Identified Needs: While all school districts who participate in the National School Lunch Program and the National School Breakfast Program have a wellness policy on file, there is no mechanism in place to judge the impact of the policy on health. There is a continued children’s need for professional development to create effective school wellness policies and a means for progress monitoring to ensure effective implementation. Future Directions: DOE is revising its Wellness Policy Evaluation Tool to analyze school wellness policies. The tool follows mandated components of the wellness policy and districts’ will be administered in 2011. Additionally, the continued implementation of the SPPW grant will focus resources on 27 school districts in Louisiana to assist in the refinement of their school wellness policy. district’s Strategy 5: Improve the capacity of school staff through certification and professional development. A qualified and proactive staff is the key to successfully implementing health, physical activity and nutrition programs that address childhood obesity. In addition to having highly qualified teachers in the academic classroom, certified teachers in health and physical education increase the effectiveness of these classes. In a national study of physical education teachers (Lee, Burgeson, Fulton & Spain, 2007), researchers cited the lack of professional development specific to health and physical education as a major impediment to delivering quality health and physical education. However, in Louisiana, only secondary level physical education teachers must be certified. Elementary school physical education teachers are not required, and therefore, physical education is often left to the elementary classroom teacher. He or she may have had only one course in physical education and may never receive any professional development in this area. Consequently, many students at the elementary school level receive inadequate physical and health education. Current Interventions: The Louisiana Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (LAHPERD) hosts an annual conference which provides a yearly opportunity for health and physical education teachers to receive professional development on the latest topics and trends. Identified Needs: Physical education and health education teachers need regular professional development to stay abreast of the latest innovations in their field. Additionally, elementary classroom teachers who provide physical education for their students should receive additional professional development on physical and health education on a regular basis. Future Directions: The Picard Center is working with its university partners around the state to provide at least two technical assistance opportunities in each of the 18 coordinated school health districts. These technical assistance sessions will center around applying fitness assessment
Identified Needs: While all school districts who participate in the National School Lunch Program and the National School Breakfast Program have a wellness policy on file, there is no mechanism in place to judge the impact of the policy on children’s health. There is a continued need for professional development to create effective school wellness policies and a means for progress monitoring to ensure effective implementation. Future Directions: DOE is revising its Wellness Policy Evaluation Tool to analyze school districts’ wellness policies. The tool follows mandated components of the wellness policy and will be administered in 2011. Additionally, the continued implementation of the SPPW grant will focus resources on 27 school districts in Louisiana to assist in the refinement of their district’s school wellness policy. Strategy 5: Improve the capacity of school staff through certification and professional development. A qualified and proactive staff is the key to successfully implementing health, physical activity and nutrition programs that address childhood obesity. In addition to having highly qualified teachers in the academic classroom, certified teachers in health and physical education increase the effectiveness of these classes. In a national study of physical education teachers (Lee, Burgeson, Fulton & Spain, 2007), researchers cited the lack of professional development specific to health and physical education as a major impediment to delivering quality health and physical education. However, in Louisiana, only secondary level physical education teachers must be certified. Elementary school physical education teachers are not required, and therefore, physical education is often left to the elementary classroom teacher. He or she may have had only one course in physical education and may never receive any professional development in this area. Consequently, many students at the elementary school level receive inadequate physical and health education. Current Interventions: The Louisiana Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (LAHPERD) hosts an annual conference which provides a yearly opportunity for health and physical education teachers to receive professional development on the latest topics and trends. Identified Needs: Physical education and health education teachers need regular professional development to stay abreast of the latest innovations in their field. Additionally, elementary classroom teachers who provide physical education for their students should receive additional professional development on physical and health education on a regular basis. Future Directions: The Picard Center is working with its university partners around the state to provide at least two technical assistance opportunities in each of the 18 coordinated school health districts. These technical assistance sessions will center around applying fitness assessment
Act256Dec2010REVISED8-11.docx