Importance of Physical Education to student achievement Research Paper

Importance of Physical Education to student achievement - Research Paper Example Physical education and academic performance The direct implications of physical education on academic performance of students have been established by several researchers. One of the first studies analyzing the impact of physical activity on the academic performance of students was done by (Fourestier, 1962). This study included a small group of students from France. The sample population which underwent physical education in the afternoon after the forenoon’s sessions within the classroom was reported to have improved academic performance in comparison with the control group which didn’t undergo physical education (Fourestier, 1962). Though this study included only a small sample size and the methodology has not been detailed in the literature available, this has been indicated as one of the first studies in this research area. Another larger study which was conducted in 1970s has been recorded by Sallis et al (1999). This included 546 primary school children and confi rmed that those students who continuously engaged in five hours of physical education in a week performed better academically. This study has also analyzed the changing impacts of extent of physical education as the control population was constituted of children who had a limited exposure of 40 minutes of physical education per week Sallis et al (1999). ... Shephard (1997) reported that there was significant improvement in the mathematics score of students who underwent physical education for 5 hours a week. However, there were negative consequences in terms of scores in English. It is worth noting here that 33 minutes were reduced in the mathematics instruction while no hours were taken off from English teaching Shephard (1997). Raviv & Hectch (1999) recorded that physical movement education considerably improved the reading skills and the arithmetic test scores of students in an intervention made in an Israel school involving 92 preschool and 266 first grade children. More recent studies also suggest promising correlation between academic performance and physical education. Coe, Pivarnik, Womack, Reeves & Malina (2006) conducted an interventional study amongst 6th grade students which included fifty five minutes of physical education per day as an intervention. This intervention in terms of time was equivalent to that of the time slot for arts and computer sciences. The observations of this study indicated that these students performed as good as the control population in mathematics, science and English Coe, Pivarnik, Womack, Reeves & Malina (2006). The results of the Canadian Achievement Test revealed that even with decrease in academic time the academic performance of the sample population remained the same (Ahamed, Macdonald, Reed, Naylor, Liu-Ambrose & McKay, 2007). There are few studies which have suggested negative implications of Physical Education on academic achievements. Tremblay, Inman & Willms (2000) observed inverse association with academic performance in students of 11 years. This study is worth mentioning because of its large sample size. The research covered close to 7000 students as the