Clairton City Schools Report

I just finished my training at Clairton City Schools. Clairton is in Year III of their implementation and is doing a good job at making sure they meet the goals they set through the Objectives that were originally proposed to the DoEd. Through a significant amount of support at the administrative level and leadership from within the PE Department, the district is well on its way to meet their stated expected outcomes.

This district is in a high poverty area. Perhaps when I say high poverty, you think that a lot of their students come from low income households. Outside of Chicago Public Schools, Clairton may have the highest percentage of students who come from this type of household. Student motivation is a challenge within this district. Motivating students to collect their MVPA data is a challenge here more than anywhere else I work with.

But the PE instructors may be near experts in student motivation. The district administration is committed to supporting the efforts of the PE instructors not only financially, but with the time and energy they require. Clairton rewards all students who submit their MVPA data during the scheduled weeks by hosting a huge pizza party at the end of the term.

Now I know, Coordinated School Health states you should not use food as a reward or punishment. In this case, this strategy may be the most cost efficient and effective way to get their students to submit their data on time. All students who attend the party are also provided with an entry into a drawing. For the drawing the district provides enough gift cards to local merchants that about half of the students walk away from the party with something in their hands.

Many of the ideas we use and strategies we recommend come from Clairton. We appreciate their efforts in making sure that their students are able to walk away from their program with an understanding of how to achieve and maintain a health-enhancing level of fitness.

Great Suggestions from Teachers Like You...

One feature I love about this blog is that PE Instructors from across the country are able to share the different approaches that make their PEP projects successful. They also take the time to share with me some of the shortcuts that they use to save themselves time and energy in the evaluation of their projects.

So, I am going to start publishing those suggestions each week. Make sure you create an RSS feed for this site so you know when it is updated. I hope you find the information informative. If there are topics you would like to see additional discussion about, please email me and I will publish an article regarding the area you suggest.

1. Save Time in Data Transfer: One PE Instructor in Kenosha WI suggested that instead of writing all of the student names into the data tracking sheets, you cut and paste the names onto the appropriate sheets instead. That will save you from having to write in all of the names yourself.
2. When Timelines are Out of Order: When you have already conducted your fitness pre-test and you now need your students to note their performance data to assist in goal setting, copy the sheet you noted their data on and cut out the data for each student along with their name. This will same you significant time and effort. You will not have to meet with each student individually to help them note their data.
3. Partner Up: Use SPARK classroom management strategies and have your students partner up for the portions of the fitness test that they can. Try and get them to accurately count for their partner and then have them switch positions. That will help you move more quickly through your evaluation piece.
4. Work with Classroom Teachers: A classroom teacher can be your best friend when you are trying to get your students to journal the amount of time they spend each week exhibiting MVPA. As classroom teachers to give students time to record the data and they add the number of minutes up they have at the end of the week. Most classroom teachers will be happy to oblige.

If there are other tips and strategies that you would like to share, please email me and I will of course credit you and let the whole world know how smart and impressive you are!

Too long between posts...excuses, excuses

Alright, it is hard to admit, but it was entirely too long between my last post and this one. The dog ate my homework, my gym shorts, and my car keys. No really, this post is all about the excuses your students give you and how you can motivate them with simple contests and strategies. Believe it or not, simple, crazy promotions will often lead students to perform a desired behavior.

For PEP projects, it seems the Student Activity Level tracking (MVPA) that is required by the DoEd is the most difficult. I have seen some electronic solutions as well as solutions that require simple paper and a pencil. Whatever your budget and level of motivation, getting your students to recall and record that data is the challenge here.

Let me remind you of the five simple strategies we advocate to help motivate your PE students to complete a desired task:

1. Make sure the behavior is easily measured. If you students are required to spend hours a week recording and reporting data, it won't happen. If you as the teacher or Project Director are required to spend hours a week compiling data, yep, you guessed it, your data will be raw for weeks. And you know what they say about raw data -- it starts to stink after a while.
2. Group competition instead of individual competition. Make any competitions you conduct based on group performance instead of individual performance. Embed individual performance within the competition.
3. Set clear criteria. Your students have to know how they are being judged. Without this information, they will undoubtedly throw in the towel before the end of the competition.
4. Reward positive behavior. Enough said.
5. Constantly remind and promote. Your students will need gentle and clear reminders of the expected outcomes. Make sure they know deadlines and are clear on what they are required to submit.

This post may seem like a rehash of the previous information and to a certain extent it is. But this topic is one of the most difficult issues that confront PE instructors. So tell me this -- what have you used in the past to motivate your students? What has been successful and what has failed?

How Do I Motivate My Students?

One of the best ways to make sure your students improve in any area is to measure their performance. Since you are looking to increase their MVPA levels during the week for your GRPA data submission, why not hold a contest? But how do you successfully roll out a contest that is fair and does not promote unhealthy competition between students? There are several strategies to achieve this goal, but I will discuss one that has been show to be effective in the districts that I work with. Several great ideas came out of trainings that I recently held at Harlan County Schools and Mercer County Schools. Both districts are in Kentucky but are very different in their approach to PE. One district relies on classroom teachers to deliver PE while the other has PE Instructors at all levels within the district. These ideas will work for both groups.

There are several rules you should follow when putting a contest together. We have found that when you follow these rules, your contest will promote the behavior you are looking to improve and create healthy competition. Those rules are:

1. Easily measured behavior. Whatever you are measuring, be it MVPA minutes per week, steps, performance in fitness test items, make the indicator easy for your students to measure. Try and select criteria that do not require specialized equipment to measure. One example is a teacher who has students report their physical activity minutes as part of a fitness journal. The students then sum up their minutes for the week and report back to the teacher.

2. Group competition instead of individual competition. While you can reward individuals as part of a group competition, the best approach to create a supportive environment and cooperative behavior is to put your students into groups. Organize them according to fair criteria and have them compete against other groups of similar ability. You should post results according to groups and not single out any individuals. Encourage groups to support each other throughout the competition.

3. Set clear criteria. One of the best competitions is to measure the percentage of students in a group who achieve a particular goal. The winner of the contest would be the group with the highest percentage. Make sure your students understand how they will be measured and what is acceptable. Consider posting the rules of the contest where they are accessible.

4. Reward positive behavior. Set your reward before you start your contest and try to spread the wealth around. While your budgets may be small, there are ways to increase the reach of your dollar. Talk with current suppliers to have them help you through discounts or free product. Talk with area merchants so they extend you discounts and possibly provide product at cost.

5. Constantly remind and promote. Have your entire school get involved. Involve classroom teachers and the administration. Have reminders placed in daily announcements. Speak with the staff of the entire school before your contest begins to get their buy-in and support. When you see your students, provide encouragement, especially to those students and groups that are lagging behind.

There are several contests that we have see run effectively. They have made significant improvements in the performance criteria that are being measured. You know your students and what motivates them. A well run contest doesn’t have to include high dollar prizes as a reward. Your attitude and the support you receive from the rest of your school can make a contest wildly successful.

I Have So Much to Do...

I just finished giving a day of training to one of the clients that we have and one topic kept coming up – teacher schedules. I know how busy the average or, in this case, the above average teacher is. Put on top of that the fact that you as your district Project Director have to manage the grant implementation and evaluation. What is the average superhero Project Director to do? Sacrifice weekends and holidays to enter data? Stay up night to be able to meet the deadlines that you have committed to?

I think I may have the answer. What you need to do is sit down and decide where you are in the process and what you need to do to complete your implementation and subsequently, your evaluation. Then bite off what you can. Remember that the one requirement you have with the DoEd is to submit your MVPA data. The rest of the implementation can wait.

I know this goes contrary to what you have been told. However, you can only do so much. You need to make sure you prioritize your task list and complete selected items on time. More than likely your grant is a three year implementation, so put portions of the implementation off until the second or third year. Determine that you would classify as “non-essential” and make those activities wait.

If you need help, you can also contact other Project Directors in your area. If you don’t have the time or the budget to pay them, contact me and I will either give you a hand myself or put you in contact with someone else who can. You should make sure you lean on the expertise of other people who can help you lighten your load.

Data Tracking at its Finest

So a big part of your PEP grant was agreeing to report back to the Department of Education the number of minutes of MVPA that the students of your district are able to achieve during four separate weeks. Many districts do not have a reliable platform that enables them to collect or report this required data. The time to figure that out is before you submit your grant. If for whatever reason you have not, don’t panic – there is help. Let’s start from the beginning.

MVPA is defined a Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity. Most experts agree that a person is demonstrating MVPA when they are expending more energy than is required to walk at a normal pace. The difference between moderate and vigorous is demonstrated by an individual who is engaged in exercise and their ability to carry on a conversation. If a person is in the category of “vigorous”, then they should not be able to carry on a normal conversation.

Dr. McKenzie of San Diego State University developed an evaluation tool called SOFIT to determine through classroom observation what level of activity students are engaged in. While many districts use this tool to determine the change of the level of activity in PE classes and the impact of the introduction of their PEP programs, this alone is not acceptable to the Department of Education as evidence of MVPA minutes in students. Classroom observation alone is inadequate for MVPA reporting. As a PEP recipient, you have to be more aggressive than that.

You need a log for your students to utilize to record their minutes of physical activity in a given week. Self-reporting has been shown to not be the most effective strategy, especially in younger students. However, it seems from my experience to be exactly what the Department of Education wants you to use. Our districts have been using self-reporting for about five years now and we have never had a problem with the submitted data.

Which platform should you use for student self-reporting? In studies I have reviewed, the closer to the incident, the more accurate the data that is reported. Some of my districts use online tools for their students. Others have technology grants to provide laptops for all of their students and they use supporting software. Most districts I work with end up using a Fitness Journal of sorts to help students plan physical activity sessions and to track MVPA.

As a Project Director, you have the flexibility to create a Fitness Journal for your students. The profile of the typical Project Director is a PE Instructor who cares deeply about their students and their craft. Most do not have the time to create a tool from scratch, collect the data from students, and report that data back to the Department of Education.

To this end, AFS has published My Fitness Journal, a self-reporting platform for students in grades 4-12. This tool takes your students through a progression, which starts with a fitness assessment and pre-test. From there they set specific goals to improve their performance in the tests, plan physical activities that will make the required improvements, track their activity sessions, and conduct a fitness post-test using the same evaluation criteria. After gathering their results, they are able to conduct an analysis of why they met or did not meet their goals. Students track all of this data in the Appendix of the book.

My Fitness Journal was developed to be an economical platform for teachers who have received a PEP grant. AFS also provides staff development sessions, an Instructor Manual, and evaluation follow-up to your district. We will hold your hand through the entire process if that is what you want and or need.

There are very few options for tracking MVPA that meet the expectations of the Department of Education. To see a pdf of the first several pages of the manual, please email us and we will send you a pdf immediately. Remember that your evaluation is due mid April, so don’t procrastinate. Make sure you receive approval for the continuation of your funding by submitting quality data to the Department of Education on time.

PEP GRPA Requirements

For the last couple of years, the DoEd has required that districts submit the total number of students who are meeting the recommended minimums for suggested minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The recommended weekly levels are 150 minutes per week grades K-6 and 225 minutes per week grades 7-12. Along with all of the other process and product measures that a district has to track, MVPA is one of the more time consuming items to track. Simple classroom observation and guesstimates are not acceptable to the DoEd. Your students are required to track their actual number of MVPA minutes per week on four different occasions during the school year. This measure can consume you and your time unless you plan the data collection correctly.

AFS has developed a program that is designed to help students grades 4-12 to track their minutes of MVPA for four weeks during the school year. Our program is designed to provide students with the structure to track not only their MVPA minutes, but it also helps them do much more.

The program starts with the student recording their results from a fitness pre-test. We suggest you use the Presidential Fitness Test protocol. You then walk your students through a process that helps them set goals for improvement, outline weekly activities to help students make improvements, and track their progress in meeting their goals. Students track all of their data in their Fitness Journal, a book that can be provided by AFS.

Our staff can also train your teachers in the delivery of the curriculum. We can also take the time to align the curriculum to your State Standards in PE. Finally, our staff can tabulate the data provided by your teachers. We will also help you in the preparation of your reports to the DoEd.