Assessing Instructional Confidence of Secondary Health Educators in Illinois: Implications for Curricular and Policy Development

Abstract

To assess the relationship between the training/preparation of physical education teachers and their perceived
instructional confidence levels across major topic areas established by the Illinois State Board of Education as
critical content areas. In total, 283 individuals participated and were included in the data analysis. The participants
surveyed were currently enrolled or recently graduated from physical education or kinesiology departments at (1.)
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, (2.) Illinois State University, and (3.) Eastern Illinois University.
Data were collected via in-person and email surveys using the HECS 18 item survey instrument. Analysis
demonstrated a statistically significant difference exists between the perceived instructional confidence of current
students and recent graduates regarding major health topic areas. Further work with this population is required to
determine if the results seen in the state of Illinois are consistent. The next proposed sample area will be the state of
Colorado and its three main Universities (University of Colorado, Colorado State University, Metropolitan State
University of Denver) and their health and physical educators (HPE).