Background: The use of the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) and delivery of Physical Education (PE) concerning time allocation, resources and number of learners per class is crucial for optimal delivery to the intermediate-phase (IP) learner. Aim: This study aimed to determine the gap between the understanding and the interpretation…

Results are reported from a study which compared attitudes of fourth and fifth grade children (N=414) toward physical activity in classes taught by specialists (N=4) versus those taught by nonspecialists (N=7). Findings suggest that teachers play a minimal role in children's attitudes toward physical activity. (IAH)

Middle school students who participated in both single-sex and coeducational physical education (PE) classes completed questionnaires eliciting their opinions on perceived abilities, affinity toward PE, and preferences for coeducational and same-sex classes. Most students liked PE, preferred same-sex classes, and rated themselves highly on PE…

Surveys of 887 children in grades 4-6 in Nova Scotia found that student attitudes toward physical activities were significantly more positive in programs taught by a specialist with undergraduate physical education training than in programs taught by a nonspecialist teacher. The positive effects of specialist physical education teachers were…

Investigated the lived status of Title IX in a fourth-grade physical education class. Interviews, observations, field notes, and document analysis indicated that patriarchal gender differentiation continued to shape and define the lives of boys and girls in physical education, with boys largely awarded physical space and girls situated as…

Examined achievement goals and their correlates in physical education in 180 Chinese students and 121 Anglo-American students in grades 4, 5, and 6. The same two-dimensional factor structure of goal orientation (task and ego orientation) cut across the two cultural groups in physical education, but relationships seemed to vary as a function of…

Fourth and fifth graders who had completed the mile-run physical fitness test were interviewed to determine what they thought, felt, and knew about the test. Students reported little understanding of why they had to complete the test. They viewed it as a painful, negative experience that was little fun. (SM)

Two research reports are included in this document. The first is a study of children's anxiety. A sixteen-item trait anxiety scale was used on a population of students in grades 4 through 6. The first ten items measured anxiety about making mistakes in performing physical education activities, and the remaining six items measured general anxiety.…

Reports a study of a gifted and a learning-disabled sixth grader and their constructions of and responses to their physical education teacher's grading practices. Interviews indicated they experienced similar emotional reactions to the physical education environment (frustration and disappointment over their grades and desire to eliminate grades…

This paper examines the self-concept of urban Western Australian Aboriginal school children, aged 11-12, in school sports settings. Most students were from the Nyoongar Aboriginal community of southwestern Western Australia. Data were collected from interviews with Aboriginal students and parents, class teachers, and sports teachers, and from…

The study described here examined whether using formative assessment would affect middle school physical education students' self-perceptions of effort and skill. Students completed questionnaires about effort and skill following assessment in various activities. Formative assessment did not affect students' self-perceptions. Students believed…

Field observations of and interviews with 13 low-skilled 6th graders in physical education indicated that they all exhibited symptoms of learned helplessness. Students had knowledge of being low-skilled, and they experienced teachers communicating low expectations to them. Students were unwilling to expend effort to learn skills, so they were…

Students from coeducational classes were assigned to a same-sex or a new coeducational physical education class for a 10-lesson unit of basketball. Group and individual analyses indicated that middle school students preferred same-sex classes, whereas high school students preferred coeducational classes. (SM)

A case study of one female middle school student examined her tendency toward learned helplessness. Observations and interviews with the student and her teachers indicated that she lacked confidence; her belief that she could not change her intellectual and social situation was pervasive. Approaches to intervention are discussed. (SM)

This study was conducted to compare upper elementary school children's attitudes toward physical activity, by grade level and gender across six attitude scale subdomains in order to assist physical education teachers in planning programs designed to foster positive attitudes toward physical activity. Subjects (N=429) were 243 girls and 186 boys in…