The squeak of sneakers on a gym floor and squawk of whistles are common school sounds during PE class. But with the increasing emphasis on academic testing in recent decades, are Wyoming public school students getting enough physical education and activity?

Likely not, said Dr. Ben Kern, an associate professor at the University of Wyoming who specializes in physical education research and pedagogy.

“A research study that I conducted with colleagues across the country noted that Wyoming elementary students only receive about 73 minutes per week of physical education,” Kern told the Legislature’s Joint Education Committee. “There are some elementary schools in Wyoming that offer 30 minutes of physical education to elementary students once every six school days. That’s roughly less than 30 class periods over the course of the entire school year.”

National guidelines from the Society of Health and Physical Educators  150 minutes of weekly instructional physical education for elementary school children, and 225 minutes for middle and high school students. In the more general category of “physical activity,” the organization recommends school-age children accumulate at least 60 minutes and up to several hours of physical activity daily while avoiding prolonged periods of inactivity. 

Kern brought up the importance of physical education during a broader committee assessment on the so-called “basket of goods” that Wyoming provides to public school children. The Legislature is tasked with defining and specifying what a proper education is for a Wyoming child. 

On June 1, the Education Committee spent hours reviewing the state’s specific components, which range from computer science to English language arts and, yes, physical education. 

As lawmakers mull the right mix of components in the educational basket, Kern advised them to consider establishing minimum weekly PE time requirements.

“I respectfully urge the committee to consider strengthening physical education within the basket of goods through clear statutory expectations,” Kern said, “and specifically, Wyoming should consider establishing minimum weekly PE time requirements, prohibiting the withholding of physical education as a punishment … and requiring meaningful physical education credit for graduation, while limiting the substitutions for non-PE activities.” 

Lawmakers were receptive to the concept of encouraging more physical education but reluctant to embrace mandatory guidance. 

Get kids moving 

Kern has a PhD in kinesiology and has authored or co-authored  On Monday, he spoke in partnership with the Wyoming Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, he said. 

“Physical education is not an extra. It’s part of a well-rounded education and directly supports the health, learning, workforce readiness and quality of life of Wyoming students,” he said. “Wyoming already includes physical education in its educational program, but inclusion alone doesn’t guarantee meaningful access. Many students in Wyoming receive far less physical education than is needed to develop their physical literacy.” 

One of his research studies found that “from 2005 to 2021 the number of minutes per week of middle school physical education went from 221 minutes per week down to 161 minutes per week … a significant reduction, and that’s been seen across the country as well.”

Some of that drop can be attributed to a decline in subjects like PE, art and music as due to a growing emphasis and accountability on state and national testing, he said. 

But high-quality physical education supports areas like attention, behavior, mental health, confidence, teamwork and academic achievement, Kern argued. “When students lose these opportunities to move, be creative, succeed beyond just test scores and experience joy in school, the day becomes less balanced and less engaging,” he said. “And for many children, school-based PE is the only structured physical activity they get through the entire week.” 

In another study his lab conducted, 95% of 145 principals responding to a statewide survey reported that their school’s PE curriculum is specifically designed to meet Wyoming’s PE standard, Kern said. “That same survey found that just over 42% of Wyoming schools could increase physical education time if the state required it … That tells us that school leaders value physical education, and many schools already have the capacity to act if the Legislature required it.”

Guidance

While he didn’t want to go as far as putting PE standards into statute, Laramie Democrat Sen. Chris Rothfuss suggested that the state can strive for clearer guidance. He recommended the committee draft a non-codified bill directing the Wyoming Board of Education to produce guidance on physical education access and to discourage any punitive taking away of PE. 

“So it is drafting a bill, but it’s not in statute, it’s not codified, and it would be providing a directive for this upcoming drafting of the standards to provide guidance,” Rothfuss said. 

The committee approved the idea. 

“I think PE and physical activity is highly important for our kids today,” Sen. Evie Brennan, R-Cheyenne, said, “and so whatever we can do to not take that away as a form of discipline and to encourage that movement, I fully support.”

COLUMBIA — Recess would be required for elementary and middle school students in a proposal attempting to decrease childhood obesity rates.

The bill discussed by a House panel Tuesday would mandate at least 20 minutes of outdoor play every school day for students in kindergarten through eighth grade. It would also double the time sixth- through eighth-graders must spend in structured physical education classes, from 30 hours to 60 hours for the year.

The goal, said bill sponsor Rep. Patrick Haddon, is to get students more physically active to reduce obesity rates.

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Nearly 40% of students in the state were overweight or obese last school year, according to data collected through the .

“This is a big problem that’s been in the making for some years now,” said Haddon, R-Greenville.

In nearly half the state’s public schools, students in second, fifth and eighth grades, as well as high schoolers, take the FitnessGram test to evaluate their general health and physical abilities. Those findings show childhood fitness has been falling, said Russell Pate, who leads a group at the University of South Carolina researching children’s physical activity.

During the 2022-23 school year, 54% of children received unhealthy scores on cardiorespiratory tests that involved running a mile and sprinting. When asked to do pushups to measure upper body strength, 44% of tested students needed improvement, according to the most recent report.

That makes for “a critical public health issue,” Pate told legislators.

When children don’t have time to play outside, they don’t learn how to play, said David Stodden, a professor of educational and developmental science at USC.

“If kids can’t play, they can’t use this equipment,” Stodden said, showing lawmakers a photo of a playground.

Not using the playground means losing valuable interactions with other children, hindering them socially, Stodden said. Plus, exercise boosts the parts of the brain used to learn other skills, such as reading and math, he said.

The proposal, however, could add stress to already overburdened schools and teachers, said Patrick Kelly, a lobbyist for the Palmetto State Teachers’ Association.

Schools have been enough teachers in all subjects, and physical education is no exception, Kelly said. Plus, the additional 30 hours of physical education it would mandate for middle schoolers would take time away from lessons in math, reading, science and social studies, he said.

“The legislation seeks to allocate the most valuable and scarce resource we have in our schools, which is the time that we have with our students,” said Kelly, who is also a Columbia-area high school history teacher.

More flexibility for schools struggling to meet those requirements would help, Kelly said.

While the panel of legislators did not vote Tuesday, they generally agreed they did not want to further burden teachers.

“The one thing that I don’t want to have happen is we implement something with the time (requirements), and we don’t have the structure and the personnel to actually make it happen,” said Rep. David Vaughan, R-Simpsonville.

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