Physical Education Department Objectives
Objective 1: To consistently use data on a regular basis from various evaluation sources to improve teaching practices and to improve student achievement.
Why Objective was selected: Data from fitness testing and atendance and participation records are available but not being fully utilized. It is our belief that this data could be tremendously valuable in improving student achievement in these areas.
How Objective relates to the standards and the school vision/ESLRs/direction: The goal of all teachers in the Physical Education Depratment and trhoughout the school is to provide the best possible vehicle for our students to find succcess. Utilizing data to make our program stronger will directly benefit th estudents and align their achievement to standards as well. It is also a goal that all we do aligns to the school ESLRs.
Activities to meet Objective: (a) Quarterly fitness testing benchmarks will be examined and compared by teachers individually and discussed as a department. (b)Individual and class attendance/participation records will be received by all teachers individually and discussed as a department.
How will this objective be monitored and by whom: Over time, data from fitness testing, attendance, and participation will show that teachers and the structure of the program is adjusting to the needs of the students and their ability to succeed. By analyzing data, we will know which areas of instruction need to be improved. Knowing this, we can improve our teaching, which leads to improving students' performance, which in turn will increase their test scores. Department Chair will keep a binder of data analysis.
Objective 2: To continue to develop curriculum in alignment with the state standards for Physical Education.
Why Objective was selected: We realize the importance of aligning our program with national and state standards in order to maintain the status of our discipline as a required course. Standards help provide legitimacy and structure to the goals of our Physical Education program amdist increased pressure to cut our discipline from mainstream public education. Also by following the standards created for our program, we are creating a legitimate learning experience for our students.
How Objective relates to the standards and the school vision/ESLRs/direction: State standards were designed to help schools align practices with defined outcomes.
Activities to meet Objective: (a) to concretely identify how each standard is attained through current practices; (b) to continue to develop authentic experiences benchmarks in each course; (c) SRHS staff will meet with TLHS and DMS to discuss ongoing implementation of State Standards.
How will this objective be monitored and by whom: Completion of a document that connects each of our mainstream activities with a state or national standard for Physical Education. Once complete, we will be able to have evidence that our students are learning what they need to in order to align with the relevant standards.
Objective 3: To update benchmark assessments and final exams to better reflect the curriculum expectations that are aligned to the standards.
Why Objective was selected: To make sure that our students are learning in our Physical Education program. By using data that we do not currently have on record from previous years, we can compare student scores to see how much students are learning and improving over the years.
How Objective relates to the standards and the school vision/ESLRs/direction: By making data available we are aligning our program with the rest of the school. Other programs are able to compare student’s results over the years, and we are only able to do that with a limited number of activities. By creating benchmarks and exams we will be able to improve our program by comparing results of our exams.
Activities to Meet Objective: (a) Establish a consistent pre- and post- fitness test that includes strength, endurance and flexibility components; (b) To create quizzes and exams that are the same for all Physical Educators and their students so that we can compare all students in all classes from year to year.
How will this objective be monitored and by whom: The Department Chair of the Physical Education department will monitor developing benchmarks and assessments, but all Physical Educators will take part in creating them to fit into our curriculum. Students will benefit by having assessments that are aligned with the state standards as well as having activities taught to them that are directly related to those standards.
Objective 4: To work collaboratively with classroom teachers to be able to better support our English Language Learners.
Why Objective was selected: Due to our large population of English Language Learners, we feel that we need to make the Physical Education experience equal for all students. By creating assignments and projects that all students can accomplish, we feel we will be a much stronger program.
How Objective relates to the standards and the school vision/ESLRs/direction: By making learning possible for all students, we are giving students the opportunity to succeed and to become more effective communicators, critical thinkers and life-long learners.
Activities to Meet Objective: (a) Talk to the English teachers at our school and the ELL teachers so that we can begin to work collaboratively and give out relevant assignments to the student’s abilities; (b) Observe other schools with the same population as San Rafael High School and see how they are adapting their Physical Education curriculum to include all students.
How will this objective be monitored and by whom: This objective will be monitored by the Physical Education Department Chair at SRHS. Responsibilities include initiating the meetings with the other teachers and finding other schools with similar populations who would allow us to observe what they are doing in their program. Other people included in this will be Judy Colton, all the PE teachers, the teachers in the English and ELD Departments. Assessment of this action plan will be determined once we see more success from our ELD students in areas of testing and projects.
