Physical activity improves elementary school students' achievement test scores. A study found that students who received 60 minutes per day of physical activity through enhanced PE, classroom activities, and recess saw significantly greater gains in math scores over time compared to students in non-active classrooms. These effects were particularly pronounced for students identified as having difficulties adapting to school. The active students also showed significantly higher reading scores compared to their less-active peers. The study demonstrates that physical activity can improve academic performance, especially for students struggling in school.

1. Physical Activity Improves Achievement Test Scores in Elementary School Students Nancy G. Murray, Dr.PH Michael & Susan Dell Center for Advancement of Healthy Living The University of Texas School of Public Health Research Into Action – A Knowledge Translation Initiative

2. 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!

3. What Is PASS & CATCH? Physical Activity and Student Success Coordinated Approach To Child Health Research study (Murray, Kelder, Hoelscher, Diamond, Garza, Ward, Cribb) Funded bythe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2004-2007 (U48 DP000057-03)

5. Enhanced physical education class

6. Classroom physical activities

7. Adapted from Take 10!® program and CATCH

8. Designed by teachers to take

9. 5 minutes

10. 10 minutes

11. 20 minutes (also used for recess)

12. Implemented at teacher’s discretion

14. Types of Activities Invisible 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.

15. 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

16. Measures Fitness Indicators Health Indicators Social Skills/ Behavioral Assessment

17. 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: Adaptability Functional communication Social skills Leadership Study 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

18. 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?

19. Positive Correlation Between Fitness and Academic Achievement # of Laps

20. Lower Adaptive Skills Also Result in Lower Reading and Math Skills

21. For Children Identified as Having Adaptive Skills Problems by Their Teacher, Those in the Intervention Had Significantly Higher Math Scores Over Time PASS & CATCH Math Scores Change in Stanford math scores over time, adjusted for race/ethnicity (i.e., percent Hispanic); among poorly adapted students (n=198) Stanford math score 45 40 35 Comparison Math Intervention 30 25 Sep./Oct. 2005 May 2006 December 2006

22. For Children Identified as Having Adaptive Skills Problems by Their Teacher, Those in the Intervention had Significantly Higher Reading Scores Over Time Stanford reading score PASS & CATCH Reading Scores Change in Stanford reading scores over time, adjusted for race/ethnicity (i.e., percent Hispanic); among poorly adapted students (n=198) 45 40 35 Comparison Reading Intervention 30 25 Sep./Oct. 2005 May 2006 December 2006

23. 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

24. “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, I would use PASS & CATCH activities.” “The students learned to work together better.” Quotes taken from PASS & CATCH teacher survey at close of intervention What Teachers Had to Say

25. 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.

26. 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!

27. Nancy G. Murray, Dr.PH Michael & Susan Dell Center for Advancement of Healthy Living The University of Texas School of Public Health Nancy.G.Murray@uth.tmc.edu with assistance from and