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Test
results: 80% of students out of shape
By Jeff
Donaldson
The Desert Sun
December 14th,
2001
Part of improving academic performance at schools in the
Coachella Valley may have to begin at students’ dinner tables,
officials said this week.
The results of a statewide
physical fitness test released Monday revealed nearly 80
percent of students are out of shape.
Concerned that
poor nutrition and lack of exercise are affecting how students
perform in the classroom, state legislators re-established the
physical fitness test last spring for students in fifth,
seventh and ninth grades.
Of the more than 1 million
students who took the six-part test, the results varied across
the Coachella Valley -- with up to 36 percent of fifth-graders
passing all six parts in Desert Sands Unified School
District.
No students in Coachella Valley Unified
School District were able to pass all six parts.
"This
means we’re going to have to do a better job getting our kids
physically fit," said Paul Grafton, director of testing and
assessment at Coachella Valley Unified.
Grafton said
officials have been concerned for years that children from low
socioeconomic areas tend to score poorly on the
tests.
Although 70 percent of students there took the
test, he said students whose families fail to emphasize good
eating or exercise habits tend to struggle with portions of
the exam.
"That is something that has the potential to
affect many aspects of a kid’s life," Grafton said. "Each of
our departments are working on the whole child, and you can
only hope to establish good habits. But it’s our job to
overcome this."
Senate Bill 896, approved in 1998,
requires the California Department of Education to report
results to the governor and the state legislature at least
once every two years.
The test, which was given last
spring, assessed students’ abilities to do sit-ups, push-ups,
running and consisted of body fat measurements and other
evaluations.
Statewide increase
About 90 percent of school
districts submitted data in 2001. Of those who were tested,
officials saw a statewide increase from 20 to 23 percent of
students who passed all six parts.
"This is a reminder
to us that our students need more assistance in developing
healthy fitness zone characteristics," said Frank Tinney,
director of assessment for Palm Springs Unified School
District.
That district averaged about 17 percent on
the test.
"We definitely see a difference between our
more affluent students and poorer students," Tinney said.
"Affluent students tend to be more fit, just as they tend to
score higher on academic achievement tests."
"We’ll
have to look closer at what our physical education teachers
are doing."
In Desert Sands Unified, the higher scores,
some 10 percent above the state average, illustrates that
requiring physical education should remain a top priority,
said physical education teacher Christy Hilton.
"With
the increased academic standards, (physical education) has
taken a huge back seat" in many places, Hilton said. "This is
something we need to take more seriously."
Improved academics
Indeed, educators believe
that students could improve their work in courses such as
math, reading and writing if they improved their diet and
exercise.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Delaine Eastin said she hopes the new information will be
something that schools can take to heart.
"It’s
important that schools develop programs designed to provide
students with the knowledge and abilities needed to maintain
active and healthy lifestyles," Eastin said.
"The
healthy, physical active child is more likely to be
academically motivated, alert and successful."
Jeff Donaldson is a writer for The Desert
Sun. He can be reached at 778-4652 or by e-mail at jeff.donaldson@thedesertsun.com
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