Health and Physical Education Teacher Certification Practices in the United States 1988–1992

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to determine national certification practices in health and physical education, the frequency of states permitting certified physical education teachers to teach health education classes and certified health education teachers to teach physical education classes, and trends in statewide testing in health and physical education. The subjects (n=50) completing the questionnaire in 1988 and 1992 consisted of department of public instruction level administrators in all 50 states. Results indicated that 84 percent (n=42) of the states in 1988 and 86 percent (n=43) in 1992 issued separate certifications in health and physical education. In 1988, 46 percent (n=23) of the states issued the combined health and physical education certificate compared to 36 percent (n=18) in 1992. Several states, 32 percent in 1988 and 26 percent in 1992, issued both the separate certification and the combined certification in health and physical education. The practice of permitting certified physical educators to teach health education classes increased from 36 percent of the states in 1988 to 48 percent in 1992. The practice of permitting certified health education teachers to teach physical education classes increased from 14 percent in 1988 to 24 percent in 1992. The majority of the states, (n=35), did not have statewide testing in physical education. Thirty percent (n= 15) of the states reported having statewide testing in physical education which primarily consisted of physical fitness testing. Most states (n=33) did not have statewide testing in health education. Thirty-four percent (n=17) of the states indicated that they had some type of statewide knowledge test in health.