Correct Response: A. Physical education teachers have a professional responsibility to provide students with developmentally appropriate instruction based on well-established skill progressions that build from simple to complex. Teachers should ensure that students have the prerequisite skills for physical education activities and tell students about any activity-related and safety precautions for avoiding injury. But because physical activities do include some inherent risks, injuries may occur. A well-documented skills progression matched to students' developmental characteristics helps protect a teacher from charges of negligence in the case of injury. Positive feedback is important, but it would be counterproductive to not offer individual students corrective feedback as well, as that can help them understand what they need to work on improving (B). In physical education, allowing students to sit out during instructional activities (C) is considered inappropriate practice; however, best practice may include allowing students to participate in an alternate activity. Skills may be demonstrated visually with or without verbal or written descriptions, and although well-executed skill demonstrations are desirable, less than perfect demonstrations are typically not considered a negligence issue (D).
