Chapter 2: The Teacher Pipeline for PETE: Context, Pressure Points, and Responses

Recruiting, teacher preparation, and acquiring teaching jobs can be viewed as a pipeline. The function of the pipeline is to provide competent and qualified physical education teachers to teach in our nation’s schools. On the exit end of the pipeline, jobs for physical education teachers are plentiful. At the entry level to the pipeline, the situation is problematic because there is a decline in the number of students entering many physical education teacher education programs. This decline, documented in some cases and reported anecdotally in others, has occurred across the United States, with the exception of some states such as Texas and Alabama. The personal, practical, and policy implications of declining admissions have yet to be played out in their entirety. In this paper, the author discusses the pipeline, its policy pressure points, and responses to the pressure points designed to address declining admission.