Whole school physical activity (PA) programming provides additional PA opportunities at school beyond Physical Education. Physical Educators often absorb the additional responsibilities of leading such programs, resulting in some Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) programs adopting expanded PA programming and integrating related topics into their curriculum. The Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program (CSPAP) is of interest to the present study as it focuses on Quality Physical Education and is the model utilized at the institution of interest.

Arizona State University’s PETE program began integrating CSPAP concepts in 2009 and serves as the focal program for this study. The purpose of this study, which was informed by The Diffusion of Innovations and the Teacher Socialization Theories, was to determine the degree to which graduates integrate PA programming into their own K-12 schools. In a two-phase (electronic survey followed by campus visit and interview with sub-sample), mixed methods’ approach, 101 graduates (between the years of 2000-2019) of Arizona State University’s PETE program provided details of their current practices related to expanded PA.

Results: Quantitative findings included weak but positive relationships between year of graduation and knowledge of CSPAP and having positive perceptions of expanded PA as an innovation. Bachelors’ graduates reported higher PA integration than Masters’ graduates. Visual inspection of data shows a slight increase in perceptions of expanded PA as an innovation and a slight decrease in PA programming integration across years of graduation. Interviews provided evidence that more recent graduates may still be figuring out their roles, delaying their PA program. Increased perceptions scores suggest the PETE program at ASU has been successful in providing students positive interactions with expanded PA programming. Graduates indicated they felt well prepared with strategies and resources for promoting and maintaining such programs, but they noted a need for more exposure to tools for initiating a new program. Findings can inform changes in the ASU PETE program and may be applicable in other settings. Establishing ongoing contact with graduates to provide marketing and support tools graduates can access may be beneficial as teachers often realize the need for these materials well beyond graduation.

Children's wellbeing has been of utmost concern to society, and recently this topic has taken a particular focus in both health and achievement. As the focus shifts towards promoting a healthier and more academically successful youth, the relationship between the two warrants investigation. Specifically, the relationship between physical fitness and academic performance (i.e. grades) in 4th grade students was assessed. A cross-sectional design was used to assess physical fitness of children (M=9.39 years) by means of the FITNESSGRAM assessment tool. Third-quarter grades were used to measure academic performance. Relationships between the variables were determined through bivariate plots, Pearson product moment correlation analysis, independent t-tests, and a three-step regression analysis. The results show a significant relationship between students' aerobic fitness and academic performance. Furthermore, the findings of this study suggest incremental validity between aerobic fitness and academic performance, thus implying predictive value associated with increased physical fitness and academic achievement.

Physical activity patterns among youth has become an issue throughout the world in recent decades. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have established daily physical activity guidelines for youth; however, not all children follow these recommendations. Factors leading to this include limited opportunities for active transportation and after-school activity programs. In this study, 3rd through 9th grade students from a rural community were evaluated based on their transportation method to and from school, participation in after-school sports programs, and overall how active they were in a 24-hour period based on step count. Students completed questionnaires regarding their transportation and sports participation and wore pedometers to determine their daily step counts. The results found that only 4.5% of the students used active transportation to and from school. About one-third participated in after-school programs, and of this amount, approximately one-third took part in those offered at school. Elementary and middle school males met the recommended amount of daily steps at the first time of data collection, but not at the second or third. Elementary and middle school females did not meet the recommended amount of steps at time 1, but did at time 2 and time 3. Ninth-grade females did not meet the recommended step count at either time data was collected. The amount of students who used active transport limited the ability to determine significant differences between those who used active transport and those who did not. At time 3, there were significant differences with students who participated in after-school sports achieving more daily steps than those who did not participate. There was also a trend toward this same outcome in time 1. From these results, it was determined that more opportunities for active transportation and after-school sports should be implemented into this community. With this, the activity levels among students may increase and more students would reach the recommended amount of daily physical activity.

Background: Childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health concerns in the United States and has been associated with low levels of physical activity. Schools are ideal physical activity promotion sites but school physical activity opportunities have decreased due the increased focus on academic performance. Before-school programs provide a good opportunity for children to engage in physical activity as well as improve their readiness to learn. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a before-school running/walking club on children's physical activity and on-task behavior. Methods: Participants were third and fourth grade children from two schools in the Southwestern United States who participated in a before-school running/walking club that met two times each week. The study employed a two-phase experimental design with an initial baseline phase and an alternating treatments phase. Physical activity was monitored using pedometers and on-task behavior was assessed through systematic observation. Data analysis included visual analysis, descriptive statistics, as well as multilevel modeling. Results: Children accumulated substantial amounts of physical activity within the before-school program (School A: 1731 steps, 10:02 MVPA minutes; School B: 1502 steps, 8:30 MVPA minutes) and, on average, did not compensate by decreasing their physical activity during the rest of the school day. Further, on-task behavior was significantly higher on days the children attended the before-school program than on days they did not (School A=15.78%, pseudo-R2=.34 [strong effect]; School B=14.26%, pseudo-R2=.22 [moderate effect]). Discussion: Results provide evidence for the positive impact of before-school programs on children's physical activity and on-task behavior. Such programs do not take time away from academics and may be an attractive option for schools.