Northern Illinois University
Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education
College of Education

Paul M. Wright, Ph.D.
EC Lane and MN Zimmerman Endowed Professor
Presidential Engagement Professor

Department

Kinesiology and Physical Education

Research Interests

I specialize in the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) instructional model. My scholarship is very applied and relates directly to fields such as positive youth development, social and emotional learning, and sport for development. I also have interests in policy and program evaluation as it relates to youth sport and physical activity.

Education

• Ph.D. University of Illinois at Chicago, Education (Curriculum and Instruction)
• M.S. University of Illinois at Chicago, Kinesiology
• Ph.D. University of Illinois at Chicago, Biological Sciences

Recent Publications

• Wright, P. M., Zittel, L., Gipson, T. and Williams, C. (in press). Assessing Relationships Between Physical Development and Other Indicators of School Readiness Among Preschool Students. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education.
• Wright, P. M., Richards, K. A. R., Jacobs, J., and Hemphill, M. A. (2019). Measuring perceived transfer of responsibility learning from physical education: Initial validation of the Transfer of Responsibility Questionnaire. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education
• Hemphill, M. A., Gordon, B., and Wright, P. M. (2019). Sports as a passport to success: Life skill integration in a positive youth development program. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy.
• Richards, K. A. R., Ivy, V. N. Wright, P. M., and Jerris, E. (2019). Combining the Skill Themes Approach with Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility to Teach Social and Emotional Learning in Elementary Physical Education. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 90 (3), 35-44.
• Pavao, I., Santos, F., Wright, P. M., and Goncalves, F. (2018). Implementing the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility Model within Preschool Education: Strengths, Challenges and Strategies. Curriculum Studies in Health and Physical Education.
• Wright, P. M., Jacobs, J., Howell, S., and Ressler, J. (2018). Immediate outcomes and implementation of a sport for development coach education programme in Belize. Journal of Sport for Development, 6, 51-65.
• Hildebrand, K., Richards, K., and Wright, P. M. (2018). Physical education teachers' awareness and understanding of concussions, and concussion policies and protocols. Research Quarterly in Exercise Science, 89, 361-366.
• Potteiger, K., Potteiger, A., Pitney, W. A., and Wright, P. M. (2018). An Examination of Concussion Legislation in the United States. Internet Journal of Applied Health Sciences and Practice, 16 (2), Article 6.
• Wright, P. M. and Irwin, C. (2018). Using systematic observation to assess teacher effectiveness in promoting personally and socially responsible behavior in physical education. Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science, 22, 250-262..
• Wright, P. M. and Jacobs, J. M. (2018). Quality and equity in education. In J. Amis and P. M. Wright (Ed.s). The Dynamics of School District Consolidation: Race, Economics and the Politics of Educational Change (213-242). Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press.
• Amis, J. and Wright, P. M. (2018). The antecedents and mechanisms of school district consolidation. In J. Amis and P. M. Wright (Ed.s). The Dynamics of School District Consolidation: Race, Economics and the Politics of Educational Change (1-19). Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press.
• Wright, P. M. and Amis, J. (2018). The largest school district consolidation in US history: A cautionary tale. In J. Amis and P. M. Wright (Ed.s). The Dynamics of School District Consolidation: Race, Economics and the Politics of Educational Change (243-255). Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press.
• Wright, P. M. and Walsh, D. (2018). Teaching personal and social responsibility. In W. Li, M. Wang, P. Ward and S. Sutherland (Eds). Curricular models of physical education (pp. 140-208). Beijing, China: Higher Education.
• Wright, P. M., Jacobs, J., Ressler, J. and Howell, S. (2017). Chapter 4: The Belizean Youth Sport Coalition. In C. Esherick, R. Baker, S. Jackson and M. Sam (Ed.s), Case Studies in Sport Diplomacy (pp. 51-67). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology.
• Escarti, A., Llopis-Roig, R., and Wright, P. M. (2017). Assessing the implementation fidelity of a school-based Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility program in physical education and other subject areas. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education.
• Jacobs, J. and Wright, P. M. (2017). Transfer of life skills in sport-based youth development program: A conceptual framework bridging learning to application. Quest.
• Gordon, B., Jacobs, J., and Wright, P. M. (2016). Social and emotional learning through a Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility based after-school program designed for disengaged middle-school boys. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 35, 358-369.
• Ressler, J., Richards, K. A., and Wright, P. M. (2016). The sociopolitics of sport, physical education and school health. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics. DOI:10.1080/19406940.2016.1202305.
• Potteiger, A. and Wright, P. M. (2016). What you should know about your school's concussion policy. Strategies, 29, 48-51.
• Berg, B. K., Irwin, C. C., Wright, P. M., Irwin, R. L., and Hutchinson, M. (2016). An unacceptable status quo: A sport development case study of swimming and drownings. Sport Management Review, 19, 454-465.
• Walsh, D. and Wright, P. M. (2016). The TPSR Alliance: A community of practice for teaching, research, and service. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, 87, 35-38.
• Wright, P.M. (2016). Improving TPSR Implementation with a structured post-teaching reflection tool. Active and Healthy Magazine, 23, 12-16.
• Wright, P. M., Jacobs, J., Ressler, J. and Jung, J. (2016). Using critical pedagogy to foster transformative educational experience in a sport for development program. Sport, Education and Society, 21, 531-548.
• Jacobs, J. and Wright, P. M. (2016). An alternative application of imagery in youth sport: Promoting the transfer of life skills to other contexts. Journal of Sport Psychology in Action, 7, 1-10.

Funded Projects

• Project director, ENVEST Sri Lanka. A $50,158 sub-award from Virginia Commonwealth University as part of a cooperative agreement funded by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, 2017-2018.
• Project director, Belizean Youth Sport Coalition (BYSC): Promoting youth development and social change through sport, grant funded for $224,956 by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, 2013-2016.
• Project director, Youth Fit to Lead Project: Developing leadership through sport, action research grant for $5,000, funded by the C. Charles Jackson Foundation, 2013.
• Principal investigator on the Head Start Body Start National Center for Physical Development and Outdoor Play-Program Evaluation, funded by the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance for $164,000 from October 1, 2011 to September 29, 2012.
• Principal investigator, Promoting Positive Youth Development through Schools in Spain: An Implementation Study, Research Award for $24,000 from U.S. Fulbright Commission, 2010.
• Principal investigator, Evaluating the development and implementation of Head Start Body Start: The National Center for Physical development in Outdoor Play, external evaluation contracts for $196,960, funded by the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 2009-2011.

Courses Taught

• EPS 799: Doctoral Research and Dissertation
• KNPE 399: Youth Development through Physical Activity
• KNPE 445: Measurement and Evaluation in Physical Education
• KNPE 449: Current Topics in Physical Education and Sport
• KNPE 569: Instructional Skills in Physical Education
• KNPE 671: Directed Research in Kinesiology and Physical Education