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Scheduling Decisions
Lesson scheduling is commonly at the discretion of school principals 
in the United States. The amount of time dedicated to each subject is often 
mandated by federal or state statutes. Local education agencies or school 
districts have latitude to make local decisions that go beyond these federal 
or state mandates. Often the way courses are scheduled to fill the school 
day is determined by the managerial skills of the administrator making 
the decisions or is based on a computer program that generates individual 
teacher schedules. 
Successful curriculum change requires supportive scheduling (see 
Kramer and Keller, 2008, for an example of curriculum reform in math-
ematics). More research is needed on the effects of scheduling of physical 
education. In one such attempt designed to examine the impact of content 
and lesson length on calorie expenditure in middle school physical educa-
tion, Chen and colleagues (2012) found that a lesson lasting 45-60 min-
utes with sport skills or fitness exercises as the major content would 
enable middle school students to expend more calories than either shorter 
(30-40 minutes) or longer (65-90 minutes) lessons. The evidence from 
such research can be used to guide allocation of the recommended weekly 
amount of physical education (150 minutes for elementary schools, 225 
minutes for secondary schools) to achieve optimal health benefits for 
youth. Additional discussion of scheduling is provided later in this chapter 
in the section on solutions for overcoming the barriers to quality physical 
education.

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Educating the Student Body: Taking Physical Activity and Physical Education to School
Approaches to Physical Education in Schools
 
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