Physical Activity and Student Achievement

in Southeastern Michigan

Nicole Murley and Dr. Kevin Hankinson

Madonna University
Outline
■ Background
■ Purpose and Significance of
Research
■ Research Questions
■ Conceptual Framework
■ Literature Review
■ Research Methodology
■ Results
■ Conclusion
Background
■ Trends in U.S. Education
□ NCLB
□ Center on Education Policy, 2007
■ 20% of schools reduced recess by 50 minutes per week
■ 9% of schools reduced physical education by 40 minutes
per week
■ Trends in Children’s Health
□ Increasing rates of obesity, diabetes
Background
■ Discrepancy and Debate
■ National Association for Sport and Physical Education
recommends 20 minutes/day of recess, 150
minutes/week of physical education
■ Low income, minority students: Highest incidence of
health-related disease, lowest achievement
Purpose and Significance of Research
■ Add to current body of research
□ Current research presents mixed findings
■ Influence school policy
□ Positive results could reverse trends
□ Negative results could support trends
Purpose and Significance of Research
■ Research Questions:
□ How much time do students spend in recess and physical
education?
□ Is there a relationship between the time spent in
recess/physical education and achievement in
mathematics/reading?
Conceptual Framework
■ Berlyne, 1966: Novelty Theory
■ Animals seek “novelty:” stimulation and variance
■ Need for non-focused “breaks” between focused “tasks”
□ Stimulates physical and social development
□ Restores attentiveness
Literature Review
■ Definitions:
□ Physical activity: scheduled, non-intellectual
□ Recess: unstructured, play
□ Physical education: structured, varied instructional content
Literature Review
■ Key Findings
□ Most studies that revolve around recess analyze its effects on
classroom behavior, but few have proven significant effects on
achievement scores (Dills, Morgan, & Rotthoff, 2011)
□ Rasberry and others (2011) conducted a review of 251 original
research articles: 50.5% found a positive association and 48%
found no association between physical activity and
achievement
Research Methodology
■ Design - Descriptive
□ Population: second grade students in Michigan
□ Phenomena of interest: relationship between physical activity
and student achievement
■ Type - Quantitative
Research Methodology
■ Sample - Oakland, Washtenaw, and Wayne Co.
□ Invited participants: 567 elementary schools from 192 public
school districts
□ Actual participants: 95 elementary schools from 23 public
school districts
Research Methodology
■ Instrumentation
□ Dependent variable (student achievement): Percent
proficient (or advanced) on Michigan Educational Assessment
Program
■ Mathematics
■ Reading
Research Methodology
■ Instrumentation
□ Independent variables (physical education and recess):
Cumulative number of minutes per week
■ Days per week of physical education (PE1)
■ Minutes per day of physical education (PE2)
■ Days per week of recess (RE1)
■ Times per day of recess (RE2)
■ Minutes per day of recess (RE3)
Research Methodology
■ Data analysis
□ Dependent variables
■ Mathematics proficiency (in percent) =
Advanced (in percent) + Proficient (in percent)
■ Reading proficiency (in percent) =
Advanced (in percent) + Proficient (in percent)
Research Methodology
■ Data analysis
□ Independent variables
■ Physical education (minutes per week) =
Days per week of physical education x Minutes per day of
physical education
■ Recess (minutes per week) =
Days per week of recess x Minutes per day of recess
Research Methodology
■ Data analysis
□ Tool: IBM SPSS 22.0
□ Statistical analytics: Multiple linear regression
■ Set 1 - Mathematics proficiency (dependent variable)
● Physical education in minutes per week (independent variable)
● Recess in minutes per week (independent variable)

■ Set 2 - Reading proficiency (dependent variable)

● Physical education in minutes per week (independent variable)
● Recess in minutes per week (independent variable)
Research Methodology
■ Timeline: Feb. - Apr. 2014
■ Limitations (a couple)
□ The low response rate by school districts (12%) and
elementary schools (17%) weakens the findings as related to
Southeastern Michigan.
□ Student achievement was only measured by the MEAP which
receives criticism for its pass/fail nature, timing, and
dependence on curriculum alignment.
Results
■ Study participants
County Frequency Percent

Oakland 49 52

Washtenaw 3 3

Wayne 43 45

Entity Type Frequency Percent

LEA School 91 96

PSA School 4 4
Results
■ Descriptive statistics
Survey Data Item Min Max M SD

PE1 1 3 1.80 .58

PE2 30 70 38.74 7.82

RE1 4 5 4.98 .11

RE2 1 3 1.48 .50

RE3 7.5 50 27.98 9.87

Results
■ Descriptive statistics
Variable M SD

Dependent

Mathematics proficient (in percent) 52.56 17.59

Reading proficient (in percent) 67.79 17.29

Independent

Physical education (minutes per week) 67.35 18.92

Recess (minutes per week) 139.55 49.48

Results
■ Analysis of study
□ Physical education and recess did not represent a statistically
significant amount of the mathematics student achievement
variability, F(2, 94) = .07, p = .93.
□ Physical education and recess did not represent a statistically
significant amount of the reading student achievement
variability, F(2, 94) = .64, p = .53.
Results
■ Analysis of study
□ When controlling for grade size, percentage economically
disadvantaged and percentage minority, physical education
and recess did not represent a statistically significant amount
of the mathematics student achievement variability, FΔ
(2, 89) = 2.61, p = .08.
Results
■ Analysis of study
□ When controlling for grade size, percentage economically
disadvantaged and percentage minority, physical education
and recess did not represent a statistically significant amount
of the reading student achievement variability, FΔ
(2, 89) = .30, p = .74.
Conclusion
■ Analysis of findings
□ Physical education and recess are not statistically
significant predictors of student achievement.
□ However, when taking into account variables typically beyond
the control of administrators, physical activity may add
predictive power to mathematics student achievement.
Specifically, an additional minute of either physical education
or recess each results in a decrease of .1% in student
achievement.
Conclusion
■ Importance of findings
□ School district administrators should be cautious to extend or
shorten physical activity opportunities among elementary-aged
students with hopes of improving student achievement.
□ In particular, there may be a weak, negative association
between physical activity and mathematics student
achievement.
Conclusion
■ Recommendations for further research
□ With a larger sample across the tri-county area or state, would
the findings be similar?
□ With a larger sample, is there a specific range of physical
education and recess that predicts student achievement as
measured by the MEAP?
□ With a different measure of student achievement, would the
findings be similar?