Physical Education Enrollment Impact on Mathematics and Reading Achievementin MTSS Tiers of Students in 7th and 8th Grade

Abstract

The quantitative causal-comparative study investigated whether enrollment in aschool-based physical activity class was related to student achievement in mathematicsand reading for grades seven and eight. The current study also compared students withinsimilar academic performance categories according to the three tiers in the Multi-TierSystem of Supports for student instruction to examine whether differential impacts ofphysical education courses existed among students of differing achievement levels.Achievement was measured by the gains scores in the fall to winter benchmarkassessments on the AIMSweb assessment. The mean of the mathematics and readingAIMSweb fall to winter gains scores for middle school students in instructional Tier 1,Tier 2, and Tier 3 enrolled in physical education were compared to the mean of themathematics and reading AIMSweb fall to winter gains scores for middle school studentsin Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 who were not enrolled in physical education in grades sevenand eight.The results of the study found no statistical significance as it relates to student’senrollment in physical education and the mean fall to winter gains scores on themathematics and reading AIMSweb assessment. There also was no significantinteraction or differential impact of physical education when comparing students acrossthe three tiers of the Multi-Tier System of Supports instructional framework. Althoughstatistical significance was not detected, there were some trends that may guide futureresearch in examining how physical education can impact students with similar academicperformance.