The Relationship between Student Involvement in Extracurricular Sports and Scores on Benchmark Tests in Core Classes
Loading...
Links to Files
Permanent Link
Collections
Author/Creator
Author/Creator ORCID
Date
2013-05
Type of Work
Department
Program
Masters of Education
Citation of Original Publication
Rights
Collection may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. To obtain information or permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Goucher Special Collections & Archives at 410-337-6347 or email archives@goucher.edu.
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between student involvement in extracurricular athletics and student achievement on benchmark exams in core classes. This study was a causal comparative study which tracked groups of eighth-grade students and used their scores on state-standard aligned benchmark exams to measure academic achievement. The groups were divided into students who participated in extracurricular athletics and those who were nonparticipants. The hypothesis was made that students involved in extracurricular sports activities would not have higher scores on benchmark tests in core classes than those students who were not involved in extracurricular sports. Using the benchmark scores and a t test for the samples, it was found that students who participated in extracurricular sports showed significantly higher scores in social studies, mathematics, and the average benchmark scores overall. Students who participated in extracurricular athletics scored higher in all classes but the classes mentioned above were the only ones with significant data. The hypothesis that students involved in extracurricular sports activities would not have higher scores on benchmark tests in core classes than those students who were not involved in extracurricular sports was not supported. Further research is warranted to determine the impacts of such things as the involvement of a coach or mentor and if a team mentality provides peer motivation to be successful in academic courses.