Although students are required by state law to take a fitness test, recent school budget cuts are forcing districts to fire physical education staff.
By Tracy Marcynzsyn/Special to The Malibu Times
This spring, students in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District will join more than one million students throughout the state who are required to participate in state-mandated fitness testing. But, as they gear up to meet the standards set by the state, looming school budget cuts will force the district to lay-off physical education staff hired to make sure the students pass the required testing.
In the past two years, Santa Monica-Malibu schools have had a “Focus on Fitness” campaign aimed at improving students’ fitness levels.
“We have realigned our curriculum to focus on fitness,” said Chris Corliss, program coordinator for sports and physical fitness education for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD).
Corliss credits the district’s physical education activity specialists, who are well trained staff, as well as more equipment and improved facilities, with making a difference in students’ scores on the fitness tests.
“They [district fitness specialists] have done a tremendous job with very limited resources,” Corliss said. A lack of financial support and large class sizes (an average of 50 students in many classes) have characterized the working conditions with which the physical education staff must deal, Corliss explained. And despite their contributions to students’ fitness, district physical activity specialists “are on the cut list” due to lack of funding, Corliss said.
At present, however, physical education teachers are preparing for the testing at local schools.
Fifth, seventh and ninth graders required by Assembly Bill 265 passed in 1995 to take the standardized fitness test will be assessed in six areas including aerobic capacity (cardiovascular endurance), body composition (percentage of body fat), abdominal strength and endurance, trunk strength and flexibility, upper body strength and endurance, and overall flexibility.
The Fitnessgram, developed by the Cooper Institute of Aerobics Research in Houston in conjunction with the American Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, is the standardized test used for fitness testing in 40 states.
In order to be determined fit by the state of California, students must score in the “Healthy Fitness Zone” (HFZ) on each test. The HFZ is based on national fitness criteria that look at age and gender.
According to Corliss, “These standards represent a level of fitness that offers some degree of protection against diseases that result from sedentary living.”
However, like any standardized tests, the scores may not reveal all of a student’s strengths. According to physical education instructor Tony Murphy of Juan Cabrillo Elementary School, the Fitnessgram may not be completely effective.
“It [the fitness test] doesn’t show all of their athletic ability,” Murphy said.
Murphy said the tests do not consider a student’s agility, skill at water sports and other individual skills.
In 2001, 15.7 percent of fifth, seventh and ninth graders met or exceeded the standards in all six tests, while in 2002, 26.4 percent of students achieved the HFZ for all six tests, a 10.7 percent improvement in scores.
“While I’m concerned such a small percentage of students meet minimum standards, only 24 percent of students statewide met all six standards,” said Corliss in a press release.
Corliss said district fitness performance targets are based on the number of students who meet or exceed the HFZ in five of the six tests. Corliss said SMMUSD students are faring better in the fitness testing compared with the rest of the state.
“In 2002, 57.5 percent of fifth graders, 41.2 percent of seventh graders and 51.2 percent of ninth graders met at least five of six standards compared to only 25 percent of students in those same grades throughout the rest of the state,” Corliss said.
“The percentage of all SMMUSD students who met or exceeded the national fitness standards in at least five of the six standards improved dramatically from 36.2 percent in 2001 to 51.2 percent in 2002, a 15.2 percent improvement in performance,” Corliss added.
Fitness testing is not a new concept. It was first developed in the United States in the 1950s when a researcher in Europe compared fitness levels in Europe and the U.S.
President Eisenhower then started the Presidential Physical Fitness Council. Fitness tests were evaluated in the ’80s and today’s test, the Fitnessgram, was developed in the ’90s.
In addition to the health benefits of being physically fit, students’ fitness levels may also affect academic performance.
“In December, the state department of education connected test scores with standardized tests,” Corliss said. “They found a relationship between health and fitness and academic performance.”
The California Department of Education study matched scores from the spring 2001 SAT-9 tests with results of the Fitnessgram. Reading and math scores were matched with fitness scores of 353,000 fifth graders, 322,000 seventh graders and 279,000 ninth graders. Results indicated higher test scores were associated with higher levels of fitness at each of the three grade levels. Further, the study revealed that the relation between academic achievement and fitness was greater in math than in reading, and students who met minimum fitness levels in three or more physical fitness areas showed the greatest gains in academic achievement at all three grade levels, according to a press release from the Department of Education.
The California Education Code requires students to take physical education in grades 1-9, and for one year in high school. In grades 1-6, students must have 200 minutes of physical education every 10 school days, and in grades 7-12, students are required to have 400 minutes every 10 school days.
Detailed information on the 2001 physical fitness results is available on the California Department of Education Web site: http://www.cde.ca.gov/statetests/pe/pe.html.