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Teacher perceptions of the year-round calendar for elementary physical education
Data from the National Association for Year-Round Education shows a steady increase from 1985 to 1997 in the number of schools across the nation utilizing year-round educational programs. When the C3-month summer vacation is eliminated and students attend school for the same number of instructional days utilizing a l2-month calendar interspersed with shorter, more frequent breaks, are there related changes in student performance in the physical education setting? This study examined teacher perceptions of the impact of the year-round calendar on elementary physical education. Specifically, does the year-round calendar bring about any perceived change in student: (1) motor skill proficiency, (2) fitness, and (3) affective behaviors. Physical education teachers at the 56 elementary schools in Texas operating on the 45-15 single-track year-round calendar received a questionnaire. Of the 52 teachers responding from the target group of 60 teachers (86.6%), 20 were eliminated from the study as specified by the following criteria: (1) teachers must have taught under the year-round calendar for at least one full year and (2) teachers must have at least one full year of teaching experience under the traditional calendar to allow comparison of year-round student performance. Results indicated that when students attend school under the year- round calendar rather than the traditional calendar, teachers perceived improvement in student affective behaviors including interest and participation (63%), sportsmanship and cooperation (56%), and discipline (66%). Teachers perceived some improvement in overall fitness (53%), cardiorespiratory endurance (44%), and muscular strength and endurance (44%), though the percentages of teachers perceiving no change for these variables were large (25%, 31%, and 37%, respectively). Teachers perceived no change on the remaining fitness items including flexibility (47%) and body composition (56%). Fifty percent of teachers perceived improvement in overall motor skill proficiency, though 44% perceived no change. Teachers perceived no change in the motor skill proficiency of younger students (50%), motor skill proficiency of older students (50%), and rate of motor skill acquisition (56%), though the percentages of teachers perceiving improvement for these variables (41%, 41%, and 38%, respectively) were large.
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Includes bibliographical references: pages 62-69.