February 2016

Exercise is Also Good for the Brain

The law, passed in 2010, requires Washington, D.C. public and public charter schools to adhere to requirements for what food must be served and how much physical activity should be built into each school week. The schools received funding as part of the legislation and were required to report how they implemented the program.

“This finding demonstrates that students’ academic performance improves when there’s a balance between time spent on physical education and time spent on learning,” said Stacey Snelling, dean of American University’s School of Education.

Since the Healthy Schools Act was passed, the District’s schools have been required to incrementally increase the amount of physical education offered to elementary and middle school students each year. In the 2014-2015 school year, elementary school students should have received an average of at least 150 minutes per week, while middle school students should have received an average of at least 225 minutes.

Schools across D.C. struggled to meet those targets for physical education, but those that provided about 90 minutes each week saw higher standardized math scores, according to the report.

Source is a great article from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2016/02/09/is-more-physical-education-at-school-linked-to-higher-student-math-scores/