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Review of Case Materials
Reviews records, documents, testimony, data, and other relevant materials and consults with counsel regarding technical issues related to the matter.
Provide Expert Analysis
Applies specialized knowledge and experience to evaluate the technical or professional issues involved.
Form Expert Opinions
Develops independent, supportable opinions based on the available evidence and relevant standards.
Prepare Expert Reports
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A suitably qualified physical education expert can examine how a school PE program was structured and how a particular class or activity was conducted. Relevant evidence may include curriculum documents, lesson plans, class rosters, student experience, activity instructions, teacher qualifications, supervision practices, equipment, facility setup, assessments, video, and incident records. CDC defines physical education as a planned, sequential K-12 academic curriculum that provides instruction in motor skills, knowledge, and behaviors related to physical activity and fitness. SHAPE America's current National Physical Education Standards provide a professional framework for what students should know and be able to do through PE.
The expert can review whether the disputed activity fit within the school's curriculum, what learning objective was being addressed, how instructions were communicated, whether activities were modified for student experience or ability, how skills were progressed, and how student learning was assessed. SHAPE America released updated Appropriate Instructional Practice Guidelines for K-12 Physical Education in 2026, organized around learning environment, instructional strategies, curriculum, assessment, and professionalism. Its 2024 National Physical Education Standards likewise provide grade-span learning indicators rather than a single activity list for every school. These resources can provide professional context, but state standards, district curriculum, school policies, teacher responsibilities, and the circumstances of the particular class must also be considered.
An expert may examine the number and age of students, teacher positioning, visibility, activity stations, spacing, student movement, equipment placement, instructions, transitions between activities, class rules, student experience, and what the teacher was doing immediately before an incident. Current SHAPE America guidance treats the learning environment and instructional strategies as components of appropriate K-12 PE practice. Its broader PE framework also treats policy and environment, curriculum, appropriate instruction, and student assessment as distinct program components. Whether a particular level of supervision was legally required depends on applicable state law, school policy, student circumstances, the activity, and the facts of the case. Professional guidance should not automatically be characterized as a universal legal standard of care.
Prepares clear, well-supported expert reports outlining methodology, analysis, findings, and opinions.
Provide Deposition Testimony
Explains findings and opinions under oath and responds to questioning during deposition testimony.
Testify in Court
Presents specialized findings and opinions clearly to judges, juries, arbitrators, or other decision-makers.
A suitably qualified physical education expert may analyze and, where the available evidence permits, reconstruct the PE-specific circumstances preceding the injury, such as the activity being taught, instructions, student grouping, skill progression, supervision, equipment or facility setup, class organization, and actions visible on video or described by witnesses. SHAPE America's current standards expressly include safe behavior in physical activity and appropriate behavior around exercise equipment among student learning indicators. Those standards help describe the educational context but do not establish that a particular injury was medically caused by an instructional practice. Medical diagnosis and prognosis, and specific medical-causation opinions, typically require appropriately qualified medical or other health-care expertise, subject to the jurisdiction and the particular opinion, while detailed analysis of forces, motion, loading, or injury mechanics may require separate biomechanical expertise.
Useful materials may include PE curricula, state and district standards, lesson plans, teacher schedules, class rosters, student grade level or experience information where relevant, activity instructions, equipment inventories, inspection records, gym or field diagrams, photographs, surveillance or class video, teacher qualifications, substitute-teacher information, incident reports, witness statements, communications, emergency procedures, and records of prior concerns or equipment problems. Materials identifying the exact activity and class conditions on the incident date can be particularly important because PE lessons, student groupings, equipment arrangements, and instructional objectives may change throughout a school year.
