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National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion |
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PECAT users might have questions that arise as they begin the curriculum analysis process. Below are the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) with responses that follow.
The PECAT is a tool for analyzing written physical education curricula to determine how closely they align with national standards for high-quality physical education.
The purpose of the PECAT is to help school districts conduct a clear, complete, and consistent analysis of physical education curricula. PECAT results can help users enhance, develop, or select appropriate and effective physical education curricula for the delivery of quality physical education, which will improve the ability of schools to positively influence motor skills and physical activity behaviors among school-age youth.
The PECAT is designed to be used primarily by a school district team that may consist of school-based physical education coordinators, physical education teachers, curriculum specialists, or curriculum committee members.
Additional users of the PECAT might include the following:
No. This review process should be conducted as a team effort; an individual cannot do it alone. A PECAT committee, working together, should complete the PECAT.
It is not advisable to assign a single person to review sections that would benefit from multiple perspectives and expertise. For example, accuracy, acceptability, feasibility, and affordability analyses should be done by the appropriate members of the committee; they require input from committee member(s) well-versed in those areas. Multiple reviewers can ensure that the scores reflect the school and community perspectives, rather than an individual’s point of view.
PECAT committees might include:
All PECAT committee members should have an investment in the physical education needs and interests of the students at the state, school district, or school level.
The PECAT includes:
Your state or local education agency’s standards may guide the curriculum under review. The PECAT committee will determine where there is overlap with the national standards. The committee should discuss whether the state or school district has adopted additional standards and whether additional or modified content and student assessment scoring analyses need to be created to meet local needs. The PECAT committee is best suited to determine what the main components of each additional standard are and proceed with the analysis. The end of each content and student assessment analysis includes a template for any additional standards the committee deems essential to analyze.
The PECAT can be used to:
The PECAT was developed to review written curricula, which are considered an essential foundation to any physical education program. In future iterations of the PECAT, other components may be addressed. At present, CDC’s School Health Index (SHI), a self-assessment tool, can be used to determine the extent to which your school implements the types of policies and practices recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in its research-based guidelines related to physical education and other physical activity programs. The SHI is easy to use and completely confidential. It is available online as an interactive tool and can be accessed at www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/shi.
While it will depend on a number of factors, completing the PECAT should take approximately 4 to 10 hours per curriculum. The PECAT provides for a thorough review and analysis of a curriculum and requires that the committee provide sufficient time to prepare for and complete the analysis. Typically, a curriculum review will not be completed in one session. Separate sessions may be necessary to prepare the review committee to use the PECAT, determine local performance benchmarks, shorten the list of curricula that might be acceptable for complete analysis, conduct the complete analysis of the remaining curricula, and create an improvement plan. The committee should allow time to review curriculum analysis scores and reach consensus on curriculum recommendations. The Instructions section provides guidance for coordinating and organizing your curriculum review and helps you determine the time you need to complete your curriculum review and selection process.
Several factors should be considered when planning the time needed to implement the PECAT process. They include:
No. You can determine which items in the PECAT are useful and important to include in your curriculum analysis and development or selection process and how you want to use PECAT items in your review process. Not all sections may apply to the curriculum being reviewed. For example, if the curriculum being reviewed is developed for students in elementary school (grades K–5) then the content and student assessment analysis forms specific to only those grade levels will be used. If the curriculum being analyzed is not being considered for purchase, the affordability analysis may not be applicable. Remember, the review of curricula should be consistent. You should use the same process and PECAT items in the review of all curricula under consideration.
There are several resources available to assist you with physical education and curriculum planning. First, contact the school physical education consultant or coordinated school health physical education program director in your state education agency. The state consultant or director might not be able to assist you directly, but he or she can refer you to state or community resource centers and other experts including:
Many school physical educators are members of national professional associations that represent school physical educators, including the National Association for Sports and Physical Education (NASPE). Numerous resources for curriculum, instruction, and physical education program development are available on NASPE’s web site at www.aahperd.org/naspe.
You can also direct physical education or PECAT questions to CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health at CDC-INFO@cdc.gov.
No. It may be helpful to talk with the curriculum developer to thoroughly complete the Curriculum Description, or you may invite the company to showcase its curricular materials (e.g., scope and sequence, or charts that show alignment with the National Physical Education Standards, etc.) before your actual review process. However, curriculum developers should not be included in the analysis or scoring process because they can unduly influence review committee members’ analyses. Keep in mind that the primary interest of most curriculum developers is selling their products.
Go to the INTRODUCTION section of the PECAT first. Next, proceed to the INSTRUCTIONS section of the PECAT, Getting Ready (page 7), and get started by
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Page last reviewed: June 14, 2007
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