The Effects on Measures of Academic Performance Based on Years of Athletic Involvement in a Rural Tennessee High School

The purpose of this study is to investigate portions of Astin’s (1999) student involvement theory. This quantitative research studied non-athletes and athletes from a rural middle Tennessee high school. The athletes were involved in a Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) sport for one or multiple years. This research examined the effects of non-involvement and multi-year involvement in high school athletics on various factors of high school success. The study sample consisted of 503 students from school years 2010-2018 that were included in the research. Students were excluded if they moved in or out of the school system during this time period. The 503 students were categorized into five athletic types: 298 Non-Athletes, thirty-four 1-year athletes, thirty-four 2-year athletes, thirty 3-year athletes and 107 4-year athletes. A One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze absenteeism rates, grade point averages, and ACT scores for the athletic type categories. Since significance differences were found, a Fisher individual test for difference of means was used to determine which groups within the athletic type were significant. A Fisher Exact Test was used to analyze the data for graduation for each athletic type. The results of the study led to the conclusion that students who participated in athletics a minimum of 3 years and a maximum of 4 years outperformed the athletes who had only participated 1 or 2 years led every category based on the athletic types in the high school setting, by the end of their senior year. The research is consistent with Astin’s student involvement theory (1999) as it pertains to athletics and academic outcomes