ActivEd was co-founded by Dr. Julian Reed as a way to help educators utilize his research in the classroom. As a associate professor at Furman University, his research continues. Most recently, he has been conducting a longitudinal study on the effects of daily physical education in students.
The study compared Legacy Charter School, a Title I school in Greenville, SC, which requires daily physical education for students, to another Title I school in the same area that does not require daily physical education. The latest results show 100% improvement of fitness measures at Legacy Charter School. An article at Greenville News provides a great overview of the study. From the article:
Other fitness findings showed:
- Legacy students saw significant increases on a fitness test, muscular strength and muscular endurance from 2011-2015 compared to significant decreases on the same tests for control students.
- Legacy elementary students accumulated 9,475 steps in a typical week of P.E. while control students (who take P.E. once a week), accumulated 1,661 steps.
- Body mass index of control school students increased 6.29 percent from 2011-2015 versus 1.34 percent for Legacy elementary students. The difference was starker for females. At Legacy, females BMI increased 3.68 percent versus 9.86 percent for females at the control school.
- Legacy students saw a significant increase on 75 percent of measures of fluid intelligence, which measures logic and problem solving, compared to 45 percent for control students.
- Legacy students saw a 75 percent increase in perceptual speed tests, which measures how quickly students can compare things, versus 0 percent increase for control students.
WAY TO GO LEGACY CHARTER SCHOOL!
It is recommended that kids need at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day to be healthy. How are you helping your students move—both in and out of PE? Walkabouts are a great way to get your students moving and learning! Learn more about the research behind Walkabouts, download our research paper today!
