By Kim Siebert MacPhail
In one of the last of a long line of program evaluations, a visiting team came to Bedford schools to make recommendations for the combined Physical Education, Health and Family and Consumer Science department. Claudia Brown, co-chair of the visiting team and the curriculum coordinator for the Health and Wellness program in North Reading Public Schools, presented the evaluation team’s findings to the Bedford School Committee on April 23.
“[This department] has a group of educators committed to the wellness of its students,” wrote the visiting team in their final report. “While there is always room for growth, this department, under its K-12 Program Director Jackie Supprise, demonstrates the willingness to grow, to learn, and to facilitate the development of healthy students across the district.”
Brown first presented some overall impressions of the team’s three-day visit and then moved on to what was praiseworthy about the program and what could use improvement at each of the four schools.
Overall impressions
“The Bedford school’s facilities are well-maintained which allows for a healthy environment for growing and learning,” Brown began. “The curriculum is developed using developmental milestones for Health, Physical Education, and Family Consumer Sciences. The faculty’s professional approach to student learning and the well-mapped curriculum allow a focus on ‘the whole child’. The staff is enthusiastic and engaged in continuous professional review of the entire BHS Health, Phys. Ed. and FamCo program.”
Davis School
The team found that the Phys. Ed. curriculum was age appropriate and that there was reinforcement of critical learning skills, made evident by things like jump rope warm-ups for the whole class. The gym was set up to make the best use of available class time and students were provided with “continuous movement opportunities” throughout the class period.
Recommendations for Davis School included increasing physical education class time from 45 minutes to 150 minutes per week; parents agreed with the evaluation team that one class period for the K-2 level was not enough.
Also, an understanding of the differences between physical activity and physical education needs to be developed since there is confusion amongst building administrators as well as parents about the distinction between the two.
Lane School
The team reported a very enthusiastic and knowledgeable Phys. Ed. staff at the Lane School whose major focus centers on emotional and social development. Project Adventure was applauded as well.
Areas for growth in the program at Lane include increased assessments through the use of innovative tools and strategies such as checklists and “tickets to leave,” described as a something a student would do before being dismissed (such as hop on one foot three times, then on the other, before lining up to go back to the regular classroom.)
John Glenn Middle School
The varied and changing physical education offerings at the middle school were commended. Students were seen to enjoy class time and were observed to stay willingly on-task. The fitness center at the middle school provides the possibility of engagement and opportunities for developing life-long wellness habits.
However, middle school health education meets only once every six days which hinders retention of course material. Additionally, health education has no physical home base within the building and much of the equipment in the fitness center needs repair or replacement.
Bedford High School
According to the visiting team, the course material at the high school was delivered in an enthusiastic, engaging manner and the faculty was noted to be supportive, collaborative and collegial. The dance studio and other Phys. Ed course offerings were applauded and the gyms were deemed to be well-equipped. The students additionally reported that Health, Phys. Ed. and FamCo made a positive impact on their lives.
Suggestions for improvement from the visiting team included the articulation of objectives for course material with a series of questions to gauge understanding. The team also recommended better use of Phys. Ed. class time, specifically at the beginning of the period. As with the middle school, the equipment in the high school fitness center is in serious need of replacement or repair to preserve the resource from obsolescence.
When asked about the level of need for the fitness centers, Program Director Jackie Supprise reported that the middle school is in better shape because of the way it’s used as well as the volume of use. The high school equipment, Supprise said, was not of the quality they had expected when it was first purchased and, as a result, many machines are out of commission.
“Both at the middle school and high school, we have struggled with finding someone to maintain the equipment within our budget. We found someone who was affordable but not very reliable. Keith Mangan is helping me with this now and has found someone but [the extent of the problem] is beyond the money that is earmarked for maintenance. When you’re talking about replacement of a piece of cardio equipment, you’re talking about $ 2,000-3,000 and that’s about the high school equipment and supplies budget [for the department.]”
Supprise added that the fitness room at the high school is crowded with equipment and that a raised “cardio deck” would be a welcome addition so that, in effect, a second floor would be added to the fitness space.
About the difference between physical activity and physical education and the importance of assessment, co-chair Brown explained, “It’s education through the physical, if you will. . . Physical Education has come a long way and we are now really promoting the use of assessment because we’ve learned through research that skill retention is the major factor of students continuing to participate in something—whatever it is. So, if we just call physical activity sufficient, then we’re not really allowing students to become skilled in a variety of different areas. Skill retention—and assessment of those skills—is very important.”
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