Rethinking Recommendations for Implementing Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs: A Partnership Model

Recommended approaches to promoting children’s physical activity through schools call for physical education teachers to serve as champions for, and leaders of, Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs (CSPAPs). Little evidence, however, exists to suggest that physical education teachers are ideally prepared or supported to assume CSPAP leadership roles. The purpose of this article is to consider expectations that must be met for physical education teachers to serve as central protagonists in CSPAP implementation efforts, and to propose a conceptual model aimed at increasing both effectiveness and sustainability of CSPAPs through key external-internal partnerships. Specifically, community-based participatory research, communities of practice, and service-learning are presented as possible strategies to expand the support system for growing and sustaining CSPAPs. In sum, this article offers some reasons for rethinking current recommendations for CSPAP implementation.