| Despite calls for reform in physical education (Rink, 1993) few large scale attempts to make comprehensive and systemic change have included physical education and even fewer attempts have documented that change. The purpose of this study was to compare high and low performing schools in a state secondary physical education, high stakes assessment and accountability program.; The South Carolina Physical Education Assessment Program (SCPEAP) required teachers to assess samples of students to evidence competency across four state mandated performance indicators. The state mandated criteria required students to be competent in two movement forms, take a written test on health-related fitness, participate in physical activity outside of physical education and meet the age and gender requirements on a fitness test. This study examined the performance of all 62 schools quantitatively and four high, two medium, and four low performing, high compliant schools qualitatively.; Quantitative data were submitted by teachers and analyzed using descriptive statistics to identify the performance levels of schools, teachers, and students. Qualitative data sources included teacher surveys, teacher interviews, and documents. These data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a constant comparative analysis. A matrix was used to synthesize all data sources.; The findings of this study revealed that the SCPEAP was able to discriminate between high and low performing schools, teachers, and students. Student performance was best on the cognitive test of health-related fitness knowledge and lowest on meeting the age and gender requirements of the Fitnessgram. Dance activities produced the most competent students, while the activities of bowling, softball, and racket sports had the lowest level of competency.; High and low performing schools differed primarily by the characteristics of teachers, department cohesion, and school climate. There were also notable differences in curriculum, instruction, strategies related to assessment, teacher perceptions, roles and relationships. All schools participating in this study made change to their programs; the amount and timing of that change was different across performance levels. Despite some data collection issues this physical education reform in South Carolina produced some substantial positive change. |
