How To Become a Teacher of Physical Education

Based in Reston, VA – a 40 minute drive from Washington, DC – SHAPE America describes itself as “the largest organization of professionals involved in school-based health, physical education and physical activity, who are dedicated to teaching and promoting active, healthy lifestyles.”

SHAPE is also an excellent resource in its own right for finding out more about the Physical Education guidelines, with a number of guidance documents available. These cover everything from the instructional framework for fitness education, to work samples for teachers.

Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE)

Created with the ambition to solve childhood obesity within a generation, the Let’s Move Program is an initiative designed to encourage a healthy lifestyle during a child’s earliest years.

But as well as focussing on the importance of keeping physically active, this also means ensuring that the children have access to healthy and affordable food, both at home and at school. Details on how these goals can be achieved are outlined in the Childhood Obesity Task Force Report.

A set of guidelines for Americans, published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is designed as a guide to some of the best practices for teaching the importance of health and nutrition to Americans aged 6 years and older.

The Physical Activity Guidelines (PAG) include recommendations for levels of physical activity at all age levels, and also includes detailed information on safety considerations and injury prevention.

Similar to many of the studies and reports we’ve already mentioned, the PAG also concludes that most health benefits occur with a least 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical exercise each week. There’s also a similar resource for nutrition, entitled ‘Dietary Guidelines for Americans‘, which is aimed at helping Americans over the age of 2 years old to focus on maintaining a healthy diet.

Comprised of chefs, physicians, fitness professionals, and educators appointed by the President, the President’s Council is designed to encourage all Americans to adopt a healthy lifestyle through regular exercise and good nutrition.

Originally named the President’s Council on Youth Fitness, which was founded in 1956, the Council also includes a Science Board. Made up of scholars who have made significant contributions to the field of health and nutrition, the Board was formed in 2003 to ensure that all the advice available through the President’s Council is scientifically accurate.

Screenshot of PCFSN website – Physical Activity Initiative

The CSPAP is the result of a collaboration between the CDC and SHAPE America, and is designed as a way to help develop new physical activity programs for schools, or improve those currently in place.

CSPAP works on the target of providing students with 60 minutes of physical activity each day, and should be considered an outline of how many different groups of people can work together to create more opportunities for children to be involved in physical activity.

This also includes a step-by-step process for developing, implementing, and evaluating a comprehensive school physical activity program.

A collection of interesting facts related to the participation in physical activity by young people, as revealed by national surveys. Also includes some useful resources that detail the important role schools, families, and communities play in promoting youth physical activity.

A useful PDF document produced by the Presidential Youth Fitness Program (PYFP), which takes a comprehensive look at assessing a student’s physical fitness levels.

This includes recommendations for collecting student fitness data at state level, safeguards for monitoring student fitness levels, and an overview of which states are currently reporting fitness testing data back to the state education agency or state health department.

PYFP are actually one of the many organizations to adopt the FITNESSGRAM software as a tool for schools to assess the health-related fitness of students, and is another of our recommended resources.

Despite being recorded in January 2012, this particular webinar is one of the most relevant that SPARK have produced in relation to fitness assessments for Physical Education classes.

Lasting just over an hour, the webinar is quite comprehensive in the topics that it covers, which includes how to appropriately assess student fitness levels, tools for self-monitoring, and how the assessments fit into a high quality physical education program.

This particular SPARK webinar also features Shellie Y.Pfohl, M.S. – Executive Director of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition – as a guest speaker.

As a comprehensive educational, reporting, and promotional tool created by the Cooper Institute (the same group that developed the Cooper International Fitness Test later in our list), FITNESSGRAM has gained increasingly popularity amongst schools and universities across the country.

The software has 3 main goals; to assess, to report, and to educate. From an assessment standpoint, teachers are able to select the testing method they feel is most appropriate from the multiple options on offer, then either enter the children’s scores for them, or allow the children to enter their own scores. This is an excellent example of the self-assessment method we mentioned earlier.

At a recent count, 50-60,000 FITNESSGRAM licenses had been issued to education agencies, schools, and institutions across almost every state in the US, including being designated as the Physical Fitness Test (PFT) of choice for students in California public schools, and the assessment tool of choice for the Texas Education Agency.

FITNESSGRAM is part of a suite of tools that can also include ACTIVITYGRAM and NUTRIGRAM

Whereas FITNESSGRAM is a software that can compile data electronically to a central resource, the OSPI has developed assessments for health and fitness that can be used throughout the year by teachers in the classroom.

These are primarily used to gauge student understanding of the physical education program as the year progresses, also providing teachers with student copies of pre-written tests for the assessments.

Resources are available for all levels of schooling, from Elementary, through to Middle School, and concluding with High School.

The Cooper International Fitness Test is a customizable fitness assessment software created by the same company that created FITNESSGRAM.

What sets this particular software apart is that it’s developed on a much larger scale, customized to report on health-related fitness levels of schoolchildren on a countrywide level.

One of the most recent customizations was recently adopted by Hungary, who are now using a version known as NETFIT. This was launched in the fall of 2014, with the goal of reaching 1.2 million children in 4,000 schools across the country, in an effort to establish a national framework for student fitness assessments.

A variety of online Masters degrees related to teaching PE are available from Universities across the country, including the University of North Georgia and West Virginia University.

Unfortunately these are often only available for residents of those specific states, and are supplementary to a pre-existing teaching degree. This means that they aren’t generally considered a valid starting point for a career in teaching.

However, the United States Sports Academy does appear to offer online study for their Bachelor of Sports Science degree.

While there are a number of online tools that can be used to discover online degree opportunities, it’s always worth checking with the University or college that you’re enrolling with, as well as your local state’s teaching requirements to ensure they consider that particular course a valid path of entry into teaching Physical Education.

Once you’ve passed your Bachelor’s Degree, and have the certifications and license required by the state you would like to teach in, you’re probably going to want to start looking for employment opportunities.

While some schools will announce vacancies on their social media accounts or personal websites, one of the best resources you can use is still a dedicated job search engine.

General job search sites such as Indeed, , and are certainly effective options, but it’s also possible to keep track of local opportunities using specific school jobs websites.

Two of the best options in this category are SchoolSpring, and TopSchoolJobs (lets you filter by state). As with other jobs, you can also use services such as GlassDoor to discover new employment opportunities, as well as find out more about the experiences of teachers who have already taught there.

As an office of the U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid offers more than $150 billion each year to students in need of financial assistance as they progress through their higher education courses.

Whilst there is a certain level of eligibility criteria that you need to pass in order to qualify for federal student aid, in most cases this will simply be proving your enrolment in an eligible degree or certificate program, demonstrate the need for financial assistance, and have a valid social security number.

Non-U.S. Citizens are also considered, but if you’re considering seeking this type of aid, there are a few more guidelines you’ll need to comply with. A full list of eligibility requirements for U.S. and non-U.S. citizens can be found here.

This is also the website you will be directed to if you were to apply for a direct loan through the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program, where you will be asked to fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Screenshot of the Federal Student Aid website

Whilst federal student aid in the form we mentioned above usually involves a loan, Federal Pell Grants are a type of financial assistance that doesn’t have to be repaid.

The amount offered differs based on your personal circumstances, as well as the circumstances surrounding your school attendance, with the maximum amount awarded changing from year to year.

Usually only awarded to undergraduate students, there is also a limit on how long you can receive funds under the Federal Pell Grant program, which is currently set at 12 semesters.

The Student Financial Aid website can provide more information about the level of payment you may be entitled to, as well as the special circumstances behind the Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant.

If you choose to go down the route of a Stafford Loan, you will have two options available to you; subsidized and unsubsidized loans. Neither of these are credit-based, and you can currently borrow up to $12,000 per year via an unsubsidized loan, depending on your eligibility.

The interest rate is fixed and no payments need to be made while you are studying at least half-time. By opting for a subsidized loan, the federal government pays the interest, while the interest is left to accrue while you’re in school by choosing the unsubsidized option.

In much the same way as on the Student Financial Aid website and for the Federal Pell Grant, you will need to file a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

For more information on the application process, eligibility, and current loan interest rates, you can visit the Stafford Loan website.

TEACH is a partnership led by Microsoft, State Farm and the U.S. Department of Education. The TEACH website is a great resource for finding out which licensing and certification requirements apply to which US states.

While most certificates require a Bachelor’s Degree as standard, you can also find out how long each certificate is renewable for, as well as whether or not there are specific GPA requirements.

Although Teach.org does provide you with an option to search for teaching jobs in the field of Physical Education, we found many listings to be out of date, so it’s probably best to use a dedicated job search engine, such as our option listed above (number 2 on this list).

TEACH – Teacher Licensing and Certification Requirements

As part of the licensing and certification process required for many states, prospective teachers will need to take what’s known as the ‘Praxis II Tests’.

Subject assessments are available for over 120 different areas of study, so it’s important to check with your local state education system to confirm that this particular test is something they require.

In terms of what to expect from the test content, questions can include multiple choice, essays, and constructed responses. These questions are created by educators and disciplinary specialists with a goal to assess your subject-specific teaching skills at various grade level ranges from K to 12.

For more information on the various testing requirements imposed by specific states, your best option is to visit the Praxis website directly, then search for specific state requirements using the dropdown box in the sidebar.

Specific tests vary greatly, and include the Georgia Assessments for Certification of Educators (GACE) if you want to teach in Georgia, and the Praxis Core tests if you want to teach in Oklahoma.

The NBPTS was created in 1987 as a response to the 1983 report entitled ‘A Nation at Risk’, which outlined concerns about a rising level of mediocrity in America’s education system.

As well as defining the expectations required to maintain and improve upon the current level of teaching and learning, the NBPTS is also in place to recognise accomplishments in the profession.

The standards themselves have actually been created by teachers, with a voluntary process in place to certify teachers against these standards, called the National Board Certification.

If you’re considering getting Board-certified yourself, the National Board website contains an invaluable resource detailing the process involved. The site also contains research showing that students of Board-certified teachers learn more than students in other classrooms, and details of state-offered incentives for teachers to attain Board certification.

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards website

After the release of the revised CAEP standards in 2013, these are now the standards that programs seeking accreditation should be using.

CAEP is a result of consolidating the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC), and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).

Although this transition is currently an ongoing process, CAEP standards are expected to become the norm by spring 2016. Unlike the assessments of how children are improving their activity levels and knowledge of physical activity, CAEP has a mission of developing principled education leaders who meet high academic standards – essentially an assessment and accreditation process for teachers of grades P-12.

Our final recommended resource for prospective teachers is the PE Teacher website, which provides detailed information about all aspects of licensing and qualifications on a state-by-state basis.

This includes advice on the course load you can expect when studying for your Bachelor’s degree, any tests you need to pass before being admitted into a teaching program, and the various different types of licenses that can be applied for.

There’s also information on the careers and salaries on offer, as well as the differences between Bachelor level degrees and Master’s Level programs in Physical Education.

Much of the information is fairly similar to the Certification Map site (maintained by the University of Southern California), so it might be useful to take a look at both and see which one you find easier to navigate.

A collection of free lesson plans designed for a wide range of age levels and abilities, from early childhood through to high school. There’s even a list of ideas for physical activity lessons taking place after school.

SPARK PE is one of the most researched and tested programs of its kind in the world, with its lesson plans designed to be more inclusive than traditional PE classes.

As an organization, SPARK is a specialist in creating programs that promote lifelong wellness, and has over 25 years of experience in the field.

The lesson plans available through NYRR differ slightly from those found on the SPARK website, in the sense that they are currently exclusively for an elementary school level.

They are also focussed much more on running as a form of fitness, with detailed guides to important aspects of effective running, including pacing, posture, attitude, and the fundamental athletic skills that can benefit this form of exercise.

A selection of games ideas that are mostly designed for children in the age range of 5 to 11 years.

Detailed descriptions of what each game entails are also provided, as well as, in some cases, a basic diagram of any setup that’s required. Variations are also regularly suggested detailing ways to make the exercises more fun or effective.

One of the most popular online databases of health and physical education lessons, PE Central features lesson ideas for the full range of grades, including preschool as well as K-12.

In addition to being categorized by grade range, lesson plans can also be filtered down to specific sports and activities.

You’ll also find a number of innovative assessment ideas, complete with report cards, student examples, and activity-specific test plans.

Although the information found on Physical Education has been added to the site over the course of the past 15+ years, much of it still remains relevant today.

This is actually the only one of our lesson plan resources to be specifically based around the UK physical education system.

There are a few reasons why we’ve chosen to include it here, not least because of the fact that many activities found on the site aren’t country-specific.

If you’re setting up a plan for PE lessons at a specific age range, there will be some basic conversion necessary to switch from the Key Stage grade system in the UK, to the traditional grading system in the US.

That being said, as TES Connect currently offers nearly 9,000 free lesson plans, worksheets, and teaching ideas based around various sports and physical activities, it’s certainly a useful source of information.