Purpose: Teacher content knowledge (CK) and its contribution to student achievement (SA) are understudied in physical education, especially concerning the examination of the effectiveness of professional development (PD) programs using direct measures of teachers' CK and SA. To make progress in this research area, this study investigated the…

Background: The use of fitness tests in physical education (PE) receives extensive scrutiny and represents one of the most fiercely debated topics in PE research. Fitness test proponents often provide unwavering support citing their positive long-term benefits while critics underscore the corrosive long-term pitfalls associated with their use in…

Background: The accuracy of students' heights and weights measured by school staff for body mass index (BMI) screening/reporting has not been established. This study examined school staffs' measurement accuracy, comparing accuracy by staff- and student-level characteristics. Methods: School staff and researchers measured the height and weight of…

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the predictive strength of adolescents' situational motivation to their physical activity levels in physical education. Method: A total of 259 middle school students ranging from 11 to 14 years old participated in the study. Participants completed the Situational Motivation Scale in one class. Their PA levels…

The present study examined the efficacy of autonomy-supportive teaching during elementary school physical education (PE) in influencing pupils' enjoyment, fear of failure, boredom and effort. A sample of 54 pupils attending fifth and sixth grades comprised the control group (typical instruction; n = 27) and the experimental group…

Background: The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to examine the percentage of the daily threshold (12,000 steps) that physical education (PE) class and recess contribute to 6th grade students' overall daily physical activity (PA) and (b) to examine the relationships between gender, PA outside of school, BMI, and steps during both recess and…

This study compared a three-year tracking of health-related physical fitness between two comparable samples of six graders that enrolled either in a PE4life middle school ("n"?=?154) or another school with a traditional PE program ("n?"=?93) in the United States. For the cohort, the FITNESSGRAM[TM] (Cooper Institute for…

Research suggests that a girl's career interests in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) declines between grades 6 and 8. Similarly, in middle school, there is a decrease in physical activity among girls. Researchers at the University of Rhode Island (URI) conducted a chemistry-based science camp that took place…

In partnership with three universities, the Cooper Institute, Dallas, completed the Texas Youth Fitness Study from 2008 to 2009. The study explored three key questions: (1) Is physical fitness associated with academic performance?; (2) Can physical education teachers collect high-quality information on student fitness?; and (3) Are school policies…

The study examined the role of motivation in students' performance and engagement in elementary and middle school physical education. Cross-lagged relationships between performance and engagement were investigated across Grades 6-9. A total of 763 (365 girls, 398 boys) Finnish school students (11- to 12-year old) were followed across three years.…

The present study investigated the nomological validity of the Amotivation Inventory-Physical Education (Shen, Wingert, Li, Sun, & Rukavina, 2010b) scores by examining the associations of ability, effort, value, and task characteristics amotivation beliefs with self-determination theory variables. Data were collected from 401 fifth- and…

Students' attitudes, intentions and behaviours towards their peers with disabilities are important to their mutual co-existence and development. The aim of this study was to investigate a) whether students' attitudes and intentions towards their schoolmates with disabilities are related to their general and modified behavior in mainstream physical…

This study uncovers the predictive relationship of middle school students' ability beliefs (self-efficacy and expectancy-related beliefs) and incentives (outcome expectancy, importance, interest, and usefulness) to intention, cardiovascular fitness, and teacher-rated effort in physical education. Participants (N = 252; 118 boys, 134 girls)…

The purpose of this study was to validate physical activity time in middle school physical education as measured by pedometers in relation to a criterion measure, namely, students' accelerometer determined moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Participants were 155 sixth to eighth graders participating in regularly scheduled physical…

This case study addresses two major priorities of the Boston Foundation--health and education. Since the 2007 publication of the "Understanding Boston" report "The Boston Paradox: Lots of Health Care, Not Enough Health," the Boston Foundation has worked to draw attention to the epidemic of preventable chronic disease that not…