Physical Education

Read about the role PE classes in schools have in students’ learning and development
Science Going to the Dogs
A suburban Chicago school simulates the annual Alaskan Iditarod dog sled race.
May 1, 2004
1 min read
Student Well-Being & Movement Risk Seen in Deals Offered By Fitness Group
State officials in Minnesota are telling districts to proceed with caution when making deals with a group that offers schools across the country a way to get new fitness programs for students at no cost.
Jeff Archer, March 17, 2004
3 min read
Student Well-Being & Movement Opinion Take It Outside
Fed up with out-of-shape students, an elementary school teacher trades classroom time for daily walks.
Dennis Donoghue, March 1, 2004
5 min read
Student Well-Being & Movement Ky. Law Focuses On Youngsters' Eyesight
Passed in 2000 as part of a comprehensive bill on children's health care, a Kentucky eye-exam requirement, which requires children to undergo eye exams before they start school, is the first and only law of its kind in the United States.
Darcia Harris Bowman, April 30, 2003
4 min read
Curriculum Internet Spawns Online Physical Education
Some 1,600 Florida students are expected to enroll in a cyberspace gym class this year to knock off the state's high school graduation requirement of one semester of physical education.
Darcia Harris Bowman, January 29, 2003
3 min read
Student Well-Being & Movement Opinion Pound-Foolish
David Satcher, former U.S. surgeon general, says that schools may hold the most crucial role in curing obesity.
David Satcher, October 16, 2002
8 min read
Student Well-Being & Movement Fitness Report Cards Part of 'New PE' Movement
Some 11,000 schools nationwide are now using a program called Fitnessgram that seeks to make physical activity a part of students' daily life by giving them information on their conditioning.
John Gehring, June 19, 2002
3 min read
Curriculum Texas Requires Elementary Schools To Offer 2-Plus Hours Of Physical Ed.
Saying they hope to combat obesity and promote better health for young children, members of the Texas state board of education have voted to require elementary schools to offer more than two hours of physical education a week.
Michelle Galley, April 3, 2002
2 min read
Law & Courts News in Brief: A Washington Roundup
  • California Expert to Lead Disability-Research Institute
  • Court Rejects Case Alleging Retaliation by Dallas District
  • Department's Record-Keeping Flawed, Inspector General Says
  • Ed. Dept. Grants $4.8 Million for Physical Education
October 17, 2001
4 min read
Student Well-Being & Movement News in Brief: A State Capitals Roundup
  • Daily Exercise Required in Texas Primary Schools
  • Hiring Bonuses Shot Down in Neb.
  • Judge to Probe N.C. Financing
  • Fla. Schools Get Better Grades
June 6, 2001
5 min read
Student Well-Being & Movement Dodge Ball Takes a Drubbing In Several School Districts
These days, dodge ball, the frenetic game played for years with reckless abandon by school-age children everywhere, is itself taking a drubbing—from some educators and recreation experts who say the game has no place in schools.
John Gehring, February 21, 2001
6 min read
Student Well-Being & Movement PE Promotes Active Lifestyle Among Adolescents, Study Finds
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill say they have found concrete evidence to back up what child-health experts have known intuitively for years: Students who do not participate in regular physical education or community recreation programs are far more likely to become couch potatoes.
Kathleen Kennedy Manzo, June 14, 2000
3 min read
Curriculum Minn. Paints Arts Requirement Back Into the Picture

The Minnesota school board has reinstated sections of the state's new graduation requirements dealing with arts performance and physical education after a barrage of protests over its earlier vote to cut them.

Kathleen Kennedy Manzo, November 5, 1997
2 min read
Curriculum U.S. Schools Need To Pump Up Physical Education, Report Warns

Despite reams of evidence suggesting that U.S. students need to be running, jumping, swimming, and sweating more, too many schools haven't put physical education into the starting curricular lineup, a new report concludes.

Kathleen Kennedy Manzo, November 5, 1997
2 min read