District and school physical education policies: implications for physical education and recess time.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between physical education (PE) policies and children's PE and recess time is not well understood. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to assess the association of district and school PE policies, the PE environment, and PE and recess time. METHODS: Key informants in 65 schools from 9 states completed instruments assessing district and school PE policies, the school PE environment, and time in PE and recess. RESULTS: Few significant associations were found between PE policies and PE or recess minutes; no policies were associated with both. A number of PE environmental variables were associated with both policies and time in PE and recess. CONCLUSIONS: PE policies, their implementation, and PE environmental variables can have important implications for recess time. Some school PE environment measures designed to improve PE may result in PE time limitations. Deficiencies in PE and recess time are not likely to be effectively addressed through policy adoption alone.

JROTC as a substitute for PE: really?

PURPOSE: Even though physical education (PE) is an evidence-based strategy for providing and promoting physical activity, alternative programs such as the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) are commonly substituted for PE in many states. The purpose of this study was to compare student physical activity and lesson contexts during high school PE and JROTC sessions. METHOD: The System for Observing Fitness Instruction Time was used to assess PE and JROTC sessions (N = 38 each) in 4 high schools that provided both programs. Data were analyzed using t tests, negative binomial regression, and logistic regression. RESULTS: Students engaged in significantly more moderate-to-vigorous physical activity during PE than during JROTC sessions and they were significantly less sedentary. Significant differences between the 2 program types were also found among lesson contexts. CONCLUSIONS: PE and JROTC provide substantially different content and contexts, and students in these programs engage in substantially different amounts of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Students in JROTC, and perhaps other alternative programs, are less likely to accrue health-supporting physical activity and engage in fewer opportunities to be physically fit and motorically skilled. Policies and practices for providing substitutions for PE should be carefully examined.

School physical activity policy assessment.

BACKGROUND: Physical activity (PA) levels in schools vary widely, and there is interest in studying how student PA accrual relates to school policy and environmental conditions. School PA policy research, however, is in its infancy and generalizable measurement tools do not exist. We developed and assessed reliability of items on the School Physical Activity Policy Assessment (S-PAPA), an instrument designed to assess school PA policy related to physical education (PE), recess, and other opportunities. METHODS: To develop items, we perused associated literature, examined existing instruments, and consulted school policy makers. For test-retest reliability assessment, 31 elementary school PE teachers completed the survey twice, 14 days apart. RESULTS: S-PAPA uses open-ended, dichotomous, multichotomous, and checklist formatting and has 3 modules: 1) Physical Education (47 items), 2) Recess (27 items), and 3) Other Before, During, and After School Programs (15 items). Responses to more than 95% of items were highly related between Times 1 and 2. Generally, physical education and recess items had fair to substantial levels of agreement, and items about other school PA programs had fair to perfect agreement. CONCLUSIONS: Test-retest results suggest S-PAPA items are reliable and useful in assessing PA policies in elementary schools.