Standards & Unpacking
Practicum in PE
Dr. Cummiskey
Q - What are Standards
& A
◦ What students should know and be able to do
as a result of instruction
◦ Standards describe the goals of schooling, the
destinations at which students should arrive at
the end of the unit or term. For example, be
able to create a personal fitness program
Standards are the WHAT of education while
curriculum and instruction are the HOW!
Note that the standard doesn't prescribe
how to get the students to this destination
-- that is determined by the curriculum.
Types of standards:
◦ National
◦ State (often shaped by the national stds)
What do standards have to do with my
classroom?
Standards guide what is taught in your
classroom.
◦ Must address all of the content specified for
your grade level
All classroom activity should be aligned
to standards.
Additional benefits of academic standards?
Teachers can better see if students are
learning (objective measures)
Teachers choose classroom activities
aligned with the standards.
Students know the standards, too, and can
see scoring guides that embody them.
Standards often posted for students to see or
presented (anticipatory set) by the teacher at
the start of a lesson
PA Standards Facts
Time Requirement Missing from the PA Requirements
-previously 30 hours per year
Assessment is based on student proficiency in the
standards
Proficiency is not based on seat time or activity time
Mandated by Chapter 4 - PA School Code
Standards ARE NOT a curriculum
◦ The unique way that each district uses to interpret the standards
is the curriculum; the standards are a content guideline.
You are the Boss
– YOU determine the
essential content,
objectives, activities
and assessments by
interpreting the
standards
Standards vs. Activity-Based
Instruction
Standards based – start with standard,
determine the essential content (EC)
and infuse the EC in a systematic way
throughout instruction and the
curriculum
◦ Backward design – start with what you
want them to learn first
◦ This doesn’t mean you base your units on
the standards
Standards vs. Activity-Based
Instruction
Activity based– going from one activity
(hockey, tennis etc) to the next while not
addressing some or most of the essential
content
Standards-Based vs. Standards-
Referenced
Standards Referenced - write the
curriculum/unit/lesson plan and then
“match” the standards to what was
already developed.
◦ Requires considerable forethought to ensure
all standards are being taught the appropriate
amount.
◦ Can sometimes be used synonymously with
standards-based but is different
Norm in PA
Backward design
◦ Why then do most programs seem activity
based?
Backward design is often used when creating
portions of the curriculum but day-to-day
programming is activity based
Compromise standards-referenced.
PE Reality Check: In most
programs…
Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment
practices are often not directly linked to state or
national standards.
◦ Students are missing out on a lot of knowledge they
should have and skills they can do.
Assessment practices are based more on
timeliness, dress, and behavior vs. what the
students know and are able to do (more on this
in the Assessment Lesson)
Health, Safety & PE Standards
10.1 Concepts Of Health
10.2 Healthful Living
10.3 Safety & Injury Prevention
10.4 Physical Activity
10.5 Concepts, Principles & Strategies
of Movement
Anatomy of a Standard
i.e. 10.5.9.D
◦ 10: Health, Safety and PE (subject area)
◦ 5: Concepts, Principles, and Strategies of
Movement (category)
◦ 9: Grade 9 (grade level)
◦ D: Principles of Exercise and Training
(standard statement)
Bullets (standard descriptors)
Standard Statements
Explain what students will learn
Standard statements must be assessed
Verbs and Content (nouns) become more
complex throughout benchmark years -
grades 3, 6, 9 and 12 (Bloom’s
Taxonomy)
◦ See PDE HPE standards
Standard Descriptors
Standard descriptors are the Bullets
Explain the complexity of the standard
statement
School districts may add additional
descriptors
◦ e.g. Is an example
◦ i.e. Must be taught
Big Picture - Backward Design Process
1. Identify desired results – Steps 1 to 5.
2. Determine acceptable evidence – Steps 6
&7
3. Plan learning experiences and
instruction – Step 8 (not included)
Step 1. Start with the Standard Statement
Standard Statement10.5.12.D:
◦ Incorporate and synthesize knowledge of
exercise principles, training principles, and
health and skill-related fitness components to
create a fitness program for personal use.
Step 2. Identify content (nouns) and verbs
In statement above, the content (nouns)
are purple and the verbs are red
Step 3: Define the content from the
standard statement
Standard Statement - Exercise principles,
training principles, health-related fitness
components, skill-related fitness
components, and fitness program
◦ part1 – Glossary of the standards document
◦ part 2 – Standard statement from previous
grades (in this example 3, 6 and 9)
◦ part 3 – District interpretation (yours and that
of your colleagues)
Step 4: Compose Essential
Questions Using the Nouns
Digging Deeper into the Essential Content –
beyond the Knowledge Level:
Compose Essential Questions: what, why, how,
when, where, similarities and differences, etc.
The answers to the Essential Questions serves as
the Essential Content
Essential Questions – Personal
Fitness Plan (PFP)
What is the goal of a PFP?
How often should a PFP be revised?
When is it a good idea to start building a PFP?
What kind of goals might a PFP include?
Why should a PFPs be developed
What are some possible obstacles to
implementing a PFP?
Essential Questions – Health Related
Fitness Components (HRFCs)
What are the HRFCs?
Why are the HRFCs important to understand in
order to develop a personal fitness program?
What are some benefits to having good results for
each component?
When is it acceptable to begin strenuous muscular
strength exercises?
What are the characteristics of exercises that
improve cardiovascular endurance?
How often should you conduct muscular strength
exercises on the same muscles?
What is the difference between the health and skill
related components? Why is this important?
Step 5: Answer Essential Questions
The answers to the essential questions
represents the Essential Content of the
lesson. Basically reverse the questions
from the previous slide
Step 6: What do the Verbs
Imply?
Refer to Standards Verbs
Review the meanings of the Verbs to gain
an understanding of the intent of the
evidence (assessment)
◦ Standard statement: Incorporate and synthesize
knowledge of exercise principles, training principles,
and health and skill-related fitness components to
create a fitness program for personal use.
Step 7: Brainstorm Assessment
Ideas
Use the VERBS in the Standard Statement as
your guide to developing assessments.
Verb in standard statement – Analyze
Align with the Verbs in learning objectives –
The students will be able to analyze…
Develop an assessment that requires
analysis.
Standard Assessment Format
Common Mistakes
Beginning with the ACTIVITY in mind before
doing the other steps – the activity is devised
LAST
◦ Different spin – systematically teach and assess the EC
through various activity units
No assessment (no proof of learning)
Giving up…please have patience
Objectives – where do they fit in?
More specific than the essential content
and relative ONLY to that lesson
◦ Standards
◦ Essential Content
◦ Objective
Many different approaches to the
same idea of broad to narrow
The standards based format discussed in
this PowerPoint is not universal, many
different ways to determine what Ss will
learn but they do share common points:
1. Start with the standards
2. Pull out the important information
3. Narrow down to be more specific
4. Link to assessments
Examples on thenewPE
Suggested Resources
Understanding by Design, 2nd Edition:
Wiggins & McTighe
Integrating Differentiated Instruction &
Understanding by Design: Tomlinson &
McTighe
Standards-Based PE Curriculum
Development: Lund & Tannehill
NASPE Resources
NASPE Assessment Series
Moving into the Future: NASPE National
Standards
Concepts of PE: What Every Student Needs to
Know
Appropriate Practices for HS, MS and
Elementary PE
PE Checkup Self Evaluation
What Constitutes a Quality PE Program?
