UGA’s health and physical education program is one of less than 24 programs in the country to receive full recognition from the National Association for Sport and Physical Education.
The recognition is an honor signifying that program graduates are meeting the national standards in teacher education and have the knowledge, skills and dispositions to teach children successfully. It is a measure of graduates’ capabilities, as opposed to program offerings or faculty qualifications.
NASPE recognition is dependent upon accreditation by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, the professional accrediting organization for schools, colleges and departments of education in the U.S.
The UGA program, based in the College of Education’s department of kinesiology, underwent its most recent NCATE review in the fall. It has been accredited by NCATE since 2002. The Georgia Professional Standards Commission also reviewed and reaccredited the program in 2007.
The health and physical education major is a certification-only undergraduate program. Students in the program must be certified to teach health and physical education in elementary, middle and secondary schools in the state of Georgia.