Public Input Sought for Physical Education, Health Standards

Iowa Department of Education Director Ryan Wise announced last week he is seeking the public’s input on proposed physical education and health standards.



The standards, selected by the Physical Education and Health Standards Review Team, would be recommended to schools, but not required.



Feedback on the standards will come through a survey and public forums. The public forums will be Dec. 4 and Dec. 6 (details are below). The survey will be open until Dec. 20.



Input from the survey and public forums will be incorporated into the team’s final recommendations for standards.



“Our goal is to put in place standards that provide teachers with a framework to strengthen instruction from kindergarten through 12th grade and to help students build the knowledge and skills to be healthy and active for life,” said Brian Rhoads, co-chair of the statewide team and a teacher leader and physical education teacher in the West Des Moines Community School District.



Rhoads said that physical education and health also address social-emotional learning in the schools.



“We are seeing a lot of emotional issues in our schools,” he said. “There’s a lot of research that shows physical activity and good nutrition lessen the problems with mental health.”



The Physical Education and Health Standards Review Team was created in response to public support for offering standards that go beyond the mandatory subject areas of English language arts, mathematics, science, social studies and 21st century skills.



The team hopes to get the proposed physical education and health standards to the State Board of Education for consideration sometime next spring.

Feedback from the public forums can be provided either in person or remotely through satellite centers (through video conferencing). Both forums run from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Details can be found on the Iowa Department of Education’s website.