The relationship between extracurricular activities and student academic performance

¶ … participation in ext-curricular activities affect a high school student's GPA, Attendance, honor roll, discipline, behavior etc.

Grade Point Averages are Higher among Students that are Participants in Extra-Curricular Activities

In a study reported in the Journal of Educational Research and written by Elisha Chambers (2002) the stated purpose of study was stated by Chambers to be in the examination of the relationship between the student's after school pursuits or "extra-curricular" activities. The beginning of the study was stated to be in the early 1990's "when educators became interested in the child in terms of overall development" stating that by the turn of the century these type of studies were discouraged. Many studies exist inclusive of findings such as one termed "The Involvement Principle" which assists in grasping yet another aspect in discovery within case study pertaining to understanding the benefits in extra-curricular activities and in establishment as fact the thoughts that enhancement provided to learning. Building knowledge upon knowledge, or the theory known well by the name of "Bloom's Taxonomy" in the statement of Benjamin Bloom concerning knowledge of prior attainment being conducive for the building of more knowledge in the brain of the individual learner. Support is found through this as well in a separate study that is in relation to the effect of music upon the childhood brain and cross-curricular learning which is stated to be scientifically based. Finally, the researcher in the present study has performed data collection and analysis are stated as well.

Grade Point Averages are Higher among Students that are Participants in Extra-Curricular Activities

I. Introduction

Context of Issue and Rationale for the study

The music teacher/researcher in this study has taught in the present school of Neligh-Oakdale for three years. The teacher scores Division 1 rating and has experienced success. The practice of that teacher is reflected within this research and the success of the music department relies on this type of critical thinking in the practice of teachers who are effectively applying their talents in education. The researcher has experiential knowledge of what has also resulted in that which appears to be evidential data that music indeed affects the student in terms of cross-curricular learning. The questions formed in the mind of the teacher/researcher has focused the research from questions and assumptions that formed over the three-year period of contemplation of the present study.

II. Research Questions:

1. Does the participation in extra-curricular activities help or hinder a students overall GPA?

2. Is there a difference in the number of absences in students who participate in extra-curricular activities vs. those who don't?

3. Are there gender related differences when comparing students GPA's which the extra-curricular activities that they are or aren't involved in?

4. What life skills can be taught by being involved in extra-curricular activities?

III. Findings of the Study

Findings of the study are that extra-curricular activities are definitely connected to higher grade point averages and this is evidenced through study based on analysis of data as well as through literature research of credible sources based on evidence in case study research in abundance. Furthermore the findings in this study show that music education is related closely to cognitive brain functioning and as well that these benefits are cross-curricular in the effects upon brain functioning in view of student learning. While sports activities tend to promote knowledge in health and well-being other activities promote skills in leadership and team work as well as other professional, business and societal skills needed in the future by the student in life skill requirements for success.

As to the differences in gender there is only a slight difference noted. In the comparison of female students vs. male students that did not participate in extra activities and were not honor roll students the group averages were as follows:

Female

Male

In the comparison of female vs. male students that did participate in extra activities but were not honor roll students the following was revealed in the group averages:

Female 89.0

This may be considered a limitation as there is only one student in this group and is not representative of an actual averaging of collective GPA's.]

Male 88.076666

Comparison among the groups of male and female students in terms of those students who were honor roll students yet were not participant in extra activities revealed the following group averages:

Female 94.0675

Male 94.281111

Finally, in the last of the groups compared the female and male students who were honor roll students with no extra activity participation revealed the following group averages:

Female 93.11

Male 95.88

This may be considered a limitation as there is only one student in this group and is not representative of an actual averaging of collective GPA's.]

IV. Literature Review

1. Two Schools-of-Thought - Extracurricular Activities

In a study reported in the Journal of Educational Research and written by Elisha Chambers (2002) the stated purpose of study was stated by Chambers to be in the examination of the relationship between the student's after school pursuits or "extra-curricular" activities. The beginning of the study was stated to be in the early 1990's "when educators became interested in the child in terms of overall development" stating that by the turn of the century these type of studies were discouraged. According to Chambers there are two schools of thought in relation to the extra-curricular issue activities. The first of these is based in the:

Zero-sum concept, in which it is hypothesized that these activities will displace academic time needed for learning. The greater amount of time spent in non-academic centered activities will decrease or subvert academic achievement by absorbing valuable academic time." (Camp, 1990; Marsh, 1992)

Chambers cites Porter (1991) who holds the view that loads are not academic in nature interfere with academic work, however the reality according to Chambers is that it is only the amount of time affected in a decrease for the individual overall and not specifically in terms of academic learning time. The second school of thought according to Chambers (2002) is: "based on the idea that these activities provide an experience that contributes to the overall development of the students." (Gerber, 1996 as cited by Chambers 2002) Chambers states that the study by research questions associated with differences in ethnic background and as to non-organized and organized academic activities. Findings of the study conducted by Chambers are:

Neither the zero-sum concept nor the commitment to school hypothesis was well supported. Academic works appear to be the pursuits most consistently related to achievement, although this varied by content domain and ethnicity. Nonacademic pursuits of the most part were not significantly related to achievement." Chambers (2002)

2. School "Connectedness" Results in Higher Levels of Psychosocial Functioning and other Healthy Behavior

In a study entitled "Differences in Behavior, Psychological Factors and Environmental Factors Associated with Participation in School Sports and Other Activities in Adolescence" which was published in the Journal of School Health (2003) it is stated as the Objective in conduction of the study in this case to make a determination as to whether or not participation in school team sports exclusively or in combination with other extracurricular activities, is associated with higher levels of psychosocial functioning and healthy behavior than participation in other extracurricular activities alone or non-participation. According to this study there is a type of bonding that takes place when students participate in extracurricular activities and results in what is referred to as "connectedness." Narayan (2003)

Stated is that such connectedness has been found to be "even more powerful than family connectedness in terms of protection against acting out behaviors in adolescence" and that "research which has been conducted on school-based interventions suggests that the relationship may be causal: what happens at school can influence students' feelings of being cared for." Narayan (2003) Findings in this study were the among male students 19.1% engaged in neither "sports" or "other activities" with 23.4% in "other activities" only, 15.1% engaged in "sports" only and 42.4% of the students engaged in both "sports" and "other activities." In the group of female students 12.6% were involved in neither with 31.6% in "other activities" and 7.3%% in "sports" only and 48.6% engaged in both activities of "sports" and "other."

The study findings include the fact that adolescents from single-parent homes were less likely to participate in either sports or other activities and were especially less likely to participate in both activities. Particularly disturbing was the finding that this study found a lower rate of participation in sports among students who were victims of either physical violence or sexual abuse and those from families with substance abuse problems. The findings of the study do seem to give weight to self-esteem indeed being a byproduct of participation in sports activities. Furthermore, the level in the participation in the school sports or other activities was targeted in the studies with a classification assigned to the students as to the specific activity(s). Narayan (2003) states that:

The four-category level of participation variable was cross tabulated with a set of health-enhancing and risk behaviors and a set of psychological and environmental factors separately for males and females as to whether participation in sports was a specific benefit. Significant findings were that the survey revealed that "participants in any type of extracurricular activity were significantly more likely than non-participants to exercise and consume nutritious foods, to like school and do homework, and to express positive attitudes about self, peers, teachers, and parents. Involved students were less likely to skip school, get into fights, vandalize property, smoke cigarettes or marijuana, binge drink, or have sexual intercourse. Students who participate in sports are less likely to suffer depression than non-participants. "

3. The Involvement Principle:

Reported in the Journal of Higher Education (1995) the work entitled "The Other Curriculum: Out-of-Class Experiences with Student Learning and Personal Development" sought to understand the relationship between leadership and socialization skills in relation to the personal development that seemingly takes place during extracurricular activities. According to the author of this work George D. Kuh, graduates believe that participation in student's organizations, part-time work as well as other extracurricular activities" are believed to prepare the student to better meeting the challenges faced after graduation in the socialization aspect of their work. A principle referred to in this study as the "Involvement Principle" was utilized. The involvement principal states that the more time and energy students expend in educationally purpose activities, the more they benefit. (Howard, 1986) There are give proposition contained within the "Involvement Principle" which are:

1. Involvement is the expenditure of psychological and physical energy in some kind of activity whether specific or highly general. (example of specific would be a bake sale to benefit the children's home; and highly general would be attendance at a concert or an evening in the local library)

2. Different students invest varying amounts of energy in different activities. That is, an elected student's government officer may devote many hours to related tasks over several semesters.

3. Involvement has quantitative and qualitative features with measures of involving inclusive of simple things such as the number of library uses, etc.

Finding of the study in the Senior- classmen outcomes reported in relation to extracurricular activities and interaction with their peers on this basis includes:

Self-awareness, autonomy, self-directedness, self-worth, reflective thought (including critical thinking ability to synthesize information and experiences) social competence, practical competence, knowledge acquisition, academic skills (including learning how to study, write, etc.) Aesthetic appreciation, vocational competence, sense of purpose in clarifying life goals, and an overall contribution to formation of principles, attitudes and beliefs. Kuh (1995)

4. School Culture Developed Through Extra-curriculum

In another study written by McNeal (1998) stated is that there is much existing research documenting the benefits that are gained by students from participation in extracurricular activities. (Camp, 1990; Eidsmore, 1064; Haensly, et al., 1986 as cited by McNeal, 1998) Further written is the fact that participation in high school extracurricular activities is viewed by some to be noncentral and nonessential elements of the education of an adolescent with these being the first targeted items when it is time for cuts in the budget. It is known however, the students who participate in extracurricular activities show positive outcomes that are inclusive of "increased academic achievement." Stated by McNeal (1998) is the fact that:

The extracurriculum also plays a key role in developing the school's culture. Schools generate an internal culture that revolves around the groups that students form. There is also extensive work linking the importance of activities to the value children learn through their active participation extracurricular activities are associated with a wealth of positive and negative outcomes. There is a clear distinction between the focus in athletics on competitiveness, aggression and the internalization of a hierarchical role structure and the focus in fine arts on behaviors such as poise and the application of classroom-based knowledge. McNeal (1998)

5. School Satisfaction and the Extracurricular Activities:

study performed and written by Gilman (2001) entitled "The Relationship Between Life Satisfaction, Social Interest, and Frequency of Extracurricular Activities Among Adolescent Students" and reported in the Journal of Educational Research was conducted with the objective of establishing the fact that satisfaction in school is associated with extracurricular activities and that social interest, which involves a "sense of belongingness was also associated with out-of-school activities. This study cites Rosen field (1992) who held that extracurricular activities promote 'self-mastery' and Huebner et al. (1995) who held that dissatisfaction with life is linked to positive outcomes in self-esteem. Findings in this study were that life satisfaction increased in the groups that participated in extracurricular activities resulting in an increased satisfaction in school.

V. Purpose of Study

The purpose of this study is to establish whether or not participation in extracurricular activities influence the student's outcome in terms of the semester grade point average and if so to what extent. Furthermore, this study seeks to discover any possible relationship between music and its' effect upon learning.

VI. Method of Data Collection:

Data collection was conducted through the method of triangulation first in surveys to discover the student's extra-curricular information. This was performed in order to document the resulting data as the researcher was also the teacher of the students of this study. Data was also collected from the report cards of the students by the teacher/researcher in this study. Evidence within the data was established through groupings and calculating averages among students in groups of males that were honor roll students and were involved in activities, another group of the same but differentiated by not being honor roll students, next by males that had no activities and finally by males that were not honor roll students and had no activities. The same groupings were used in analysis of the female data in the study. Finally the male and female studies were compared and any contrasting data noted.

VI. Data Analysis

Analysis of data in this study will be conducted through examining the individual student information as to their grade point average, honor roll status, activities of participation (extracurricular) and the number of those activity as well as what those activities specifically are. Next the study of implications given through the data revealed in the number of days absent, tardy or spent in detention in relation to the grade point average will be carefully considered. The socioeconomic factors of each individual student will also be given careful consideration and allowed for in the calculation of results in this study. Data Resource Materials: Charts, Tables and other Data in the Study

Listed in the Chart below labeled Chart 1.0 are the individual student's information as to their grade point average, gender, whether they were honor roll students, the number of and description of extra-curricular activities they participate in and the number of times absent or tardy during the preceding semester.

Chart 1.0

Other data that will be utilized in analysis of the information in this study is information as to the socioeconomic background of the individual student as to the relationship between it and the other information that has been provided and is shown the table labeled Table 1.0

Table 1.0

A. Female Students

The data below demonstrates the resulting data from the study of 11 female students. The data shows that among the female students with no extra curricular activities and none of these students being honor roll students that the grade point averages below resulted. Through first adding these GPA figures together and then dividing by 4 the resulting grade point average among female students with no extra activities and being non-honor roll students that the average of 84.44425 is calculated.

No extra activities-Did not make honor roll)

F1 79.33

F4 86.00

F6 84.33

F7 88.11

Average of all Grade Point Averages in this Group: 84.44425

There being only one female student who did have extra curricular activities but is not an honor roll student this score will be counted as a variable in that 89.0 is very near the mark for honor roll and since the student has two extra activities it is assumed for the purpose of this study that the extra activities propelled the student to near reaching the mark expected to result from extracurricular pursuits.

Extracurricular Activities - Did not make honor roll)

F3 89.00

Next listed are the female students who are honor roll students but do not participate in extracurricular activities. The average grade point average in this division of students is 93.11.

Honor Roll Students - No extracurricular Activities)

F9 92.44

F11 93.78

Average of all Grade Point Averages in this Group: 93.11

In this group of female students who are honor roll students and who participate in extra curricular activities are listed below. The average grade point average among this group of students is 94.0675 which representative of the highest average group grade point average when averaged than among other groups of female students.

Honor Roll Students - Extracurricular Activity Participation)

Average of all Grade Point Averages in this Group: 94.067

F2 94.89

F5 98.38

F8 93.00

F10 90.00

Average of all Grade Point Averages in this Group: 94.0675

B. Male Students

Male students who were not on the honor roll and had no activities showed grade point averages as illustrated below. The overall group average of grade point averages to equal 83.5975 as noted below:

No extra activities-Did not make honor roll)

M1 93.50

M6 76.00

M7 84.14

M16 80.75

Average of Grade Point Averages in this Group: 83.5975

Male students who were not on the honor roll and who had one or more activities resulted in an overall group average of the student's grade point average equaling the sum of 88.076666.

Not on Honor Role - One or More Activity)

M4 91.56

M10 83.00

M17 89.67

Average of Grade Point Averages in this Group: 88.076666.

Male students who were on the honor roll and who had one or more activity resulted in an overall group average of the student grade point average to be 94.281111.

Honor Roll Students - One or More Activity)

M2 93.32

M4 95.44

M5 96.00

M8 97.25

M9 93.22

M12 95.78

M13 89.38

M14 93.75

M15 94.38

Average of all Grade Point Averages in this Group: 94.281111.

Male students who were on the honor roll but didn't take part in extra activities is illustrated below and results in a group average of the grade point averages of the individual students to equal 95.88 however, as there is only one student in this group this cannot be counted as a fair representation of students within an educational institution and will be counted as a limitation of this study.

Honor Roll Student - No activity participation)

M11 95.88

Analyzing the Data:

As is clearly shown in the Table 1.0 on the following page students that participate in no activities of an extracurricular nature at all tend to be absent more, tardy more and are more likely to wind up in school detention. The evidence is in the data when analyzed. Male 6 has a gpa of 76.00 and has missed 48 days in a semester with 2 tardy days and 3 detentions. Male 7 has a gpa of 84.14 for the semester with 37 absences, 8 tardy days and 2 detentions. Male 11 has a good gpa and 11 absences. Male 16 has 2 absences an 80.75 gpa and 3 detentions. Male 10 has 44 absences, 2 detentions and a gpa of 83.00. Male 1 has 0 absences, 0 tardy days and a gpa of 93.50 with no detentions therefore has risen to the top in terms of performance for this group. Although Male 1 evidenced a great attendance and timeliness along with a gpa of the same nature, Male 1 seems to be the exception to the rule. Male 10 has one activity of wrestling but still evidences lack of "connectedness" due to his having 2 detentions for the semester analyzed. Of the females that have no activities Female 1 was absent 11 times with 4 tardy days and a gap of 79.00. Female 4 had 69 absences 2 tardy days and a gpa of 86.00. Female 7 had 34 absences, 3 tardy days and 3 detentions with a gpa of 88.11. Female 9 was absent 39 times with 3 tardy days and a GPA of 92.44. Analyzing Male 6 with the 76.0 gpa is from a low-income family as is Male 7 with the 84.14 gpa, Male 10 is from a low-income home as well with a 83.0 gpa and Male 16 too is from a low income home with a gpa of 80.75. The female students who had the lower grade point average showed pretty much the same statistics with one exception. Female 1 with a 79.0 gpa is from an upper-class socioeconomic household but is not involved in any activities implies that there may some other issue involved in the case of this student. In other students with low gpa's such as Females 4 and 7 with gpa's at 86.0 and 88.11 respectively the socioeconomic status of their household is in the lower bracket.

It is clear that the socioeconomic status of the student's family is a critical element, if not in the gpa achievement in the ability of the student to access specifics that culminates in a barrier to achievement. This has been suggested to be the inability to afford extracurricular activities as well as some students in the lower income bracket being required to either work part-time or see after younger siblings more than other income bracket students leaving less time for study and self-development pursuits in general.

What this Data Implies:

There is an obvious relationship between the lower GPA range in students and the number of times the student is absent from class. Bloom's Taxonomy states that learning builds upon previous learning. Also noted are the implications of a strong relation between lack of activities of an extra-curricular nature in the students who have excess tardy days and particularly days of detention due to behavioral problems. In order to ascertain data specific enough to be considered evidence in this study averages were calculated for the groups allowing for the noted exception if Male 1 and Male 11 although Male 11 did have 8 absences for the semester.

VII. Limitations

Limitations of the study are known to be the small sampling method in data collection. There are variables that may exist from certain assumptions within the study in relation to unexplained (due to lack of information) such as in the instance of Male 1 in the study who has no absences or tardy days, a 93.50 GPA and yet was not involved in any extra-curricular activity and may perhaps be a case of extreme unction of being on time and in attendance effecting the student's GPA in a positive manner. Also the assumption within the study would be limited in assessment of Female 9 who had 39 days absent with 3 tardy days and yet maintained a semester average of 92.44.

VIII. Action Plan

The recommendations of this study are that based upon the evidence from the findings in this study accompanied by the evidence of other credible studies referenced herein are for an educational requirement of one semester music associated education for adolescents be a prerequisite for graduation from high school and done so with the objective being the ultimate benefit of the student's learning investment.

Conclusion:

The research and resulting evidence in this work both in the hands-on research as well as that of the evidence revealed through search of available literature clearly shows that extra-curricular activities promote connectedness between the student and the school which they attend, prepares the student for the 'real' world situations through development in the student in terms of societal processes as well as those of business depending upon the activity. Sports activities promote health and well-being and very importantly there exists scientific evidence in abundance stating that music is a special promoter of brain synapses growth and functioning in learning.