Tuesday, March 14, 3:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m
Increasing Physical Activity in School Environments Through Innovative Multi-Sector Partnerships Physical Activity and Health Promotion
Category: Physical Activity and Health Promotion
Overview: This innovative community-academic project partners researchers, public health officials, schools and Head Start sites to implement a 5-year project to increase physical activity among students and staff in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The goal of this partnership project is to create a culture of physical activity throughout the community and to make the healthy choice the easy choice for all individuals in La Crosse school and head start sites.
Background: Overweight and obesity continue to be public health concerns nationally; in Wisconsin, 67% of adults and 25% of children are overweight or obese. The CDC recommends that children get 60 min of physical activity daily and yet many children fall short of this recommendation. This innovative community-academic project partners researchers, public health officials, schools and Head Start sites to implement a 5-year project to increase physical activity among students and staff in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The goal of this partnership project is to create a culture of physical activity throughout the community and to make the healthy choice the easy choice for all individuals in La Crosse school and head start sites.
Methods: Data collection includes: student BMI; teacher/staff surveys and listening sessions; environmental assessments measuring the extent to which the built environment facilitates physical activity. Monthly reports describe intervention activities implemented in school and head start sites. Regular partnership evaluations measure the effectiveness of the multi-sector partnership.
Results: At baseline, 28% of students were overweight/obese; 54% of teachers exercise daily 30 min or more; with regard to increasing physical activity, 63% of teachers are making changes, or are thinking of/planning to make changes to increase physical activity. At the time of presentation, the project will be several months into the final year of a 5-year grant. While final results will not be available until 2018, our presentation will describe activities and findings to date: baseline built environment evaluations, FitnessGram evaluations, teacher perceptions, focus group evaluations by teachers and administrators. Additionally, we will describe the community-academic partnership, principles of community-academic research partnerships and community engaged research, key intervention components, project activities, lessons learned.
Conclusions: To decrease obesity, children and adults should meet daily physical activity recommendations. Our project, implemented by a unique multi-sector coalition of stakeholders, represents an innovative model for intervening at multiple levels to increase physical activity to improve fitness and reduce obesity. Results may inform other communities interested in forming similar multisector partnerships to develop and implement polices to address obesity and overweight.
Presenting Author: David A. Nelson
Authors: Melissa H. DeNomie, Clare Guse, and Marie Wolff, Medical College of Wisconsin; Rebecca Lakowske, Virginia Loehr, and Jennifer Miller, La Crosse County Health Department; Brianna Manguson, School District of La Crosse; and Paula Silha, Crosse County Health Department
Friday, March 17, 2:30 p.m.–3:45 p.m
Specialized Content Knowledge in Physical Education: Current Research Findings
Category: Teaching and Learning
Overview: A teacher’s ability to ensure student learning is strongly influenced by the depth of their specialized content knowledge (SCK). SCK refers to instructional progressions, content representations to students, and knowledge of specific errors that students might have relative to the content. SCK is now a part of standard 1 of the new SHAPE America teacher education standards. In this symposium researchers from around the world will present the most recent findings related to SCK.
Background: The quality of teaching students receives is widely understood to play a significant role in student learning. Fundamental to quality teaching is a teacher’s use of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), a special knowledge that teachers use to help students learn the subject matter (Shulman 1986). There is a substantive body of literature that has consistently shown that the depth of content knowledge of a teacher is tied to their PCK and specifically a teacher’s ability to organize, represent and adapt instruction in physical education (Iserbyt, et. al., 2015; Sinelnikov et al., 2015; Rink, 2009; Rovegno, 1993; Schempp et al. 1998). Findings from these studies have shown that (a) when content knowledge is strong, PCK is also strong; and conversely when content knowledge is weak PCK is weak; and (b) that improved content knowledge influences PCK and improve PCK improves student learning. Content knowledge has been described in terms of two domains (Ward, 2009). Common content knowledge or CCK consists of knowledge of the rules, techniques and tactics of an activity or sport. Specialized content knowledge or SCK consists of knowledge of instructional tasks, how they are represented to students as well as the errors that students might make performing those tasks. SCK is now a part of standard 1 in the new SHAPE America teacher education standards. Yet there is little research on SCK in physical education. In particular, we lack tools to measure SCK, as well as studies that can inform us on how SCK is acquired and how it can be taught. This represents a critical gap in our understanding, because such knowledge is essential for informing the design of teacher preparation and continuing professional development. Our objectives in this symposium are to (a) present a conceptual overview of SCK informed by existing research, (b) to present the reliability and validity of tools that can be used to measure depth of SCK, and (c) to describe research and findings that inform the conceptualization of SCK and its use in teacher education and professional development.
Conceptual Roots and Extant Evidence for Specialized Content Knowledge
Background: Ward (2009) proposed two categories of content knowledge in physical education. Common content knowledge (CCK) is knowledge that allows one to perform the layup. Specialized Content Knowledge (SCK) is the knowledge needed to teach CCK such as knowing instructional progressions. Ward (2009) has proposed that SCK represents a knowledge that must be taught because it is not easily acquired through the practice of performing or teaching. He has argued that improving SCK would directly improve pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and in turn student learning. There have been few studies in physical education that have assessed the validity of this claim. In this presentation assumptions underlying SCK will be discussed. Data will be presented from four experimental studies conducted in the United States and Belgium to answer three questions: How does student learning differ as a function of SCK? How does a teachers’ selection of tasks differ in teaching as a function of SCK? How does teachers’ task representation differ as a function of SCK?
Methods: Participants in the studies were 296 students and nine teachers. In each study the dependent variables were student learning defined in terms of technical performance measures and teacher variables defined in terms of maturity, and correctness of task representations (i.e., SCK). Every trial by students and all instructional presentations by teachers were recorded during 6-day units of badminton instruction for three studies and a 10-day unit of instruction in swimming in secondary settings. Students in each study were divided equally into control and experimental groups using the class as the assignment. Teachers taught comparison classes first, then taught the experimental classes. The treatment was a 4- hr workshop focused on improving SCK of teachers.
Results: Interobserver agreement (IOA) was conducted on one third of all student data and ranged 88%-93% agreement. IOA was conducted on 33% to 100% of teacher data and ranged 79% to 96%. Data were analyzed using ANOVAs. Classes were nested within treatment conditions and teachers to identify the statistical differences among groups. Teachers were entered into the analyses as a block to eliminate teacher effects. All comparisons were statistically significant. Of most importance are the effect sizes. Effect sizes for student learning in the four studies ranged from .55 to .9. All exceeded Cohen’s (1988) convention for a large effect. The effect sizes for changes in teachers’ SCK ranged from 2.0 to 4.3 representing very large effects (Cohen, 1988).
Conclusions: The experimental studies demonstrate the efficacy of training teachers in SCK. The effect sizes for student learning and for teacher SCK are substantial. Data from the comparison classes shows that these teachers had low levels of SCK prior to the intervention. Because of the nature of these studies we cannot generalized this finding to other teachers, but these studies suggest that further investigation into the depth of SCK possessed by teachers is warranted. The limitations of these studies include sample size and quasi-experimental designs. The discussion will examine these results relative to the conceptualization of SCK.
Presenting Author: Philip C. WardF, The Ohio State University
Using Content Maps to Measure Content Development in Physical Education
Background: Content development is the selection and sequencing of instructional tasks Rink (1979). Rink (1979) created a content development framework to be used to categorize instructional tasks. While Rink’s framework allows researchers to categorize content development in terms of the type of task being used by the teacher, it does not address judgments about the depth of content development of teachers. To do so requires measurement and analytical tools that at present do not exist. In this study we present content maps, modifications of Rink’s categories, and formulae that can be used to evaluate the depth of specialized content knowledge (SCK) defined in terms of extension, refining, and applying tasks used for discrete task development or in the context of games.
Methods: We investigated SCK of two groups differentiated by content and pedagogical expertise. The first group consisted of 32 PETE students who were enrolled in either method course or student teaching from two institutions. A second group consisted of 14 expert K-12 teachers. The third lesson of a unit created by each participant was used as the primary data source, because we believed that regardless of the length of the instructional unit this is often a lesson characterized by the most content development. We intentionally used different physical education content areas, grade levels and contexts to determine the utility of the analysis. Depth of SCK was coded using a modification of Rink’s (1979) content development categories, and then converted using a formula that placed informing tasks as a denominator and all other tasks as numerators. This creates an index that can be used to determine depth of SCK. An index of two indicates that for every informing task there were two other tasks used to develop the informing task Inter-observer agreement was conducted on 100% of the lessons. Mean agreement was 90.6% (range, 89.1–93.3%).
Results: Mean number of instructional tasks per lesson was similar for preservice (m = 7.25, range 2–17) and expert teachers (m = 8.26, range 5–15). The percentage of tasks used by preservice teachers were informing (53.5%), extending-applying tasks (23.3%), and extending tasks (18.5%). There were few refining (0.4%) and applying game tasks (4.3%). There were no refining-applying tasks or applying non-game tasks. The most commonly used tasks by expert teachers were extending tasks (37.7%) most used a similar number of extending-applying and refining tasks (20.0% each) were also frequently evident. Informing tasks represented 18.5% of the tasks used by experts while few refining-applying (3.1%) and applying game (0.8%) tasks were used. There were no applying non-game tasks. We rank ordered all participants from low to high based on their index score. Experts were concentrated in indices of 2 or higher, and preservice teachers were concentrated in indices lower than 2.0.
Conclusions: If depth of SCK is evidenced by tasks designed to refine, extend and apply student performance, then the use of content maps and formulae provide the first tools that can be used to empirically assess SCK and to judge the depth of content development.
Presenting Author: Faith Dervent, Marmara University
Authors: Lee Yun Soo, Dankook University; Bomna KoF, East Carolina University; Insook KimF, Kent State University; Wang Tao, Central China Normal University; and Phillip WardF, The Ohio State University
Differences in Content-Knowledge Between Those Who Learned Performing and Teaching
Background: Common content knowledge (CCK) is knowledge of rules and techniques/tactics acquired from performing. Specialized content knowledge (SCK) is knowledge of instructional tasks and how they are represented to students (Ward, 2009). Ward, (2009) has hypothesized that SCK is knowledge that cannot be acquired from participation in an activity. Our research questions were: What do the pre-test scores reveal about SCK derived from K-12 physical education and extra curricula learning prior to taking these classes? What are the pre-post differences in the scores from undergraduates taught to play versus preservice teacher taught to teach sports?
Methods: Two groups (N = 191) enrolled in four different sports classes were participants. In the first condition (CCK) the teaching was focused on helping students enrolled in classes to learn to play in four sports (N = 37 badminton, 35 tennis, 23 basketball, and 24 volleyball). The second condition (SCK) the teaching was focused on students learning to teach the sports (N = 14, badminton, 17 tennis, 23 basketball, and 18 volleyball). SCK was measured using content maps (Lee et al., 2015), coded using a modification of Rink’s (1979) content development categories. These data were transformed using a formula that placed informing tasks as a denominator and all other tasks as numerators. This creates an index that can be used to determine depth of SCK. A quasi-experimental, pre-posttest group, comparison design was used to examine the data.
Results: The mean pretest score for the CCK group was .01 (SD = .05) and the SCK group was .45 (SD = .63). The mean posttest score for the CCK group was .14 (SD = .26) and the SCK group was 3.3 (SD = 1.1). To analyze the changes from pre to posttest in each sport, in each group, a Wilcoxon signed-rank test was utilized and effect sizes were calculated. In both groups, the data improved significantly from pre to posttest in all four sports: The CCK group (badminton Z = –3.30, p = .001, r = 0.56; tennis Z = –3.52, p < .001, r = 0.59; basketball Z = –3.46, p = .001, r = 0.72; volleyball Z = –2.03, p = .04, r = 0.41) and the SCK group (badminton Z = –3.05, p = .002, r = 0.82; tennis Z = –3.62, p < .001, r = 0.88; basketball Z = –4.20, p < .001, r = 0.88; volleyball Z = –3.73, p < .001, r = 0.88). Despite the significance of the pre-post gains in the CCK group, the gain was not meaningful. The gains in the SCK group were both significant and meaningful.
Conclusions: Findings demonstrate that depth of SCK is not acquired from engagement in K-12 physical education and extra curricula experiences; and as such must be explicitly taught to teachers. The findings also show that SCK can be taught when the content of the class is focused on SCK. The results have important implications for the design of teacher preparation programs and professional development.
Presenting Author: Emi Tsuda, The Ohio State University
Authors: Ethan Devrilmez, Middle East Technical University; Faith Servant, Marmara University; and Phillip WardF, The Ohio State University
Chinese Physical Education Teachers Specialized Content Knowledge of Soccer
Ward (2009) has conceptualized SCK as a special form of knowledge that is only needed if one is an instructor. As such, SCK is not knowledge that a non-teaching or non-coaching person needs to possess. Ward (2009) argues that because of this SCK needs to be explicitly taught and the most obvious places for that is in preservice and continuing, formal and informal, organized or self-directed professional development. SCK might also be acquired from coaching workshops prior to, during, or following initial teacher training as a result of athletic (e.g., sports) or artistic (e.g., dance) participation as a coach. The hypotheses concerning SCK remains largely untested, and as such we know very little about how teachers acquire SCK. This presents challenges for teacher educators and policy makers in their efforts to prepare teachers, design programs and policies.
Participants were 384 middle and high school teachers in the Peoples Republic of China. First, we measured the depth of SCK using content maps (Lee et al., 2015) coded using a modification of Rink’s (1979) content development categories such as informing refining and extending. Once tasks were categorized these data were converted using a formula that placed informing tasks as a denominator and all other tasks as numerators. This created an index that was used to determine depth of SCK. For example an index of two indicated that for every informing task there were two other tasks used to develop the informing task. This provided a measure of the depth of SCK possessed by teachers in this sample. Second, using 12 demographic variables we sought to examine extent to which these demographic variables could predict SCK scores using ANOVA comparisons with Bonferroni adjustments. Demographic variables included years teaching, playing, and coaching soccer, years of teaching experience, teacher rank, gender age and degree type. Inter-observer agreement IOA was conducted on 53.1% (n = 204/384) of randomly selected content maps. The mean agreement was 96.2% (range, 85%-100%).
Data for the range of content map index scores present a positively skewed distribution. This distinction can be summarized as 22.8% of the teachers scored above 3.0 and conversely 78.2% of below 2.9. The ANOVA analysis showed that teachers’ ranking position, F(3, 368) = 3.18, p < .02, and years of teaching experience, F(1, 368) = 8.15, p < .005, would significantly predict the index score. The rest of demographic variables failed to significantly predict the index score. The model accounted for 11% of the total variance in the transformed index score.
Our findings showed that SCK were not predicted by the demographic variables with the exception of teacher’s rank and years teaching, which were very weak associations. Previous studies have shown that the depth of content knowledge can be distinguished between scores above and below indexes of 3.0. A majority of teachers had index scores of 3 or lower indicating that for each informing task it was developed by three other tasks. This suggests that these teachers possessed minimal depth of SCK for soccer.
Presenting Author: Yao-hui He, East China Normal University
Authors: Phillip WardF, The Ohio State University; Xiaozan Wang, East China Normal University; and Weidong Li, The Ohio State University
Friday, March 17, 4:15 p.m.–5:30 p.m
Innovative CSPAP-Based Interventions: Processes and Outcomes
Category: Physical Activity and Health Promotion
Overview: SHAPE America and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend a comprehensive school physical activity program (CSPAP) as a multicomponent and coordinated approach to help youth meet national physical activity guidelines. The purpose of this symposium is to present research on processes and outcomes of five recent or current innovative multicomponent interventions that can be mapped onto the CSPAP framework to develop and harness physically active school cultures.
Background: SHAPE America and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend a comprehensive school physical activity program (CSPAP) as a multicomponent and coordinated approach to help children and adolescents meet national physical activity guidelines. However, few interventions have targeted multiple CSPAP components, and the results of these interventions on youth physical activity have been minimal. Intervention research employing innovative physical activity promotion strategies through multiple CSPAP-aligned components is critical to advance the knowledge base underpinning best practices for program implementation, effectiveness, and sustainability. The purpose of this symposium is to present research on processes and outcomes of five recent or current multicomponent interventions that can be mapped onto the CSPAP framework and capitalize on innovative capacity building strategies to develop and harness physically active school cultures. In the first presentation, research on the NFL Play 60 FitnessGram Partnership Project is presented. Specifically, results are shared with respect to the influence of school variables and teacher motivation on CSPAP adoption and utilization. The second presentation focuses on a two-year CSPAP implemented in five urban elementary schools. Results are presented with respect to key program outcomes, including school day physical activity, health-related fitness, motor skills, physical activity knowledge, enjoyment, metabolic health, and classroom behavior. Partnerships for Active Children in Elementary Schools (PACES), a pilot study aimed at increasing children’s physical activity during school, is the topic of the third presentation. PACES data on changes in physical activity promotion during physical education and classroom time, and children’s physical activity in the first year of the project are presented. As described in the fourth presentation, five rural schools collaborated with a university to develop CSPAPs based on the Fitness for Life curriculum. Three years of program implementation and outcomes data are presented, including teachers’ physical activity promotion and students’ physical activity, students’ health knowledge, and stakeholders’ perspectives of the programs. Finally, the fifth presentation describes and evaluates the training models and programming strategies used in the School Wellness Integration Targeting Child Health (SWITCH) pilot program. Findings are presented in terms of key facilitators and barriers to program implementation, and lessons learned. Overall, this symposium provides promising new directions for CSPAP planning and implementation to help ensure that schools reach their potential as key environments to support and sustain daily opportunities and developmental trajectories that lead to physically active and healthy lifestyles.
Influence of Teacher Motivation on Adoption of NFL Play60 Programming
Background: To advance research on Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programming (CSPAP), it is important to understand the factors that influence successful adoption, implementation and maintenance of programming. The NFL PLAY 60 FitnessGram Partnership Project uses a unique participatory design to enable evaluation of CSPAP applications under real world conditions. The purpose of the presentation will be to describe insights about moderating influences from teacher motivation and school engagement within the NFL PLAY 60 FitnessGram Partnership Project.
Methods: The goal of the NFL PLAY 60 FitnessGram Project is to help PE teachers take advantage of FitnessGram and NFL PLAY 60 resources as part of their normal instructional practices. The adoption of NFL Play 60 programming (i.e., ‘Fuel up to PLAY 60ʹ or ‘PLAY 60 Challenge’) is encouraged (but not required) so the study provides a unique perspective on studying teacher’s willingness to take on extra programming and work required for CSPAP. Teachers from participating schools complete an annual survey to report use of FitnessGram resources and NFL programming. The survey also included variables to capture school engagement as well as a series of items from the previously validated Self-Regulations for Educators Questionnaire (SREQ) designed to assess autonomous motivation versus controlled motivation of teachers to make change. The study adapts previous multi-level longitudinal models to examine the moderating influence of school variables and teacher motivation on adoption and utilization of the recommended school programming.
Results: Over a four-year span, a total of 497 schools submitted annual FitnessGram data through the project. Schools were considered to be a “programming school” if they reported on annual surveys that they used either ‘Fuel up to PLAY 60ʹ or ‘PLAY 60 Challenge’ for at least 2 years over the 4 years of tracking. The inclusion of SREQ variables in the models revealed that teacher’s degree of autonomous and controlled motivation had a significant impact on adoption and implementation of NFL PLAY 60 programming.
Conclusions: Previous research has supported the psychometric properties of the SREQ for examining teachers’ motivation to implement CSPAP. The present study quantifies the impact of school variables and teacher motivation on CSPAP applications.
Presenting Author: Gregory J. WelkF, Iowa State University
Authors: Spyridoula Vazou, Iowa State University; Senlin ChenF, Iowa State University; and YangBai, University of Vermont
Findings and Lessons Learned From a 2-Year CSPAP
Background: The health, psychological, and academic benefits of physical activity (PA) are well documented. Unfortunately, few children are meeting recommended levels of PA and spend more time than ever in sedentary behaviors during and after school hours. To combat physical inactivity, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and SHAPE America have championed Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programming (CSPAP). To date, little is known about the effectiveness of a fully implemented CSPAP on various PA related outcomes. The purpose of this presentation is to share findings from the first two years of a large CSPAP being implemented in five urban elementary schools from a Southwestern capital city.
Methods: Participants (N = 2,344; 98% free lunch; 94% ethnic minority) were from five urban Title I elementary schools in the Southwester US. Children were in grades K-6 and had received CSPAP for two years at the time of this study. Each school received training, curricula, and equipment necessary for implementing physical education, physically active recess, classroom PA, before/after school programming as well as opportunities for both staff and community/family involvement. Furthermore, each school identified a Physical Activity Leader (PAL) responsible for overseeing the CSPAP. Baseline and follow-up data included school day PA (pedometers and accelerometers), health-related fitness (FitnessGram), motor skills (TGMD-3), knowledge (PE Metrics; Nutrition Knowledge), enjoyment (PACES; Funometer), metabolic health (blood lipid profiles; waist circumference; blood pressure), and classroom behavior (direct observation).
Conclusions: Findings indicated increases in school step counts (Δ = + 760 steps, p < .001, Cohen’s d = 0.44), school MVPA (Δ = + 6.1 min, p < .001, Cohen’s d = 0.42), estimated VO2peak (Δ = + 10.1 mL/kg/min, p < .001, Cohen’s d = 1.43), muscular strength and endurance (push-ups: Δ = + 5.2 reps, p < .001, Cohen’s d = 0.22; curl-ups: Δ = 8.7 reps, p < .001, Cohen’s d = 0.19), fundamental motor skills (Δ = + 8.0%, p < .001, Cohen’s d = 0.67), enjoyment (Δ = + 7.0%, p < .001, Cohen’s d = 0.26), knowledge (Δ = + 20%, p < .001), and metabolic health markers (HDL cholesterol: Δ = + 2.4 mg/dL, p < .001, Cohen’s d = 0.27; triglycerides: −14.1 mg/dL, p < .001, Cohen’s d = 0.33; MAP: −2.6 mmHg, p < .001, Cohen’s d = 0.29).
Results: Results support the efficacy of CSPAP implementation in low-income ethnic minority children. These promising initial findings provide important first evidence of the impact of large-scale multi-component school-based PA programming on numerous health and PA indicators. Importantly, administrative support and effectiveness of the PAL played a large role in program effectiveness. Classroom teacher buy-in is essential as the largest percentage of school time is spent in the classroom. More work is needed in other settings and with matched control groups to make findings more generalizable.
Presenting Author: Timothy A. BrusseauF, University of Utah
Authors: Ryan D. Burns and Yi Fang, University of Utah; You Fu, University of Nebraska at Kearney; Sarah Goodrum, Natalie Norris, and Natalie Lynn, University of Utah; and James C. HannonF, West Virginia University
Partnerships For Active Children In Elementary Schools: First-Year Results
Background: Partnerships for Active Children in Elementary Schools (PACES) is a two-year pilot study designed to increase children’s time spent in physical activity during school hours. The PACES intervention targets classes with a relatively high risk of limited activity opportunities. Three partnership approaches—a community of practice (CoP), community-based participatory research (CBPR), and university service-learning (USL)—are used to leverage school’s capacity to implement and sustain extended programming for children’s physical activity during regularly scheduled physical education and classroom time. This study examined the effect of PACES on physical activity promotion and children’s physical activity in the first year of the project.
Methods: A pre-post non-randomized control group design was used. Four elementary schools in a southeastern metropolitan area agreed to participate in the study. Three classes (grades 1–3) from each school were selected to participate based on the classroom teachers’ self-reported low physical activity promotion compared to other teachers at the schools. The classes at the fourth school that agreed to participate served as a control group. Systematic observation and accelerometers were used to collect baseline data on physical activity promotion and children’s (N = 229) physical activity, respectively, during physical education lessons and classroom time on 2–3 days per class during the Fall 2014 academic semester. In Spring 2015, the classes at School 1 received all three PACES components (CoP, CBPR, and USL), while the classes in School 2 received only CoP and CBPR and the classes in School 3 received only CoP. The same data collection protocols used at baseline were followed again after ~ 4 months of intervention.
Results: Regression models and descriptive statistics were used to determine changes in minutes of physical activity promotion and physical activity from baseline to intervention. Physical activity promotion increased during physical education (e.g., 8.2% increase in use of small-sided games) across all intervention classes, and during classroom time (e.g., 6.2% increase in non-academic movement breaks) in five of the intervention classes. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity increased during physical education for girls (22.7–26.6%) and boys (33.2–39.0%). Total physical activity increased during classroom time for classes in School 2 (38.0–47.8% for girls, 44.1–53.1% for boys), but not for classes in School 1 or School 3.
Conclusions: Receiving more PACES components may be less important than the duration of the intervention. It may take more time to positively influence physical activity promotion and physical activity within general education classrooms compared to physical education.
Presenting Authors: Collin A. WebsterF, University of South Carolina
Authors: R. Glenn Weaver and Catherine A. Egan, University of South Carolina; Spyridoula Vazou, Iowa State University; and Robert D. Michael, Hadrien Choukroun, and Nicole Kaysing, University of South Carolina
The Effectiveness of a Long-Term CSPAP
Background: The Comprehensive School Physical Activity (PA) Program model (CSPAP) serves as a conceptual framework for this project with 5 types of PA integration (physical education [PE], before/after school, during school, family/community involvement, & staff programming; CDC, 2015). A three-year intervention study was conducted targeting increased PA participation across all 5 CSPAP model components as well as healthy behavior knowledge and healthy eating in five rural schools. This presentation’s purpose is to provide an overview of program components and selective outcomes.
Methods: Each school developed their own healthy and active school model based on the Fitness for Life curriculum (Corbin et al., 2014) including some or all of the following components: increasing PE from 1–2 times per week, training classroom teachers to implement PA breaks, before school programming, family/community events, staff involvement, implementing 3–4 wellness weeks per year, integrating PA and nutrition knowledge across the curriculum, and improving the quality of lunch meal. School personnel received professional development (4–5 sessions/year) and mentor teacher support. Several student and teacher variables were assessed and a few of the findings are discussed below.
Results: Pedometer data suggested that students from one school had mean daily steps of 11,463 and were close to meeting the daily recommendations of 12,000 steps (Colley et al., 2012). Similarly, students at two of the schools were exceeding typical averages for school day steps with >5,000 steps during school. At one school, mean steps in PE increased more than 30% after the implementation of the program. Similarly, using accelerometers, MVPA also significantly increased during PE. Teachers across schools reported implementing frequent PA breaks during wellness weeks. They also reported implementing 8.2 wellness week activities/week. Students learned significantly more about being healthy from the Fitness for Life curriculum, although their knowledge levels were still low. Stakeholders (students, teachers, administrators, parents) all reported (through interviews and reflections) positive views of the healthy and active school programming.
Conclusions: Stakeholders were mostly positive about their schools’ healthy and active programs. The students were more active daily, in school and in PE classes. Students improved their healthy behavior content knowledge. CSPAP efforts have extended beyond the school day, although family and community involvement was limited. Further, the food service at some of the school has also improved. Change takes time; however, there is evidence of positive health-related school culture changes at all 5 of our intervention schools.
Presenting Author: Pamela Hodges KulinnaF, Arizona State University
Authors: Kent Lorenz, San Francisco State University; Michalis Stylianou, University of Queensland; Shannon Mulhearn and Hyeonho Yu, Arizona State University
Description and Evaluation of CSPAP Training in the SWITCH Initiative
Background: The successful adoption and implementation of Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programming (CSPAP) necessitates a ‘whole of school’ approach and team-based strategies. The SWITCH project (School Wellness Integration Targeting Child Health) is designed to advance research on training models needed for successful adoption, implementation, and maintenance of CSPAP in elementary schools. A unique aspect of SWITCH is that emphasis is placed on evaluating the multiple overlapping processes needed to facilitate changes in school wellness programming. The presentation will describe the training models and programming strategies used to support school-level implementation of CSPAP through Switch as well as preliminary process evaluation.
Methods: The SWITCH training process is based on the established Healthy Youth Places framework and involves training and support for a school change team that then carries out the Switch programming within their own school environment. The SWITCH intervention process utilizes a ‘continuous quality improvement framework’ designed to help build sustainable systems for improvement over time. Schools are provided with features that characterize effective implementation (SWITCH Quality Elements) as well as curricular modules and resources to carry out Switch, but the emphasis is placed on building team work and fostering a culture of change for better wellness policies and practices within the school environment.
Results: Pilot research demonstrated that key facilitators driving the implementation of Switch within the schools included Training, Communication, and the presence of a Quality School Coordinator. Key barriers to implementation were Time, Support/Buy-In, and Resources. Results also demonstrated that the impact of support/buy-in varied across the three school settings (i.e., classroom, lunchroom and PE). Lessons learned through the pilot will be shared along with features of the refined Switch training process.
Conclusions: The pilot evaluation provided valuable feedback to facilitate the continued refinement of the SWITCH initiative. Continued evaluation of Switch provides opportunities to understand factors needed for successful adoption, implementation and maintenance of CSPAP in elementary schools.
Presenting Author: Senlin ChenF, Iowa State University
Authors: Gregory J. WelkF, Spyridoiula Vazou, Lorraine Lanningham-Foster, Douglas A. Gentile, Joey Lee, and Maren Wolff, State University; and David A. Dzewaltowski and Richard R. Rosenkranz, Kansas State University