THE IMPACT OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION ON STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE OUTCOMES IN MATHEMATICS

Research studies have suggested that students who participate in daily physical activity and who are more physically fit may have improved academic achievement scores. However, pressures on school districts to improve students’ academic achievement in core course areas such as math, science, and English have put less emphasis on courses such as physical education. School districts around the country have eliminated and/or have lessened the amount of physical activity students receive during the school day. This study examined the impact of time of physical education and difference in 9th-grade students’ math achievement scores in their Algebra course and outcomes on the June 2019 New York State Algebra I Regents Examination. The causal-comparative quantitative study analyzed the mean scores between students who took physical education before or after receiving math instruction in their Algebra course. Further, the interaction effect of students’ gender and economic status based on time of physical education was also investigated. The results of the study found that students who participate in physical education before they received instruction in Algebra had statistically significantly higher mean scores in both the course and end of year-standardized test than those students who participated in physical education after receiving math instruction. There were also findings that suggest that gender and economic status are variables in academic achievement based on the time of physical education. This research study provides implications that administrators may consider when structuring the schedule in their districts and ultimately aligning physical education and or physical activity prior to instruction targeted for improvement