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Friday, February 25, 2011

Progress as of February 25, 2011

These past two weeks my focus has been on going back through my articles and clarifying why I chose them. Under each article (in the comment section) I have written a post with a short summery of the article, and another post with quotes that I am interested in and brief information on the author.
Here is a list of some of my short summaries (if I end up deciding to keep the articles I will go into greater detail):
• Interesting Article # 1: Facilitating Preschool Learning and Movement through Dance
This article shows how physical activity has been shown to help Preschool-aged children. Many Preschools have adopted more movement-oriented learning experiences into their curriculum and it has proven beneficial. ***The reason that I like the views of these authors is because while one of them is a dancer, another is a scientist
• Interesting Article #2: Physical Education and Implications for Students with Asperger’s Syndrome
What I focused on most in this article were the lists for “Instructional Implications of Emotional and Behavioral Characteristics” and “Instructional Implications for Physical and Gross Motor Development” because I think that they not only apply to children with AS, but with children in general. ***One of the reasons that this article interested me was because one of the authors has AS and had a difficult time with physical activity. He provides what he thought would have been beneficial to him as a student
• Interesting Article # 3: Why We Should Not Cut P.E.
This article helps to demonstrate how movement is an important part of the learning process. ***This author has written many similar papers and is cited in many of the articles that I have come across in my research, I plan to studies these authors further.
• Interesting Article # 4: Learning games through understanding: New jobs for students!
This article shows how through games and sport children can acquire new learning skills ***These authors are very creative in their approach to movement and learning. (look into separate work)
• Interesting Article # 5: Relationship between Academic Learning Time in Physical Education and Skill Concepts Acquisition and Retention
This article both seems to support and attack the ideas of my former articles ***These authors were very good at bringing in both "sides" of the research into their experiment, it may be good to read other studies supported by these authors
• Interesting Article #6: Exercise Seen as Priming Pump For Students' Academic Strides
This article tells about studies where quality physical activity programs have been shown to increase cognition in children. ***I see Debra Viadero as being a credible source for my research because she has a lot of experience with controversial topics and education (she is an assistant managing editor for Education Week)
• Interesting Article #7: Differences between Slovenian Pupils Attending Sport Class and Those Attending a Regular School Programme
This article shows statistical data collected from several studies done on school children. The main body of the article focuses on how children who took physical activity related classes along with schoolwork compared to children who didn’t take physical activity related classes along with their schoolwork. ***One of the things I found most interesting about this article was the people cited at the end, I plan to look into some of those individual articles as well.
• Interesting Article # 8: Quality Physical Education: Why the Sport Requirement Can't Do It Alone
This article focuses on how when physical activity is only approached through sport, some people feel uncomfortable or are left out. This is the reason that I am offering movement experiences through not only sport, but also games and creative movement ***Amanda D. (STEWART) STANEC is the author of many other articles relating to similar topics (such as testing in schools through Physical Education).
• Interesting Article # 9: Children's Health & Academic Performance: Elevating Physical Education's Role in Schools
This article tells about four specific studies that have shown how physical activity can improve cognitive development. I plan to go into each of these studies in depth with future articles. *** G. C. LeMasurier has written many articles from a movement analyst’s perspective. Some of his other articles may be useful in my project.


Information on the specific parts of each article that I would like to focus on are listed in the comment section under each article. Because I started collecting articles before our “google talk” I got most of these from the library database; but since the “google talk” I have been able to find more articles by these same authors that I may not have been able to find on the library database.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Interesting Article # 9: Children's Health & Academic Performance: Elevating Physical Education's Role in Schools

AUTHOR: B. Sibley; G. C. LeMasurier
TITLE: Children's Health & Academic Performance: Elevating Physical Education's Role in Schools
SOURCE: International Journal of Physical Education 45 no2 64-82 2008

(I only posted the part of this article that applies to my topic)
6 Relationship between Physical Activity and Academic Performance
Trudeau and Shephard (2008) recently completed a comprehensive review on the relationship of physical education and physical activity with academic performance. Their overarching conclusions are that "PA can be added to the school curriculum by taking time from other subjects without risk of hindering student academic achievement" (p. 1) and that "adding time to "academic" or "curricular" subjects by taking time from physical education [programs] does not enhance grades in these subjects and may be detrimental to health"(p. 1). Several other authors have reached the same conclusion in their reviews of this topic as well (Carlson et al., 2008; Castelli & Hillman, 2007; Shephard, 1997; Sibley & Etnier, 2003; Taras, 2005). Few studies have systematically examined the effects of increasing physical activity during the school day on academic performance. The paucity of research in this area is likely due to the logistical difficulties of carrying out such research in schools, rather than being due to a lack of interest in the topic. Indeed, there is a relative wealth of correlational studies on this topic, as well as a substantial amount of research on physical activity and cognition. To our knowledge, only four large-scale studies examining the effects of increased physical activity at school on academic performance have been carried out: the Vanves project in Vanves, France (MacKenzie, 1980), the Trois Rivières study in Québec (Shephard, Lavallée, Volle, LaBarre, & Beaucage, 1994), the School Health, Academic Performance, and Exercise (SHAPE) study in Australia (Dwyer, Coonan, Leitch, Hetzel, & Baghurst, 1983), and the SPARK program in Southern California (Sallis et al., 1999).
The Vanves project (MacKenzie, 1980) was carried out in France in the early 1950's. School administrator were concerned about overburdening students with academics, so academic time was scaled back 26%, being limited primarily to the morning hours, and students participated in a variety of physical activities and extra-curricular activities instead. Students also received vitamin supplementation. It was reported that students demonstrated improved academic performance and fewer class absences as a result of the program. Unfortunately, this study has never been published in a peer reviewed journal.
In the Trois Rivierès study (Shephard et al., 1994), physical education time was increased from 40 minutes once per week to 60 minutes five days per week for 546 elementary students for six years of elementary school. Approximately 14% of this increased time for PE was taken from other academic time (Trudeau & Shephard, 2008). Students in the experimental group performed better academically than control students during years two through six of the study. At the end of the intervention, students in the experimental group also performed better on the math portion of the provincial achievement tests.
In the SHAPE study (Dwyer et al., 1983), students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: fitness, skill, or control. Fitness and skill groups received 75 minutes of physical activity time daily, 15 min of this being in the early morning, while control groups received their usual 30 minutes of physical education three times per week. There was approximately a 14% decrease in classroom teaching time in the experimental groups. Following 14 weeks of observation there were no differences in academic performance between groups, despite the decrease in classroom academic time in the groups. At the two-year follow-up, the experimental groups showed a trend for improvement in both arithmetic and reading scores compared to the control group.
Finally, in the SPARK (Sports, Play, and Active Recreation for Kids) project (Sallis et al., 1999), students received 30 minutes of physical activity 3 times per week as part of an enhanced health-related school curriculum. Physical education classes were either taught by trained PE specialists, classroom teachers trained in the SPARK curriculum, or untrained classroom teachers who continued to teach their existing programs. Students who were taught by SPARK-trained classroom teachers showed better performance on the Language, Reading, and Basic battery of the Metropolitan Achievement Tests than students in the control condition, and students taught by PE specialists performed better in Reading, but worse in Language, than did students in the control condition. As with all of the previously discussed studies, increasing time in PE at the expense of time in academic subjects did not compromise academic performance.
There is a body of literature which supports a positive overall relationship between physical activity or exercise and cognitive performance. Two fairly recent reviews summarize this literature well. A meta-analytic review of the literature on physical activity and cognitive performance in children by Sibley and Etnier (Sibley & Etnier, 2003) found there to be a significant positive relation between physical activity and cognitive performance with an ES = 0.32. This means that across all of the research that has addressed this issue, a small but significant effect exists, equivalent to approximately 1/3 of a standard deviation. Analysis of moderator variables suggests that a wide variety of physical activities provide benefit across many types of cognition. Tomporowski (2003) examined the literature on acute exercise and cognitive performance and behavior in youths in a narrative review. Findings of this review suggest a positive effect of exercise on both cognition and behavior. The author, however, tempers this conclusion, noting that there is a need for more quality research on the topic.
There have been some noteworthy correlational studies published in the last few years relevant to this topic. One that has received a fair amount of attention is a study carried out by the California Department of Education (CDE) examining the relationship between fitness test and Stanford achievement test performance in 884,715 5th, 7th, and 9th grade students (Grissom, 2005). It was found that students who performed better on the FITNESSGRAM physical fitness test (by passing more test items) had higher scores on the Stanford achievement tests. The relationship appeared to be stronger for females than males and for higher socio-economic status (SES) students than lower SES students. While this study is purely correlational, and therefore no causation can be inferred from the results, it is the largest study of its kind to show a positive relationship between fitness and academics.
Castelli and colleagues (2007) provided some confirmation of these findings in a study that showed a positive relationship between aerobic fitness and achievement test scores in 259 3rd and 5th grade students. In addition to replicating the results of the CDE study, this more rigorously controlled study found that aerobic performance (PACER test) was positively related to achievement test performance, and the BMI was negatively related (higher BMI = lower test performance). Again, causation cannot be inferred from these results, but this study supports the notion that children with higher fitness levels perform better academically.
In another study that utilized data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, it was found that spending more time in physical education may be positively related to academic performance in young children (Carlson et al., 2008). Data from a nationally representative sample of 5316 elementary students were analyzed. Minutes of physical education per week and academic performance in math and reading were examined at five time points: fall of kindergarten, spring of kindergarten, spring of 1st grade, spring of 3rd grade, and spring of 5th grade. It was found that girls enrolled in a higher amount of PE (70-300 min/wk) had slightly better academic achievement in reading and math than did girls enrolled in less PE (0-35 min/wk). For boys, time in PE had neither a positive or negative effect on academic achievement.
Lastly, there is evidence that a classroom-based physical activity program can increase on-task behavior of students during academic time (Mahar et al., 2006). In this study, the physical activity levels and classroom behavior of 243 3rd and 4th grade students were assessed. Students in the intervention group (n=135) participated in classroom-based physical activity program. Teachers were asked to lead students in at least one 10-minute physical activity session during the school day. Training in leading the activity sessions and a manual of activities were provided for the teachers. Physical activity was assessed using pedometers, and on-task behavior was systematically observed and scored by trained external observers both before and after each physical activity session. It was found that physical activity levels were significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group (ES=0.49). On-task behavior in the intervention group increased significantly by 8% following participation in physical activity sessions. Additionally, on-task behavior of the least on-task students (students who were off-task more than 50% of the time before program implementation) improved by 20%. Improving on-task behavior of students by using short activity breaks clearly can impact academic achievement when the effects are summed over time.
If we are to say that physical activity has a positive effect on cognition and academic performance, we must also show that there is a viable biological or psychological reason that this would happen. There are, in fact, numerous reasons, or mechanisms, through which physical activity might impact cognition. Some of these are biological in nature, and some are related to psychology and the ways humans learn.
One of the most frequently cited reasons that physical activity could lead to improved cognitive performance is known as the aerobic fitness hypothesis (North, McCullagh, & Tran, 1990). The brain uses 20 to 25 percent of the body's oxygen and 25 percent of the body's glucose (Friedland, 1990), and research has shown that a decrement in either of these nutrients can impair cognitive functioning (Gold, 1995; Moss, Scholey, & Wesnes, 1998). Since the cardiovascular system transports oxygen and glucose to the brain, any improvement in aerobic fitness should bolster their delivery and lead to improved brain function.
In addition to aiding the delivery of oxygen and glucose to the brain, physical activity can also affect the physiological goings-on inside the brain. Physical activity has been shown to increase serotonin and dopamine levels in the brain (Sutoo & Akiyama, 1996; Wilson & Marsden, 1996). These neurotransmitters play a crucial role in the regulation of a variety of cognitive processes and mood states. Physical activity also increases levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF; Neeper, Gomez-Pinilla, Choi, & Cotman, 1996), which helps neurons in the brain form new connections, and insulin-like growth factor (Carro, Trejo, Busiguina, & Torres-Aleman, 2001), which protects brain cells from damage. In addition, research shows that neurogenesis, which is the formation of new brain cell connections, occurs as a result of exercise (van Praag, Kempermann, & Gage, 1999).
There are also a variety of psychological mechanisms through which physical activity impacts cognitive performance. A number of studies have shown that people are better able to focus their attention following a bout of exercise (Hillman, Snook, & Jerome, 2003; Sibley & Beilock, 2007; Sibley, Etnier, & Le Masurier, 2006). That is, after exercise we are better able to block out distractions and focus on the task at hand. It is not hard to imagine how easily distracted a child might be after sitting at his or her desk for hours on end with no physical activity. This is likely due, in part, to the child's arousal level being too low from the prolonged period of inactivity. As discussed previously, a recent study showed that elementary students were less likely to have behavior problems following short exercise bouts during the school day (Mahar et al., 2006).
Providing young children with frequent opportunities for physical activity throughout the day is a developmentally appropriate practice that will positively impact cognitive development and learning. Youngsters need physically interact and move throughout their environment for proper cognitive development to occur (Eaton, McKeen, & Campbell, 2001; Gibson, 1988). Physical activity breaks during the school day, whether they be in the form of physical education, in-class activity sessions, or recess, provide necessary variety in the learning process (Pellegrini & Bjorklund, 1997; Pellegrini, Huberty, & Jones, 1995), which has been shown to aid in student learning (Dempster, 1988). Subtle shifts in content, for example switching from reading to math, do not provide a distinct enough change in content to provide the varied practice needed to enhance learning. Physical activity, however, does provide that distinct change in content and at the same time can make an important contribution to health and fitness.
Physical activity makes a positive impact on psychological health as well as physical health. Physical activity has been shown to decrease depression (Craft & Landers, 1998; Dunn, Trivedi, Kampert, Clark, & Chambliss, 2005), decrease anxiety (Crews & Landers, 1987; Landers & Petruzzello, 1994), improve sleep quality (Youngstedt, O'Connor, & Dishman, 1997), improve mood (Ekkekakis, Hall, VanLanduyt, & Petruzzello, 2000), and increase self-esteem (Nelson & Gordon-Larsen, 2006). In addition to all of the direct mechanisms discussed above through which physical activity affects academic performance, it also affects all of these other psychological variables, which will likely have an impact on student academic performance.

Interesting Article # 8: Quality Physical Education: Why the Sport Requirement Can't Do It Alone

Author -Amanda D. (Stewart) Stanec: Eric Lay

Title-Quality Physical Education: Why the Sport Requirement Can't Do It Alone

Source- Independent School 68 no1 112-22 Fall 2008

In attempting to educate students about the importance of healthy living, many independent schools offer health and physical education (PE) programs that include age- and developmentally-appropriate physical education, drug education, human sexuality, and nutrition. The evolution in physical health education is one of the better advances in precollegiate education over the last two decades. However, most of this work is being done at the elementary school level. When students enter upper school (and, many times, middle school), quality physical education programs frequently morph into a traditional sport requirement--under the belief that the sport requirement will provide students with sufficient mental and physical health benefits. While the sport requirement certainly has its value, we believe that it's a mistake to continue to equate athletics with a quality physical education--especially considering what we know today about quality PE and health programs.
If we are serious about supporting the physical and mental well-being of all students, and if we believe it is our job to give students the tools they need to be physically active throughout their lives, we need to adjust what we're doing at the middle and upper school levels.
Issues with the Sport Requirement in Lieu of Quality Physical Education
In years past--when PE curricula were mostly sports-based--offering high school sports in lieu of PE made perfect sense. The perceived benefits of the sport requirement include: an increase in school spirit, an opportunity for students to make new friends in other grade levels, a chance to learn important lessons in time management, and, for those who excel at sports, a chance to experience the joy of competing at a high level. With effective coaching, students also learn key lessons in character development, appropriate sportsmanship, and working effectively with others.
The overarching problem with the classic sport program in lieu of PE, however, is twofold. First, sport focuses on winning, not on mastery of skills for all students. Second, it primarily benefits a small group of students while doing very little for many others. Competition is important and students learn many lessons through their experiences in sport, but we should not assume that sport magically teaches all students lessons that will be useful throughout life.
Winning vs. Mastery of Skills
The achievement goal theory postulates that there are two types of goal orientation--ego and task (Nicholls, 1989). Ego-orientation defines success as "winning" and "doing better than others" and is based on social comparison. Conversely, task-orientation defines success as "mastery" and "improvement." In sport, the motivational climate is typically ego-involved, thus promoting environments where success is clearly defined as winning. When a quality PE program is delivered effectively, the motivational climate is predominately task-involved, whereby all students can experience success. This task-orientation may also be fostered in lifetime activities such as kayaking, cycling, and yoga.
Some colleagues (typically former athletes) have questioned the idea of shifting the focus in school PE away from competitive sports toward more task-oriented physical activities, suggesting that it makes schools "too soft" and that students need to learn how to lose, too. While we agree that experiencing defeat is an important lesson for students, we believe that it should not be a higher priority than the goal of providing all students with the opportunity to experience success in the psychomotor and fitness domains. While we are certainly not suggesting the elimination of athletics, we believe that a sport program and quality PE are not synonymous. To understand this difference, all one needs to do is look at one's own community of adults. Think about a teacher in your school, for example, who is sedentary and too intimidated to adopt a physically active lifestyle. It is likely that he or she never had a chance to become physically competent enough to develop physical literacy (competency in motor skills and movement patterns). Now, he or she does not know how to assess his or her own fitness, or know what to do about improving it. Athletes, generally, grow up to be adults who feel good about their abilities in the psychomotor and fitness domains. We suggest that schools should make it a priority to help all students receive the opportunity to do the same.
Student Involvement
The relative inactivity of many students in sport programs is also an issue. Take the role of student managers on athletic teams. Student managers carry out a variety of supportive duties, such as helping with water and equipment. Having student managers may be beneficial to the team, but not necessarily to the managers themselves. Because they do not have a "playing" role on the team, they generally do not exercise before, during, or immediately after practices and games.
Some schools try to address this problem by encouraging managers to practice with their respective teams, but this often turns out to be a humiliating experience for the student managers. Most often, their primary objective in being a manager is to fulfill the sport requirement without actually doing any physical activity. It's not as much a matter of laziness as it is a lack of ability or confidence. To then ask such students to actually participate in the sport during practice time, once all their duties are completed, can be psychologically damaging--and certainly unlikely to encourage participation in physical activity in future years.
Conventional wisdom tells us that the sport requirement offers all students the chance to he physically active. But reality suggests otherwise. In order for all students to meet the sport requirement, junior varsity and varsity coaches are forced to keep large numbers of players on their teams. As a result, a significant number of team members are not able to participate in most games, meets, or matches, and, therefore, do not receive vigorous activity on game days. This effect is multiplied in the days leading up to and following big games when coaches administer "light" practices--for the benefit of the starters.
These students also suffer the emotional effects of riding the bench. During adolescence, a lack of playing time can hinder students' lives socially and academically. For example, students who play little or not at all may feel marginalized by the team since they do not contribute on the field and/or court. Additionally, even some athletic students suffer emotional stress if, for instance, they lose their starting positions. The result of such stress can affect everything from social interaction to academic performance to future engagement in athletics. One might argue that students learn from such experiences. And, to a degree, this is true. However, if we are turning them away from future physical activity, due to the stress they experience in school, we are doing them a disservice. It's also ironic that, without a quality PE program, these student managers and frustrated athletes who do not play much have no physical activity to turn to, as healthy and physically active adults do, in order to relieve the stress--and are not likely to find such outlets for themselves in the future.
In addition, students with interests outside the sport realm often only have to participate in one sport per academic year. For example, in some independent schools, thespians in their junior or senior year only have to participate in sports during one season so that they have more time to participate in the school theatre productions. While we support the arts, we think that schools can also better support these students and provide opportunities for them to be physically active during the school day; two-and-a-half months of physical activity (if the student is even competent enough to receive adequate playing time for health benefits) out of a 12-month calendar is not enough physical activity for health benefit. Indeed, it's hard to see how any school can justify this position.
With an increase in scholarships for students of lower socioeconomic status, it also becomes a social justice issue. Independent schools should offer quality PE so that all students are afforded the opportunity to become physically literate and not just those who can afford participation in out-of-school activities such as travel sports or other lifelong activities.
In recent years, we've learned how to shape quality PE programs so that they focus on a broad array of essential skills in the physical, psychomotor, cognitive, and affective domains. Within this comprehensive PE model, people of all skill and fitness levels--not just the good athletes--learn how to live healthy lives. When it comes to physical and mental health, schools should make this their primary focus.
Additional supports and resources should be afforded to those students who are not fortunate enough to participate in sport due to lack of skill level and/or interest.
So What Does a Quality Physical Education Program Look Like?
Marian Franck describes a quality PE program as one that "(a) develops for each student a level of competence that instills a sense of capability necessary to influence lifelong decisions for regular participation in physical activity; (b) provides experiences to improve significantly the health-related fitness of each student; and (c) has the necessary support resources" (Franck, 2007).
We'd also add an assessment component to the list. Quality PE programs assess student competencies in psychomotor, fitness, cognitive, and affective domains in a way that is much more effective and meaningful than the more traditional PE programs many of us participated in. For example, teachers of quality PE programs assess according to criterion-reference standards (what physiologists determine are healthy target zones) rather than the norm-referenced standards favored in years past. Moreover, in quality PE programs, students' learning is documented according to their ability to understand the importance of making healthy choices as well as their ability to self-assess their health, fitness, and skill level and their plan for how to improve or maintain in each of these areas (Stewart Stanec, 2008). Students are not taken into classrooms to be tested on these things; rather, for example, they might use the last minute of a six-minute fitness station to complete a task card about their understanding of the task. Here, as in the classroom, teachers are able to determine what their students know and understand and how their future instruction should be planned accordingly.
At the elementary school level, quality PE programs have evolved in recent years to offer a systematic approach to movement and skill development. Ideally, they provide experiences for children that are developmentally and instructionally appropriate; include genuine opportunities to learn and become physically literate; emphasize the psychomotor domain, but also focus on the cognitive and affective domains; create multiple opportunities for children to experience successes in physical activity, and; are realistic and incorporate time, space, and equipment allocations into their design (Graham, Holt-Hale, & Parker, 2001).
In other words, lower school students should partake in units that, first, help them gain competence in body control, body awareness, and posture. Then, they should advance to units that emphasize locomotor movement, rhythm skills, object control skills, and fundamental motor skills. As a result, students will have competence in the basic building blocks for both traditional sports and lifelong physical activities.
Once a quality lower school PE program is completed, students are ready for activities that combine basic manipulative and non-manipulative motor skills through lead-up games and modified sport. Quality middle school PE programs may offer units that include traditional sports. However, these units should be modified, and students should rarely, if ever, play the actual sport. In modifying these sports, students will have the ability to improve/master the skills within the sport--ideally through the Teaching Games for Understanding (Thorpe & Bunker, 1997) framework. For example, in a traditional sport such as basketball, students may be focused on the chest pass, bounce pass, and overhand pass. Thus, rather than play a five-on-five game with original rules, students would play three-on-three games with the objective to have three complete passes in a row for a point with every student touching the ball at least every other play. In doing this, students are given more opportunity to practice, and the passing concept, which was the objective of the lesson, is reinforced through the activity.
While modified traditional sport experiences should exist through the middle school years, they should do so merely as one component of the program. Additionally, non-traditional sport (e.g., ultimate Frisbee) should also be provided, as well as dance and outdoor educative pursuits. In all of these additional facets, the "playing field" among students is more often leveled. In other words, the star of the local travel soccer team may experience being a beginner in dance. This helps teach our more gifted traditional sport athletes to become comfortable in learning new things and take risks outside their comfort zone. In turn, it will only help our athletes become more skillful movers and more positive learners when they are representing our schools in athletics.
Quality Upper School Physical Education
Once students enter upper school, the unfortunate trend is to offer no physical education. While some schools provide opportunity for physical activity after school, this is an option that is available to students who do not make an athletic team--as a result, it may carry a negative stereotype along with it. Why is it that many schools have time available for PE in lower and middle school but not in upper school? Given all the research on healthy physical development, we believe it is time for upper schools to treat quality PE with the respect it deserves; it is the sole place where our students can truly learn how to live healthy and balanced lives.
Like any school curricula, careful planning must occur with scheduling in order for quality PE to become a reality. Since we both have ample independent school experience at K-12 institutions, we are fully aware of scheduling issues. However, rather than use issues as barriers, we encourage creative thought in order to provide a program that can deliver the following.
Upper school quality PE programs should shift their primary focus from sports to lifetime skills. Research has called for a change that includes formal sports; but, typically, they should be no more than one-fifth of a curriculum. In upper school PE programs, students should also learn how to monitor their own health and activity through setting personal fitness trackers such as the Fitnessgram and Activitygram program (see www.fitnessgram.net). Goals should be achieved through many areas of physical activity including jogging, hiking, kayaking, yoga, and dance, to name a few. Triathlons, road and mountain biking, and adventure racing are growing in popularity for individuals in their late 20s and 30s. By providing students with these experiences during school, we afford students opportunities to develop competence that will encourage them to join clubs in college or get involved in community-based physical activities. This is vital, since the majority of students who participate in sports during upper school do not play a sport in college. Without teaching these important healthy life skills, college students are more at risk of eating disorders to shed weight gained at college and of alcohol and drug use to handle stress.
Given that quality PE programs in the upper school are not yet standard practice, we also suggest the following steps:
* Establish a committee that can examine the school schedule and determine areas where a PE program can be offered. This committee could also contact other schools that offer nontraditional sport activities such as biking, yoga, etc. It should establish a discussion forum so that successes in overcoming scheduling conflicts and limitations could be shared.
* Survey upper school students. Since interests and resources vary greatly throughout the U.S., it's important that upper school students are surveyed to determine where their interests lie. Students should be encouraged to list as many activities as possible and also be offered examples of activities that they might not have thought of.
* Think outside the box. You don't need a gym or a playing field to teach physical education. When available, get outside and utilize nature. This can provide wonderful collaboration with environmental science educators and can help offset the many scheduling issues we often hear about. You also need to be flexible in terms of when these classes are offered and the duration and frequency of the classes.
* Start small. It is likely easier for folks to consider the idea of offering one to two modules of PE in the upper school rather than implementing an entire program.
* Revamp drivers' education. We simply do not understand why, at a time when student physical activity decreases due to teenagers receiving their driving licenses, physical educators are the ones assigned to teach drivers' education classes. A common response to this question is that parents want drivers' education taught at school. While that's fine, we're not certain that classroom teachers would be willing to give up teaching their academic subjects to teach the drivers' education curriculum. When PE teachers teach drivers' education, they are scheduled to be off campus often during the school day and their schedule has no room for PE courses. We encourage schools to find others to teach drivers' education classes so that the PE teachers can do what they are educated to do.
* Offer choice. In a coeducational independent school, activities might be offered both coeducationally, as well as single-sex. While research tells us that girls are more likely to participate in physical education when electives are offered as "girls only," this could be because girls-only programs are always nontraditional while many coeducational programs are traditional (that is, sports-based). Let's remember that not all boys enjoy traditional sports and so we need to offer a balanced curriculum to meet all students' needs. Keep in mind that sports (modified versions of both traditional and nontraditional) do belong in a quality and balanced program--they just should not be the sole focus.
* Don't think of quality upper school PE as competing with athletics. If implemented properly, quality PE will undoubtedly help athletic teams reach their potential more efficiently. For example, fitness assessments can identify where students need to set personal goals in terms of health-related physical fitness. Time during electives could be dedicated to developing an individualized plan to improve this fitness component, such as upper-body strength. Moreover, if the activity level intensity during PE classes is monitored with heart-rate monitors, the PE teacher could appropriately assign intensity levels. For example, if a group of students has a lacrosse game after school and they are in a mountain biking class earlier in the day, the teacher could assign a target at the low end of the aerobic zone in terms of the intensity of the biking. If another group of students in the class does not compete on a sports team, those students could be assigned an interval workout that puts their heart rate in a more strenuous zone. Both groups of students will be given opportunity to improve the technical skills required for mountain biking. This type of individualized instruction exists every day in a quality PE lesson.
* Be innovative. In independent schools, the word "innovative" is often tied to topics such as the construction of new buildings, technology, new athletic complexes, etc. Schools should think in innovative terms when considering PE and faculty wellness as well. Innovation in these fields could lead to better productivity as well as happier students and faculty.
Is the sport requirement mandated at your school in lieu of quality health and PE effective in terms of preparing students to be healthy citizens in years to come? Perhaps at the next alumni event, you can look around and/or survey individuals on their physical activity.
Failing to offer physical activity opportunities at moderate to vigorous levels throughout lower, middle, and upper school indirectly plants the notion in our students' minds that everything other than personal health should come first. As a result, we have millions of North Americans who do not feel they have time to exercise rather than understanding that they would be more happy and efficient once they take care of themselves first. We must realize that this is a problem and acknowledge that quality physical education can help. Through this process, we are confident that school communities will be happier and more joyful places to grow, learn, and work.