Physical Education in the 21st Century:An Examination of Administrative Priorities on PE Programs Serving the iGeneration

Physical Education in the 21st Century: An Examination of Administrative Priorities on PE Programs Serving the iGeneration by Jonathan S. Martin Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine the priorities of California Physical Education (PE) programs serving iGeneration students in public middle schools in a single unified school district from the perspective of school administrators, especially since educational reform since 2012 have impacted the state’s priorities in education. Methodology: This qualitative study examined five public middle school administrators currently employed as a principal or assistant principal. Convenience sampling was applied to identify participants of specific criteria. The researcher collected and coded data from in-depth interviews. The interview protocol directly correlated with the two research questions of this study. A variety of related artifacts were additionally gathered and analyzed for the generated codes to triangulate the interview data. Findings: Examination of qualitative data from the five public middle school administrators were organized by research question and aligned to the theoretical framework of Grounded Theory, identifying pupil engagement and outcome priorities for PE programs serving students of the iGeneration. This study yielded a variety of findings outlined in chapter four but unexpectedly, there was a minimal reference to the CA standards for PE and no reference to the CA-state mandated Physical Fitness Testing in regards to student outcomes and engagement. Secondly, the majority of the codes in this study fell under the parent category of pupil engagement (at a frequency of 37) as compared to pupil outcomes of PE (with a frequency of 23). Lastly, in a review of school goals and School Plans for Student Achievements for all public middle school represented in this study, there was no evidence of actionable items to support PE programs for students of the iGeneration, nor was funding allocated to improving pupil engagement or outcomes in PE. Conclusions: The study supported the conclusions that outcomes in English Language Arts and Mathematics seem to be the priority of schools, administration, the community, and of course, the state of CA over the performance indicators of PE. Furthermore, public middle school administrators place more emphasis on engaging students in building life-long fitness and creating moments of success and fun in PE, as compared to focusing on state-data on student performance or meeting standards for PE. Moreover, there was no evidence of actionable items to support PE programs for students of the iGeneration, nor was funding allocated to improving pupil engagement or outcomes in PE, so it is recommended for PE departments, school administration, and local agencies to consider writing goals and building supports to improve PE programs currently serving students in middle school programs. This is necessary to not only improve student engagement and outcomes in PE but to promote life-long fitness to decrease current obesity rates and mental health concerns plaguing schools in southern CA. Recommendations: Six areas of further research were recommended to increase the body of literature related to this study.