PE standards panel advances draft revisions, tables vote on two domains

Sharon E. Case, deputy assistant superintendent of academic content, presided over a meeting of the Department of Education’s PE Standards Review Committee where staff presented draft revisions to K–12 physical education standards and the committee agreed to postpone a formal vote on domains 3 and 4 until its next meeting.

Morgan Smith, the Department’s director of health and physical education, delivered the committee’s informational report, describing multiple changes intended to tighten language and strengthen vertical alignment across grade bands. "The revised standard now reads, 'demonstrate activities to improve muscular strength and endurance,'" Smith said, noting the edit moves expectations from mere identification to active performance in early grades.

The revisions aim to make standards more applied across grades. For K–5, the work group recommended shifting emphasis from recognizing physical activity during PE to recognizing opportunities for physical activity throughout the school day while reserving formal tracking of activity for upper elementary, when students are more developmentally ready. Smith said several previously separate expectations—such as describing active and resting heart rate, calculating pulse and using rating of perceived exertion (RPE)—were combined into a single standard that asks students to "monitor and compare heart rate and rate of perceived exertion to understand the intensity of various activities."

Safety and injury prevention remain crosscutting priorities. Smith highlighted that the K–5 work group agreed to add water-safety language: the revised guidance "demonstrates an understanding of water safety skills throughout elementary," a change meant to give early foundational instruction while allowing teachers flexibility in delivery.

Facilitator reports from grade-band work groups described next steps. Carrie Lee, speaking for the K–5 group, said the team examined wording, scaffolding and vertical alignment across grades K–12 and determined domains 3 and 4 require further refinement. "For domain 5, the discussion focused on establishing a coherent progression of scaffolding across grade levels," Lee reported. Amy Ballard, the 6–12 facilitator, said the proposed domain 5 revisions streamline expectations and emphasize student choice, participation and real-world application in secondary grades.

Chair Case opened the floor for discussion before seeking a vote on domains 3 and 4. A committee member raised whether nutrition content that appears in elementary standards should be added for middle and high school students, where teens have greater autonomy over food choices; Smith acknowledged overlap with health education courses and said the point should be explored further in grade-band discussions.

After that exchange, Case said the committee would not vote on the updated language for domains 3 and 4 at this meeting. "So we'll table our vote on the updates for domains 3 and 4 until we can solve the discussion that was brought up here," she said, directing members to break into small groups to draft specific language for domain 5 and any amendments to domains 3 and 4. The committee plans to reconvene on Feb. 12 and Smith will circulate revised drafts for review ahead of that meeting.

Procedural actions: the committee approved the Jan. 9 meeting minutes (motion by Carrie Lee; second by Lana Winslow) and recorded that the motion carried; no detailed roll-call tally was provided. There was no public comment. The meeting adjourned after confirming next steps and meeting dates.