Physical Activity Improves Achievement Test Scores in Elementary School Students

Nancy G. Murray, Dr.PHMichael & Susan Dell Center for

Advancement of Healthy Living The University of Texas

School of Public HealthResearch Into Action – A Knowledge

Translation Initiative

What’s This All About?• Students learn better when they are

mentally and physically engaged in school

• PASS & CATCH is a simple tool teachers can use to “wake up” young minds

• The concept works for all students – even those with trouble adapting to school

• PASS & CATCH is easy to implement and doesn’t take time away from teaching and learning

• It’s fun for both students and teachers!

What Is PASS & CATCH?Physical Activity and Student Success

Coordinated Approach To Child HealthResearch study (Murray, Kelder, Hoelscher, Diamond, Garza, Ward, Cribb)Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2004-2007 (U48 DP000057-03)

Intervention• Objective: To increase students’ participation in

moderate to vigorous physical activity to approximately 60 minutes per school day– Enhanced physical education class– Classroom physical activities• Adapted from Take 10!® program and CATCH• Designed by teachers to take

– 5 minutes– 10 minutes– 20 minutes (also used for recess)

• Implemented at teacher’s discretion– Recess

The Myth – Physical Activity Interferes with Teaching

• Low-performing children who were exposed to physical activity in the classroom caught up in math scores with students in non-PASS schools within one year

• These students showed significantly greater increases in math scores over time

• Students in the intervention and control schools had similar improvements in reading scores over the course of a year

Types of ActivitiesInvisible Jump Rope (10 minutes, grades 3-5, from Take 10!

®)• Students recall basic counting, addition, and subtraction facts while

jumping an invisible rope. • The teacher calls out a number, and everyone jumps as they count

up to it.

Zero In (10 minutes, grades 3-5, from Take 10!®)• Students try to help a classmate guess a “secret number” on the board

behind him/her. • The class will either perform vertical jumps if the

student needs to guess higher, or squats if the student needs to guess lower.

Participating Schools and Students• Eight elementary schools throughout

Texas (four intervention, four control)• 1,163 third- and fourth-graders• Four schools had a Hispanic population

greater than 93%• Half of all participants were either

overweight or obese• Almost evenly split between boys and girls• Percentage of economically disadvantaged students ranged from 43.9% to

99.7%• In five of the schools, more than 25% of all students had limited English

proficiency• Racial makeup was 68% Hispanic, 25% white, 5% African-American, 2%

other

Measures

Health Indicators

Fitness Indicators

Social Skills/Behavioral Assessment

Who Benefits the Most From Classroom Physical Activity?

• Children who are not adapting well to school. In the study, those students were identified through the following components:

AdaptabilityFunctional communicationSocial skillsLeadershipStudy skills

• These children experience challenges with appropriate emotional expression and control, daily living skills inside and outside the home, communication skills, and social, organizational, study and other adaptive skills

Where’s the Proof?Does increasing physical activity up to 60 minutes a day using classroom physical activities improve academic performance?

What does the data indicate?

Positive Correlation Between Fitness and Academic Achievement

10

12

14

16

18

20

Math Reading

above average average below average

# of

Lap

s

Lower Adaptive Skills Also Result in Lower Reading and Math Skills

20

30

40

50

60

Reading Comprehension Math Problem Solving

Not Adapting Well To School

Adapting Well To School

PASS & CATCH Math ScoresChange in Stanford math scores over time,

adjusted for race/ethnicity (i.e., percent Hispanic); among poorly adapted students

(n=198)

Stanford

math score

45

35

25

Comparison

Intervention

Sep./Oct. 2005

May 2006 December 2006

30

40

Math

For Children Identified as Having Adaptive Skills Problems by Their Teacher, Those in the Intervention Had Significantly Higher Math Scores Over Time

For Children Identified as Having Adaptive Skills Problems by Their Teacher, Those in the Intervention had Significantly Higher Reading Scores Over Time

PASS & CATCH Reading ScoresChange in Stanford reading scores over time,

adjusted for race/ethnicity (i.e., percent Hispanic); among poorly adapted students

(n=198)

Stanford

reading

score

45

35

25

Comparison

Intervention

Sep./Oct. 2005

May 2006 December 2006

30

40

Reading

In Their Own Words“This program lets my mind ‘wake up,’ because you always have to concentrate on doing your best.”

“I liked the game where we would pass the ball around the room and give each other multiplication tables. We would play this game before math in the morning to get our hearts pumping.”

Quotes taken from PASS & CATCH participant survey at close of intervention

What Teachers Had to Say“It created a team approach to learning.”

“My students were able to get out their pent-up energy in a positive way. They really enjoyed the different activities.”

“Seemed to increase alertness and awareness.”

“My students are more focused, and when students were getting off task, Iwould use PASS & CATCH activities.”

“The students learned to work together better.”

Quotes taken from PASS & CATCH teacher survey at close of intervention

Conclusions• When classroom physical activity and recess are added to physical

education for 60 minutes a day, elementary school children achieve higher test scores in math.

• The Stanford 10 math and reading skills of students identified as not adapting well to school were significantly lower.

• With 60 minutes a day of physical activity, including classroom activities, poorly adapting children significantly improve their reading and math scores over 16 months, compared to poorly adapting children with the usual physical education.

I’m Interested … Now What?Visit www.take10.net to find out how to incorporate physical activity into your curriculum …

…and www.catchinfo.org to learn more about how active kids have

active minds!

Nancy G. Murray, Dr.PHMichael & Susan Dell Center for Advancement of Healthy Living

The University of Texas School of Public HealthNancy.G.Murray@uth.tmc.edu

with assistance from

and