Comprehensive Quality Physical Education Instruction Pilot Program Grant

The Colorado Health and Wellness through Comprehensive Quality Physical Education Instruction Pilot Program Legislative declaration 22-99-11 created the Comprehensive Quality Physical Education Instruction Pilot Program Grant. The intent of the grant is to address the barriers to implement quality comprehensive physical education instruction programs based in the model physical education policy. The purpose is to develop a pilot program and funding to schools or districts to implement model policies and physical education for all students.

Funded Schools:

• Skogland Middle School and Haskin Elementary School - Center Consolidated School District 26JT
• McAullife Manual Middle School - Denver Public Schools
• B.F. Kitchen Elementary - Thompson School District

The grant requires at a minimum schools will:

• Thirty minutes daily or one hundred fifty minutes per week of physical education instruction for all students in kindergarten through fifth grade, not including recess time or physical activity breaks.
• Forty-five minutes daily or two hundred twenty-five minutes per week for all students in sixth through eighth grade, not including recess time or physical activity breaks;
• A class size for physical education instruction that is comparable to the class size for academic subjects;
• Safe, clean, and well-maintained indoor and outdoor spaces for physical education instruction and physical activity, and equipment and facilities that support physical education instruction;
• Curriculum that meets Colorado’s physical education standards at each covered grade level;
• Moderate to vigorous physical activity for at least half of the physical education class time;
• Regular assessment of physical education learning objectives, including formative and summative assessments and a measure for student growth;
• Student progress monitoring, including student surveys of physical activity, nutrition, sleep habits, and perceptions of physical education instruction;
• Physical education instructor and classroom teacher surveys of student outcomes or changes in student behavior attributed to the pilot program;
• A prohibition against removal of a student from the physical education program for academic reasons or as a form of punishment; and
• A prohibition against exempting students from physical education instruction with limited, specified exceptions.
• In addition, LEPs that receive funding are expected to: Have licensed educators with a physical education endorsement, or, if employed by a school that does not require teacher licensing for employment, a program of professional development that enables the physical education instructor to become proficient in teaching comprehensive quality physical education in accordance with the pilot program requirements and physical education endorsement standards;
• Implement a mandatory professional development program for instructors that includes at least fifteen hours of instruction each year, which instruction must address appropriate practices in providing comprehensive quality physical education, including emerging technologies, model physical education programs, and improvement in physical education teaching methods; and
• Prepare a three-year comprehensive quality physical education instruction action plan that includes class schedules, physical education curriculum, physical education teacher qualifications, a professional development plan, and sample physical education assessments and assessment rubrics.