Correlates of Private Secondary Schools Meeting Physical Education Guidelines

Although there are over 26,000 private schools in the United States, little is known about the relationship of their characteristics to mandated and recommended time allocations for physical education (PE).

Private secondary schools (N = 450; grades 6-12) in California completed a 15-item questionnaire related to school characteristics and PE policies and practices. Using correlational analysis and predictive modeling, we assessed the associations and influences of various factors relative to the schools meeting state (California) and national professional time targets for PE.

Whereas most schools fell short of meeting PE weekly time recommendations, 5 of 10 tested variables were significantly associated with schools meeting PE minutes/week targets: school enrollment, school level, having a fitness testing policy, PE class size, and not permitting exemptions for PE. Large schools and those serving high school students provided more PE and were more likely to meet PE time allocation standards. Having policies for PE minutes/week and no exemptions for PE were significantly associated with a school having all its PE classes taught by a specialist.

Private secondary schools should consider the adoption of professional guidelines related to PE time allocations, class size, conducting physical fitness testing, employing PE specialists, and not permitting exemptions for PE.