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Adventure Curriculum for Physical Education: Middle School Panicucci, Jane. (2002). Adventure Curriculum for Physical Education: Middle School. Beverly, MA: Project Adventure, Inc. 175 pages. ISBN 0-934387-25-7
Recent trends within society and education have converged to create a "Perfect Storm" for young dolescents to battle their way through. Just as "baby fat has morphed into a national health crisis with nearly 15 percent of kids between 12 and 19 being overweight - up from 5 percent in the late 1970s" (Levin, 2003, p. 46), an emphasis on physical education has decreased. Passage of the No Child Left Behind legislation is leading many states to increase their emphasis on standardized tests and, consequently, cut "extras" such as art, music, and physical education. A 2001 report by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education found that many school districts had cut time once allotted for physical education in order to focus more heavily on academics (Silberman 2003). Perhaps more tellingly, this is supported by the Chairman of the North Carolina Board of Education's statement that, "Yes, physical education has been de-emphasized. One purpose of the ABCs [North Carolina's accountability program] is to devote more attention to the basics" (Silberman, 2003).
Therefore, with forces already aligned against "traditional" physical education-an...