic include the appearance in the past two decades of a new and frightening public health problem: type 2 diabetes among adolescents. Type 2 diabetes was previously so rarely seen in children or adolescents that it came to be called "adult-onset diabetes." Now, an increasing number of teenagers and preteens must be treated for diabetes and strive to ward off the life-threatening health complications that it can cause.

The accompanying graph taken from the Report to the President shows the alarming increase in childhood obesity since 1966. 

As a result of the charge to the Department of Education from the 111th General Assembly to assess the current fitness programs provided to Indiana students, the Department of Education developed a taskforce to assist with the analysis of programs. This taskforce, appropriately named the Indiana Fitness Assessment Taskforce or IFAT, was created in October of 2000. The members of the taskforce are representatives of the four largest institutions for teacher preparation in Indiana; Ball State University, Indiana State University, Indiana University, and Purdue University.

The taskforce began its business by reviewing and interpreting the request of the General Assembly. It was decided that "current fitness programs" mentioned in the resolution was actually referring to current physical education programs, of which fitness was a small part. 

Program Assessment Survey

IFAT reviewed the national data, much of which is provided in the beginning of this document, and determined that the most practical and cost effective way to gather the needed data was to survey the teachers in the field. The taskforce developed a 132 item program assessment survey tool that asked teachers to respond to questions concerning school demographics, teacher preparation and experience, program characteristics, activities offered, types of assessments used, and adapted physical education programs.

The survey was sent to all 3400 physical education teachers in Indiana. The return response rate was 28 percent or 941 teachers. The answers to the survey produced almost 400 pages of data describing the K-12 physical education programs being conducted in Indiana. 

Fitness Assessment Data of College Freshmen at BSU

The taskforce also reviewed data collected by Ball State University on fitness assessment results of incoming college freshmen who were graduates of Indiana high schools. At the beginning of each semester, students at Ball State University who are enrolled in a required Fitness Wellness class undergo an assessment to determine their initial fitness level. In the fall semester of 2000, approximately one-third of the students enrolled in Fitness Wellness classes were 18 year old freshmen who graduated from an Indiana high school in May or June of 2000.

Assessment information for 612 students (251 males and 361 females) was gathered. Demographic information included the last year the student took a physical education course while in high school. Test scores were obtained for abdominal curls, push-ups, flexibility, and cardiovascular endurance. Norms used on the tests were age related norms established by Ball State University. Scores on all tests were not available for all students.

Sixty six point five percent of the students had not taken a physical education class during the last two years of high school. Male students were much more likely to take an elective physical education class during the senior year. Thirty nine point zero one percent of male students were enrolled in a physical education class during their senior year while only 15.72 percent of females participated in physical education classes during their final year of high school.

A one minute abdominal curl test was used to assess abdominal strength and endurance. A score greater than 93 and a score greater than 88 was necessary for male and female students respectively to reach the excellent category. Only 2.15 percent of the males and 1.94 percent of the females were categorized as excellent. More than half (54.75 percent) of the males and nearly half (49.44 percent) of the females scored below average.

A one minute push-up test was used to assess upper body strength and endurance. Although more female student (7.65 percent) than male students (2.27 percent) scored in the excellent category, the percentage of female students and males students scoring below average on upper body strength and endurance was nearly identical (46.46 percent and 46.82 percent respectively).

The Sit and Reach Test was used to measure trunk flexibility. Male students had an average score of 2.29" with a high score of 11" and a low score of -6". Female students averaged 4.54" on the test with a high score of 12.5" and a low score of -4". The excellent category was attained by 6.31 percent of male students and 10.03 percent of female students, while 27.67 percent of males and 39.26 percent of females scored below average.

A variety of cardiovascular endurance tests were used based on the fitness activity that the students were enrolled in. The tests included a one-mile walk, 1.5 mile run, 500 yard swim, and 500 yard water run.

The one mile walk was used as the cardiovascular test for students enrolled in either fitness walking or aerobics classes. Approximately the same percentage of males and females scored in the excellent category (3.45 percent and 3.64 percent respectively). More than half of the males (58.62 percent) and nearly two thirds (66.06 percent of the females scored below average.

The 1.5 mile run was used as the cardiovascular test for students enrolled in either jogging or conditioning classes. None of the females scored in the excellent category, while 4.52 percent of the males scored in that category. Of the female students enrolled in those classes, 27.9 percent had below average scores. Below average scores were attained by 32.9 percent of the male students.

Students enrolled in Swimnastics (water exercise) used the 500 yard water run test. None of the male students scored in the excellent category while 35.71 percent scored below average. The results of the test scores for female students were similar with 1.47 percent scoring in the excellent category and 38.24 percent scoring below average.

Students enrolled in fitness swimming classes used the 500 yard swim test for cardiovascular fitness. Scores on this test may be skewed because a large proportion of students enrolled in fitness swimming are either swim team members or former swim team members in high school. Although there were no male students who scored in the excellent category, only 15.05 percent scored below average. The female students taking the fitness swimming class composed the largest group of students scoring in the excellent category (16.67 percent) on a cardiovascular test. This was also the smallest group of students scoring below average on a cardiovascular test (23.81 percent).

Students who had not had a physical education class since their sophomore year in high school were much more likely to score below average on the tests of cardiovascular fitness. More than two thirds (68.97 percent) of the male students who had below average scores on the cardiovascular fitness tests had not had a physical education class since their sophomore year. Female students were even more likely to score below average when their last physical education class was either the freshman or sophomore year in high school. Of those who had below average scores, 86.19 percent were in the group who did not take physical education classes during the last two years of high school. 

School Demographics

941 teachers responded to the survey for a return rate of 28 percent. Of this total, 46 percent of the respondents had over twenty years of teaching experience. The grade levels taught represented a fairly equal sample with 29 percent of the teachers being elementary teachers, 30 percent being middle/junior high school teachers, and 34 percent being high school teachers. Seventy percent of the respondents had a K-12 teaching certificate for physical education.

The average number of classes per week varied with 40 percent conducting class five days per week. This percentage was primarily the middle/junior high school teachers and the high school teachers. Ninety six percent of elementary schools reported only one to two classes per week, far below the recommended minimum minutes per week for elementary students.

Class size did not appear to be a problem to teachers responding with only 7.5 percent reporting having classes with more than 45 students. Thirty four percent of high school teachers reported class sizes ranging between 31 and 44 students. The length of class in minutes also did not pose a problem with only 2 percent of the teachers reporting less than 30 minute classes.

Interestingly enough, the class composition showed that 18 percent of middle/junior high school classes were not coed and 23 percent of the high school classes were not coed. Both of these statistics are in violation of Title IX that requires coed classes except for contact sports activities.

The program characteristics reported by the teachers revealed that the majority of teachers presented a concept based program rather than an activity or sports based program. Concept based programs have the potential of developing a better understanding of physical activity and creating positive attitudes. Most teachers followed a written curriculum with younger teachers (less than 4 years teaching experience) failing to follow a written curriculum more often (31 percent). Only 60 percent of the teachers reported that their physical education curriculum was based on state standards or proficiencies.

Teachers rated their program goals by importance. Most teachers (68 percent) reported that developing positive attitudes toward participation in physical activity was most important followed closely by developing health benefits from participation (65 percent). Of least importance was the development of motor skills (33 percent). This statistic might be misleading as it probably represents secondary teachers who assume that most introductory motor skills have been taught previously in elementary school.

The vast majority of teachers reported teaching the primary components and principles of physical fitness: cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, principles of exercise, and benefits of an active lifestyle. Much less emphasis is placed on teaching about body fat composition and nutrition, both topics that have value in reducing obesity in our students. 

Activities Taught in Physical Education Classes

The activities presented within the physical education curricula were surprisingly void or offered limited experiences in the kinds of activities that could be considered lifetime activities. Sports and games were most often the class activities with 75 percent spending between five and 20 days per activity. Fitness activities also took up a great deal of time with 70 percent spending five to 20 or more days. This statistic might not represent complete periods of fitness. It is suspected that most teachers had a short fitness component in every class period. This is as it should be. However, a large percentage of teachers (45 percent) reported doing fitness assessment five to 10 days per year. This is an extreme amount of time to be devoted to assessment rather than to teaching concepts of fitness.

Rhythmical movement and dance (80 percent), gymnastics (62 percent), individual sports (70 percent), and outdoor recreational games (85 percent) were reported by a large majority of the teachers as not being taught at all. Rhythms, including dance, individual sports, and outdoor recreational games are the activities that have the highest potential of being continued into adulthood. Yet, they are not being offered as part of the majority of curricula. 

Fitness Assessment

The use of fitness testing was reported by 87 percent of schools with the two most popular assessments being the President's Challenge (52 percent) and a self-designed test (30 percent). Of those teachers that don't assess fitness, 39 percent are at the elementary level. As grade levels increase, teachers are more likely to use fitness assessments for grading and for setting fitness goals. The lack of time (49 percent) and teacher unfamiliarity with the assessments (20 percent) were given as the primary reasons for not conducting fitness assessments. A much higher incidence of time as a problem was seen in the younger grades (60 percent elementary) than with the older grades. With elementary classes only meeting between 1 and 2 periods a week, there is little time left to be devoted to fitness assessment. However, in spite of the time limitations, 75 percent of the teachers used fitness assessments once or twice a year. 

Curricular and Extra-curricular Programs

At the high school level, 59 percent of schools reported less than 20 percent of students enrolled in elective physical education classes. More than 80 percent of the schools reported less than 40 percent of students were involved in extracurricular sports. In addition, 44percent of the schools claimed to offer intramural programs. Of those offering intramurals, 88 percent of schools reported less than 30 percent of students play intramurals while 38.5 percent of schools reported less than 10 percent of students play. These statistics are indicative of a lack of interest on the behalf of students to participate in physical activity outside of class time, a statistic that is seen on the national level as well. 

Obstacles to Program Improvement

Teachers felt that the lack of time devoted to physical education was the greatest impediment to improving physical education programs (46.9 percent). Over 30 percent of teachers also rated lack of or poor facilities and equipment as hindering program improvement. Emphasis on core subjects was seen as a problem by 22 percent of teachers, with slightly higher emphasis given to this impediment by secondary level teachers. Lack of student interest was only rated as a substantial problem by 15 percent of teachers, but these numbers increased to 22 percent at the high school level. Administration (19 percent) and community (14 percent) support were rated as substantial problems by almost one fifth of the teachers and increased slightly with grade level. 

Physical Education for Individuals With Disabilities

This final part of the program assessment provided perhaps the most distressing but also the most expected data of the survey. Statistics showed that there is a tremendous need to improve how the Indiana school corporations address the physical education needs of students with disabilities.

Over 90 percent of the teachers responding to the survey indicated they did not have teacher certification in adapted physical education. The same percentage also stated they had students with disabilities (SWD) in their schools and gymnasiums. These statistics indicate that teachers are being required by law to teach a population for which they have not received adequate and specialized training.

Most teachers have had one course in adapted physical education and special education during their pre-professional preparation. However, less than 10 percent of the respondents took courses beyond six credits in either adapted physical education or special education. Indiana teachers have taken the minimum course preparation offered by teacher preparation institutions. Seventy five percent of these teachers reported they taught SWD in an included setting.

While most teachers indicated they understood least restrictive environment (LRE) for placement practice, few indicated their involvement in the process. Rather, teachers indicated 60 percent of the placement decisions were made by special education teachers, and that they rarely took part in the Individual Education Plan (IEP) meeting (87 percent). Furthermore, the teachers reported they do not write or contribute to any part of the IEP, nor do they send information to a case conference for consideration. In short, physical education teachers are not involved in the process that determines the goals and objectives of the SWD they teach.

When asked what aspects of student performance were the most difficult to assess, the teachers clearly indicated physical fitness and sports participation were the most difficult to evaluate. When asked for the source of difficulty in addressing the fitness needs of SWD, the teachers, once again, pointed to their lack of preparation by indicating they were not aware of tests to administer (34 percent) nor did they have the skills to administer (20 percent) or the time (31 percent). The primary obstacle for improving their ability to service SWD was lack of training (36 percent). Their primary need for inservice training appears to be how to individualize instruction and to modify equipment. The majority of teachers also indicated they did not have access to an adapted physical education resource person in their school district (60 percent). 

Summary of IFAT Analysis

The IFAT analysis of the shape of the state's physical education/fitness programs found that a large percentage of the Indiana high school graduation class of 2000, who attended Ball State University, were of low fitness levels. The majority of the students who scored below average on their fitness assessment did not have physical education during their last two years of high school. The low fitness scores could be attributed to either a lack of recent physical education classes and/or to a program that did not create positive attitudes about being physically active.

The analysis showed high school physical education programs that were lacking in lifetime sports activities and which had a low percentage of students opting to enroll in elective physical education beyond their graduation requirement. It also showed elementary physical education programs that met only one to two class periods a week, and which were deficient in rhythmical movement activities and dance, both of which have carry-over value in lifetime physical activities.

The analysis showed that teachers considered the lack of time required or allowed for physical education as the greatest impediment to improving physical education programs and the fitness levels of their students.

The physical education of students with disabilities was shown to be particularly disparate in Indiana schools, as pointed out by the program assessment. Teachers identified themselves as ill-prepared to meet the needs of students with disabilities in their classes and admitted to not participating in the process that determines the goals and objectives of each individual student with disabilities for which they were responsible. 

During the past year and a half in which the Department of Education and IFAT have been conducting the program evaluation, many group discussions have taken place around the state during the physical education workshops that have been presented by the department and the Indiana Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. The teachers were posed many of the same questions as contained in the survey, and the answers were very much the same as those given by survey respondents.

Discussions with school administrators from superintendents to principals to guidance counselors also echo the data gathered from the survey, especially in the area of students with disabilities.

The teachers obviously are in need of professional development opportunities to improve their skills in the New Physical Education, application of the Indiana Physical Education Standards, and working with students with disabilities. However, with the exception of the Physical Education Summer Institute, inservice programs are not well attended by teachers who need the training the most. Those that do attend are the "choir" who already are successful teachers with successful programs. The reason given most by teachers for not participating in professional development opportunities is lack of professional days and lack of support of the administration. 

The Indiana Department of Education in collaboration with the Indiana Fitness Assessment Taskforce presents the following recommendations to the Education Committees of the Indiana House and Senate for consideration:

1. Physical education teachers should be strongly encouraged to seek opportunities to expand physical education instruction by working cooperatively with classroom teachers to integrate physical education with the other core subjects. Physical education classes should become more wellness oriented and use concepts from health, mathematics, science, and other classes to reinforce not only what is being presented in physical education but also in the other classes. Physical educators must begin to focus on how they can play a supportive role in the school improvement process.
2. Schools and school corporations should set the example of living healthy lifestyles by implementing wellness programs for staff, faculty, and families. Several offices within the Department of Education, including physical education, school nurses, nutrition, and career and technical education will develop a wellness program that can be utilized by schools, and that will be presented to principals at the winter meeting of the Principal Leadership Academy.
3. Only 2 percent of Indiana elementary students receive physical education more than two days per week. National guidelines, however, recommend that elementary aged children should receive daily moderate physical activity for 60 minutes. School corporations should consider increasing physical education for elementary, middle, and junior high school students and should strive to meet the optimal five days per week and to maintain recess as a critical break needed by all elementary students.
4. All Indiana school corporations should revise their physical education curriculum to align with the Indiana Physical Education Standards and to provide a broader continuum of lifetime activities in secondary school programs and a greater emphasis on motor development, especially rhythms, at the elementary level.
5. Physical educators should be given inservice training in the New Physical Education, nutrition, and physical fitness to improve their skills in those areas that have the greatest impact on the epidemic obesity and low fitness levels of Indiana school age children. To do this, school corporations should provide technical assistance to physical education staff to assist them in writing quality grants for funds provided under the Physical Education Progress (PEP) grants administered by the U.S. Department of Education.
6. Secondary schools should consider developing and expanding existing intramural programs that are capable of interesting and drawing participation from a majority of the students.
7. An assessment of K-12 physical education, knowledge, and skills should be developed to provide a means of accountability for physical education teachers and programs, as well as to measure the effectiveness of the programs. (Ball State University is developing a pilot assessment for middle/junior high school physical education with funding from the CDC grant).
8. School corporations should have at least one certified adapted physical education teacher on staff to serve as a resource teacher for regular physical education teachers who teach students with disabilities.
9. Physical education teachers should actively participate in the IEP process for students with disabilities.
10. Indiana teacher preparation institutions should increase the number of hours required in adapted physical education for all students seeking K-12 physical education certification.
11. School corporations should provide an intense professional development program to increase physical education teacher knowledge and skill in adapted physical education.

All of the above recommendations are of importance to improving the physical fitness and physical education programs in Indiana schools. However, the primary need that stands above all others is the need to increase the time physical educators are allowed to present the necessary instruction in physical education. By utilizing more interdisciplinary activities and by encouraging parents to take a more active role in promoting physical activity for children, the in-class time for physical education can be supplemented. Secondary to this primary need is the need to provide increased inservice opportunities for current physical education teachers in the New Physical Education, physical fitness, and adapted physical education. 

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