Things That Make You Go Hmm..When it Come to Public Education

Just finised the article written by Dan Lawler, Ph.D.  It makes a strong case for increasing Physical Education and activity during the school day.  This comes at a time when most public schools are decreasing PE and eliminating recesses in the hopes that cramming more academic study into the school day will increase high stakes testing scores.  Here's a few things to think about.

As fitness increases, academic achievement increases, behavior issues decrease and wellness increases. But wait, we are decreasing activity in schools all over the country so what will that do to test scores??

If Johnny doesn't get enough physical activity in his day, his attention span decreases, he becomes more impulsive and classroom distuptions tend to increase.  The teacher spends more time managing the class and less time teaching.  What does that mean to everyone's test scores when it comes time to take that high stakes test?

If students are less healthy (think type 2 diabetes and other overweight diseases), it means more time out of school when they don't feel well or for Drs. appoinments.  Less time in school=less time learning=lower test scores.  Seems like simple math to me.

All teachers know that high stakes testing has added lots more stress to everyone's life at school.  Exercise and activity are proven ways to lower stress levels.  So...we have increased students' stress levels and are taking away a proven way to lower those stress levels.  Does a stressed out student do well on a high stakes test?

Mr. Lawler points out this quote:  Brain researcher John Medina said, "If you wanted to create an educational environment that was directly opposed to what the brain was good at doing, you would probably design something like a classroom."


Things that make you go hmmm...................