The Association Between School Physical Education Practices and School Level Socioeconomic Status

Youth physical activity in the United States remains low, with disparities by socioeconomic status (SES). Physical education (PE) is an effective structural intervention, yet implementation is below recommendations. This study examines whether elementary school SES is associated with the implementation of recommended PE practices.

Elementary school data from School Health Map were merged with National Center for Education Statistics data to fit four mixed-effects logistic models with SES and locale as fixed effects and state as a random intercept. Outcomes were four recommended PE practices.

Schools with lower SES had higher odds of meeting recommended weekly instructional minutes compared to high-SES schools. However, low-SES schools also had higher odds of allowing students to be withheld from PE for disciplinary or academic reasons and lower odds of employing qualified PE teachers. State-level factors appeared to influence physical education minutes, class size, and teacher qualifications.

Addressing disparities in PE practices will require coordinated state, district, and school-level efforts that go beyond weekly instructional time to prevent withholding PE, ensure manageable class sizes, and support qualified teachers.

Low-SES schools met PE minutes more often, but other equity gaps remained.