Episode 31: Episode 31: The New National Physical Education Standards (2024)

A-Z Health and PE Presented by NYS AHPERD

Welcome to the NYS AHPERD A-Z Health And PE Podcast. This is one of three episodes where we have invited special guests and students from summer courses I teach at Canisius University. Students in this class entitled Authentic Assessment in Physical Education are graduate teacher professionals in the trenches or newly inducted health and physical educators. Today, we will discuss the New SHAPE America National Physical Education Standards with one of its key contributors–Dr. Fran Cleland, one of the foremost experts and scholars in physical education teacher education in the U.S.
Dr. Fran Cleland is Professor Emerita from West Chester University where she served as the program coordinator for the Health and Physical Education Teacher Certification program for 28 years. Dr. Cleland previously taught in the HPE program at East Stroudsburg University, PA and the University of New Hampshire. Prior to teaching in higher education Dr. Cleland taught K-12 health and physical education in Indiana, Virginia and Oregon. Dr. Cleland’s research focused on critical thinking in physical education, and she is the lead author of Developmental Physical Education for All Children – Theory into Practice (2017) and most recently co-authored Elementary School Wellness Education: An Integrated Approach to Teaching the Whole Child (2022) and the SHAPE America National Physical Education Standards book (2025). She has presented at the state, district, national and international level on topics including but not limited to, motor development, the Spectrum of Teaching Styles, critical thinking in physical education and creative dance. Dr. Cleland served as president of SHAPE PA, the National Association of Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) and SHAPE America. Most recently she served on the SHAPE America taskforce to revise the physical education standards. Dr. Cleland is retired but is working part-time as the SHAPE America Book Production and Acquisitions Manager.