American Heart Association Releases State of the Nation 2012 Physical Education Report

Last week, the National Association of Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) and the American Heart Association (AHA) released The 2012 Shape of the Nation Report: Status of Physical Education in the USA, a report highlighting the current landscape of physical education in American public schools. The report found that almost half of all students in the United States do not receive physical education in an average week. While all 50 states have some form of physical education requirements on the books, only 26 require some form of student assessment in the subject, only 14 require specific fitness assessments, and only six require physical education in every grade. The report includes a variety of policy recommendations for states, including requiring adequate time for physical education for all students in grades K-12, setting minimum standards for students’ achievement in physical education, and ensuring other forms of physical activity—such as recess and classroom breaks—throughout the school day.

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