Shape of the Nation 1993: A Survey of State Physical Education Requirements.

Overview & Synopsis

Despite an act of Congress encouraging state and local governments and local educational agencies to provide high quality daily physical education programs for all K-12 students, there is no federal law mandating physical education. Each state decides if physical education should be offered and how much time should be devoted to it. This booklet reports on the Shape of the Nation Survey conducted by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) in 1993. The survey, first conducted in 1987, queries Departments of Education in the 50 states and the District of Columbia regarding kindergarten through grade 12 physical education programs in their states. The publication provides survey findings, recaps 1987 results, and gives NASPE recommendations. The main body of the document is devoted to brief descriptions of physical education in each state. For each state the following topics are covered: the availability of and mandate for physical education programs, an overview of who is teaching physical education, examples of special state needs and initiatives, and names and addresses of contact persons. Overall findings suggest that while the number of states mandating physical education has increased to 46 from 42 in 1987, physical educators are under intense pressure to defend their programs during these cost-cutting times. (LL)