Addressing Facility and Staffing Issues in Order to Implement Quality Physical Education

Background

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) believes that quality physical education (PE) is the cornerstone to lifelong health and academic success. Through utilization of evidence-based research and best practice, the Office of Student Health and Wellness (OSHW) has successfully and continuously advocated for increased PE and physical activity (PA) at both the district level (top-down) through policy development and adoption and school level (bottom-up) technical assistance and training. Methods

After adoption of the PE Policy, OSHW established a strategic plan for providing technical assistance and teacher mentoring to improve quality of PE instruction. OSHW conducted a district analysis of staff and facility needs and identified tiers of support to align with barriers.  

In an effort to increase district PE teacher retention, OSHW created the PE Teacher Cohort that consists of new PE teachers. To begin the process, mentors and mentees established year-long goals and milestones to track progress. Mentors conducted quarterly visits to schools; visits included observation of PE classes and debriefing to improve quality of instruction. Quality of instruction is measured through teacher evaluation process.   Results

Qualitative data gleaned from the mentor process will show the impact of targeted technical assistance on teacher retention. Quantitative data will include the number of schools meeting policy requirements compared to predicted barriers. Data will also show the impact of technical assistance on quality of PE instruction. Conclusions and Discussion

Best practices and lessons learned on increasing PE and implementing a comprehensive PE policy in a large urban school district will be discussed.