Wait … what is too little PE doing to our kids’ health?

Overwhelming evidence exists proving that a daily routine of
structured physical activity leads to superior academic
performance.
Overwhelming evidence exists proving that a daily routine of structured physical activity leads to superior academic performance. Unfortunately, because of the singular emphasis on raising standardized test scores for reading and math, there simply isn’t enough instruction time in the school day to meet the state’s physical education requirement (not to mention science, social studies, art and music requirements).

This is hurting our students and, likely, lowering their standardized test scores.

California State Board of Education policy specifies that 100 minutes of physical education be provided each week to students in elementary grades and 200 minutes each week to students in secondary grades. But in the Gilroy Unified School District, students in grades four and five receive 30 minutes of physical education time a week, 70 minutes less than required. In first-through-third grade classrooms, GUSD teachers who are not trained or equipped or particularly inclined are being asked to provide all 100 minutes of phys ed time. 

In order to cut costs, the GUSD trimmed phys ed class time several years ago, with the idea being to make up the difference by involving students in physical activities during the academic day. It’s not working. In Gilroy, and throughout the state, approximately 75 percent of public school kids are failing to pass the California State Physical Fitness Test.

More significant is the percentage of students who fall outside of the state’s health fitness zone (HZT), the minimum acceptable level of physical health. Nearly 50 percent fail to meet minimum levels of aerobic capacity. One third fail to meet the minimum standards for abdominal strength, upper body strength, flexibility and body composition. Far too many of our kids are weak, soft, and flabby. As GUSD School Board trustee John Gurich, a phys ed teacher in San Jose, noted earlier this year, “What’s scary is the studies that are showing this generation of kids will die younger. What good is it to know how to read if you’re not alive to get the book?”

What gives? One thing that doesn’t give is standardized testing. Preparation for the state’s standardized testing program has become the overriding goal of public education. Meanwhile, physical fitness is largely forsaken. There is no penalty for schools whose student populations are unfit. No state funds are withheld, no reform measures are enacted against schools whose students don’t meet the state standards. The impetus to get our kids in shape is simply not there.

In this teach-to-the-test era, it is ironic that the one thing that may improve test scores and reaction time most significantly — a regular routine of physical education and fitness – is the most widely overlooked and neglected aspect of public education, especially in the elementary schools. Outside of extending the school day or installing stairmasters in the classroom so that students can study while they gain classroom instruction, no solution seems to be available.

Perhaps it’s time to consider a more drastic measure. Perhaps it’s time to postpone standardized testing for one academic year while we get the kids up to an acceptable level of fitness. The research proves that with a student population that is physically educated and fit we would see a significant rise in test performance, and we would reverse the trend toward obese, unfit kids susceptible to diabetes and other life-threatening ailments. It may be time we asked ourselves what’s more important, standardized test scores or life expectancy?