Physical education is a grade K-12 academic subject that requires the same education rigor as other core subjects. Physical education provides students with a planned, sequential, K-12 standards-based program of curricula and instruction designed to develop motor skills, knowledge and behaviors for active living, physical fitness, gamesmanship, self-efficacy and emotional intelligence.  DoDEA recognizes Physical Education as an essential and integral part of its core values to support and educate the whole child and as such is aligned with Director's Focus 2025 strategic priority: instituting a Multi-Tiered System of Supports to meet the needs of every student.

During physical education, students practice the knowledge and skills they learn through physical activity, which is defined as any bodily movement that results in energy expenditure. Students also engage in exercise — any physical activity that is planned, structured and repetitive — for the purpose of improving or maintaining one or more components of fitness.

Physical education develops the physically literate individual through deliberate practice of well-designed learning tasks that allow for skill acquisition in an instructional climate focused on mastery.

Physical education addresses the three domains of learning: cognitive or mental skills related to the knowledge of movement; affective, which addresses growth in feelings or attitudes; and psychomotor, which relates to the manual or physical skills related to movement literacy.

A well-designed physical education program:

• Meets the needs of all students;
• Keeps students active for most of physical education class time;
• Teaches self-management;
• Emphasizes knowledge and skills for a lifetime of physical activity; and
• Is an enjoyable experience for all students.

Appropriate instruction — one of the four essential components of physical education — takes into account the diverse development levels that students in all grade levels will exhibit. 

The physical education teacher uses instructional practices and intentional-practice tasks that support the goals and objectives defined in the school district's or school's physical education curriculum (e.g., differentiated instruction, active engagement, modified activities, self-assessment, self-monitoring).

The teacher also employs instructional practices that engage students in moderate to vigorous physical activity for at least 50 percent of class time and ensures the inclusion of all students, including making the necessary adaptations for students with special needs or disabilities.