American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance - AAHPERD

Issue: October 2009

NASPE Sets the Standard: 35 Years of National Leadership in Sport and Physical Education
Susan G. Zieff, Angela Lumpkin, Claudia Guedes, & Terry Eguaoje      

Abstract: With 17,000 members, NASPE is the largest of the five national associations of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) and comprises six Academy Committees (Biomechanics; Curriculum and Instruction; Exercise Physiology; Motor Development and Learning; Sport and Exercise Psychology; and Sport History, Philosophy, and Sociology). Since its founding in 1974, NASPE has been recognized as a leading advocate for federal legislation promoting daily, school-based physical education and funding for youth sport programs. Among the organization’s most important accomplishments has been the establishment of national standards for sport and physical education and its involvement with the four accreditation programs that implement these standards. This article is an overview of the standards that NASPE has played a leading role in developing and how they have benefited the field.

Article category: AAHPERD’s 125th Anniversary—Part 4