The California Content Standards for Physical Education

Physical education is an integral part of the education program for all students. It teaches students how their bodies move and how to perform a variety of physical activities. Stu-dents learn the health-related benefits of regular physical activity and the skills to adopt a physically active, healthy lifestyle. The discipline also provides learning experiences that meet the developmental needs of students. With high-quality physical education instruction, students become confident, independent, self-controlled, and resilient; develop posi-tive social skills; set and strive for personal, achievable goals; learn to assume leadership; cooperate with others; accept responsibility for their own behavior; and, ultimately, improve their academic performance. The model content standards provide opportunities for teachers to reinforce student learning in all areas of the curriculum. The standards link the content in physical education with content in English–language arts, science, mathematics, and history–social science, thereby establishing and emphasizing the many connections between the subjects.