1988–1998 National Practices in K-12 Health Education and Physical Education Teacher Certification

Abstract

The primary purposes of this study were to determine national certification practices in health education and physical education, the frequency of states that permit certified health and physical education teachers to teach outside of their area, and trends in statewide testing in health education and physical education. A survey instrument was sent to state-level administrators of health education and physical education of all 50 state Departments of Public Instruction in the United States in 1988, 1992, and 1998. Response rate was 100% for each data collection period. Results indicated that issuing separate health education and physical education certificates increased from 84 to 94% during the 10-year period. The issuing of combined certificates dropped from 46% in 1988 to 36% in 1998. The percentage of states issuing both separate and combined was 32 in 1988 and was at the same rate in 1998. States allowing certified health and physical education teachers to teach outside of their area has slowly increased. Both health education and physical education statewide testing decreased during the study. Fifty-four percent of the states responded that the best way to implement the two areas was as two separate courses; 26% believed that they should be combined; and 20% responded with “other.”