Teacher Education: Assessing the National Standards for Beginning Physical Education Teachers

193 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008.In recent years, standards, or performance expectations for learners, have been developed across multiple disciplines, allowing students, teachers, and administrators to be held accountable for student learning. In the area of physical education teacher education (PETE), the 2003 National Standards for Beginning Physical Education Teachers that were developed by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) have provided a framework by which educators can develop curriculum and program content so as to best prepare their students. Despite the importance of this document, few studies have empirically examined how, or even if, these standards are being met within physical education teacher education programs. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which physical education teacher education programs are designed to address the NASPE National Standards for Beginning Physical Education Teachers. Grounded in teacher socialization theory, research questions examined how various PETE programs prepared their students to meet the standards, how NCATE accreditation impacted the extent to which each program emphasized the standards, and how faculty and student perceptions regarding the standards compared. PETE programs at four separate universities were examined, two of which sought NCATE accreditation, and two that chose not to participate in NCATE. Within each program, the department chair, at least two faculty members, and at least two students participated in both formal and conversational interviews. Additionally, a document analysis was conducted of various items provided by each faculty member. Data were analyzed through both inductive and deductive qualitative analyses. To establish trustworthiness and credibility, triangulation, peer debriefing, negative case analysis, and member checking were employed. Results found that each PETE program was successful in preparing students to meet the NASPE standards for beginning physical education teachers. Further, it appeared programs often employed similar strategies in preparing their students, regardless of the accreditation or approval process in which their program participated. Finally, students and faculty members reported having similar perceptions regarding the standards, thereby aiding in the teacher socialization process.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD