Case study
In his 2010 book, SPARK, Dr. John Ratey studied an entire school district that was trying out a new physical activity strategy, called Zero Period PE. Students were offered one hour of movement and PE programming prior to school starting. Mostly what they did was individual movement, like yoga and walking and running. After only one semester, not only were obesity levels down and fitness levels up, but students who took part in the early-morning PE program showed 1.34 of a year’s growth on standardized reading tests. In similar groups of students who were not taking part in before class movement, the gain was .70 of a year. In 1999, Naperville’s eighth graders were among some 230,000 students from around the world who took an international standards test called TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study), which evaluates knowledge of math and science. Up to that point, students in China, Japan, and Singapore had outpaced American kids in these subjects, but when Naperville students took the TIMSS, they finished first in the world in science and sixth in math. Source: Edweek Article, SPARK Read about the Naperville School District and Dr. John Ratey’s book on physical activity and achievement, SPARK.
Recommended reading:
Dr. Chuck Hillman, Univ. of Illinois: “The impact of Exercise on the Brain and Learning”
CDC: School based physical activity social emotional climate for learning
Phys.org: Physical activity and the attainment gap
