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Professional Development Resources

AAHPERD - American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance

An alliance of six national associations, six district associations, and a research consortium that supports healthy lifestyles through high-quality programs:

• American Association for Health Education (AAHE)
• American Association for Physical Activity and Recreation (AAPAR)
• National Association for Girls & Women in Sport (NAGWS)
• National Association for Sport & Physical Education (NASPE)
• National Dance Association (NDA)

ASHA American School Health Association

Multidisciplinary organization to protect and promote the health and well-being of children and youth through coordinated school health programs. Find your state or regional version of these national organizations and get involved.

Backward Mapping

Understanding by Design (2005) by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe from Prentice-Hall provides practical tools and strategies for successful backward mapping in developing your lesson plans.

Advocating for School Health

Building Advocacy Skills to Promote School Health

Introductory Guide to Advocacy: Working to Improve Advocacy for School Health Education and Services is a 52-page publication from the American School Health Association. The guide helps teachers and school health professionals learn how to advocate for school health programs to improve the health and academic achievement of students. It includes an introduction to advocacy, an overview of four essential advocacy skills (grassroots mobilization, coalitions and partnerships, lobbying or influencing decision makers, and media/communications), a description of how policy and legislation are made at the school board and local, state, and federal levels, and a glossary of terms. For more information, go to http://www.ashaweb.org/store/products/6.

Working with School Board Members

From California Project Lean comes Reaching School Board Members, a guide for community groups on how to create "win-win" situations when working on school district nutrition and physical activity issues. The publication was developed through feedback and discussion with California school board members, superintendents, school principals, and parents. Reaching School Board Members is available in both English and Spanish as PDF documents. You can download the guide and find other publications related to school advocacy issues for both students and adults at http://www.californiaprojectlean.org/resourcelibrary/default.asp.