Physical education (PE) programs provide learning experiences designed to fulfill developmental and behavioral needs of the whole child. In the state of Illinois and across the country, however, student-centered PE programs are being limited or eliminated. Illinois laws reduced the requirements of PE and gave school district administrators the…

This feature has told stories of high school physical educators who have refused to accept the status quo of high school physical education programs. They have identified problems, initiated innovations in their own classes, implemented changes beyond their classes, and moved toward institutionalizing improvements throughout their programs and…

In a political climate where most public schools have reduced or eliminated P.E. entirely in response to budget cuts and increased pressure to improve academic test scores, Naperville High School in Illinois stands out as an anomaly. The school's already robust daily P.E. program is specifically designed around the notion that physical activity…

Sustained school-university partnerships are recognized as a means by which school physical education can move forward and sustain itself. Yet, these partnerships have been more the exception than the rule. There is little public knowledge about the benefits of sustained partnerships or of the process to achieve them. This article summarizes the…

There are many key players in a functional school-university partnership. The purpose of this article is to provide insight into the establishment of roles within a school-university partnership charged with creating educational reform. Specific details are provided about three key change agents (the Wizard, the Warrior, and the Wagoner) who…

This report describes a method for increasing parental involvement in physical education and art in an elementary school in Illinois. The parents of second- and third-grade students in a well-developed, middle class community in Illinois participated in the study. The lack of parental involvement had been documented through data revealing the low…