Presidential fitness testing programs and standards

Presidential Fitness Testing

National Significance

Obesity and other lifestyle-related health problems have become increasingly fatal epidemics striking America's population in recent years. Though perhaps the most shocking and horrifying statistics can be found in the infection rates among our country's children. In fact, according to the data collected by The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, an estimated 16.9% of children and adolescents between the ages of 2 and 19 are obese and the prevalence is increasing (CDC, 2011). With similar trends present in childhood diabetes rates (among others), these regrettable results are certainly staggering and thus a call for major concern. Nevertheless, many continue to believe that a child's "free will" is culpable, noting children's propensities for unhealthy food and drink consumption as well as decreases in levels of physical activity. However, many education professionals believe that this "instinctual" trend can be reversed through an active approach to fitness education and evaluation on behalf of schools. In taking this approach, many schools have adopted the Presidential Fitness Testing system. By truly embracing and implementing a universal system of elementary fitness evaluation, The United States will also be gaining some ground on its worldly peers, many of whom have already integrated such collective approaches . In fact, research has shown that nations using universal fitness-testing regimes have historically performed better than those who have chosen to forgo such options . Thus the American Presidential Fitness testing system becomes an all the more attractive option.

This particular fitness-testing framework utilizes a wide array of traditional and non-traditional fitness indicators to accurately determine a child's fitness level. By setting specific targets for children based upon their ages, this program helps to create a universally applicable means of reporting data and achieving cumulative goals. Though even despite its noble goals and far-reaching potentials, many contemporary fitness educators continue to forgo this option citing its out-datedness and acute applicability. While the origins of this national program do date back to the mid-1950's when President Eisenhower created the President's Council on Youth and Fitness, many modernizing changes have since been made to ensure the lasting pertinence of this system . In fact, a recent article in the New York Times describes some of the latest advances in the Presidential Fitness Testing program that are now being offered to adults . Being that national health problems are affecting all segments of our current population, the adaptability of this system is certainly commendable.

Local Significance

The specific purpose of this proposal at the local level will be to examine the current and historical trends present in the physical education of children in the state of Illinois. This will include the means utilized to prepare and assess a student's physical fitness level, as well as the environment in which such education and evaluation takes place. Fiscal crises present in the state of Illinois have caused the slashing of educational budgets throughout the state and physical education departments have suffered a great deal. This reality has ultimately caused a significant amount of concern as to whether or not administrators and teaching professionals are now more prone to taking shortcuts in the fitness training and testing of students. For while Presidential Fitness Testing is stated as the collective norm, budget constraints have caused a great decline in governmental enforcement and an equal increase in local control over school fitness-testing regimes. As a result, several Illinois districts have been accused of slipshod methodology in assessing fitness levels. In fact, recent reports have shown that multiple Chicago districts have begun to completely abandon mandated Presidential Fitness Testing standards and simply calculate the student's Body Mass Index (BMI) in order to determine his or her physical education grade . Such practices illustrate a lack of educational dedication on behalf of such districts. What is more, such detrimental tactics have been shown to have direct negative effects on students' self-image and social behavior .

As can be ascertained from the data presented above, Illinois school districts are discarding the time-honored fitness testing techniques (like the Presidential Fitness Test) that have been shown to elicit cumulative performance improvements. Consequently, the obesity rates in this state are surging, while fitness-testing standards are becoming more and more relaxed . Though while schools do not bear full responsibility for growing childhood obesity rates, such institutions can certainly play a more active role in educating the student bodies regarding fitness. Moreover, the simplistic (yet far-reaching) nature of the Presidential Physical Fitness program allows schools to integrate this system without having to make massive expenditures on gym equipment or workout facilities . In fact, the curriculum (comprised of things like pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, endurance runs and agility runs) is actually designed to utilize the pre-existing facilities of almost every school . Therefore, the vast majority of schools are capable of reliably adhering to this proven plan without having to jeopardize their annual budget.

Research Question

The purpose of this inquiry will be to wholly determine whether or not students are getting proper education about physical fitness. Included in this assessment will be an in depth ascertainment of whether or not students are being adequately prepared and taught the correct skills needed to perform well as measured on the President's Physical Fitness Test.

Hypothesis

In accordance with a heightened sense of preparation, increased emphasis should be placed on teaching students the skills that are taught on the President's Physical Fitness Test. The specification and intensification of this educative emphasis will ultimately lead to improved scores on the test.

Review of Literature

Beginning in the early 1950's, there was a significant cause for concern arising from the physical fitness of American students' relative to their European peers. This matter was brought to the public forum when New York University professor Dr. Hans Kraus published a report entitled "Muscular Fitness and Health" in which he claimed that the prosperous state of the American economy at the time had caused citizens to begin rapidly losing muscle tone . Unlike previous generations, the great majority of Americans were now utilizing convenient means of public transportation, factory machinery and generally forgoing almost all forms of manual labor . To compensate for these changing times, Kraus repeatedly heeded the need for Americans to engage in daily exercise . After publishing several other reports on this topic and even creating a muscular fitness test of his own, Dr. Kraus was asked to present the culmination of his findings at a national convention of the American Medical Association in 1954 . This provided Kraus with a useful stage on which he was able to report his unfortunate results to the American public and the mainstream media. Shortly after this event, Kraus and several of his associates were invited to a luncheon at the White House by President Eisenhower to further discuss their findings and their recommendations for a collective solution. The casual encounter ultimately prompted a larger conference comprised of several government leaders and health professionals, the result of which was a recommendation to focus on the fitness of America's youth population. In keeping with this goal, President Eisenhower established the President's Council on Youth Fitness with the hope that this organization would ultimately become a catalyst for the education, motivation and encouragement of local communities and American citizens in achieving more active lifestyles .

President Kennedy successfully took over the reins in this cumulative battle for national fitness when he was elected in the early 1960's. By making physical fitness policy a key aspect of his campaign and subsequent presidency, Mr. Kennedy was able to clearly integrate his views of physical education into the pre-established national system. Using the pre-existent governmental structures, Kennedy advocated a more active approach in which he supported "youth fitness surveys, the national publishing of fitness information, and the offering of technical advice to schools and communities about how to improve physical fitness not only for youth but for Americans of all ages" (The Department of Health and Human Services, 2011, p. 3). And even though the laws of this period did not allow the federal government to implement a national fitness program, President Kennedy and his administration were able to persuade a majority of states to adopt the guidelines of the Presidential Council.

Several other presidents since John F. Kennedy have taken active roles in the furthering of the youth fitness cause in The United States. However, with wars and several other nationally threatening issues cropping up over the last number of decades, physical education initiatives were often left on the back burner. Nevertheless, several presidents (most notably Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and William Clinton) did accomplish a great deal in the battle to improve America's health and fitness (The Department of Health and Human Services, 2011). Though despite this massive governmental effort spanning more that a half-century, the United States never regained much ground with respect to the fitness levels of its European counterparts (The Department of Health and Human Services, 2011).

Today, the struggle to promote and instill physical fitness in the minds of children has become an even more complicated task. Once again citing the current obesity epidemic and generally poor health of America's population, states like Illinois continue to face significant obstacles in their journey to healthily prepare their students for adulthood. With ghastly increases in fast food consumption and video gaming throughout the youth population, physical fitness education remains extremely arduous in the modern environment . Additionally, the current financial situation in many central states has caused educational budgets to be cut and much financing to be lost. As this situation is compounded by the already unhealthy environment in which many Illinoisan children live, fitness education and testing has become an increasingly uphill battle for educators.

The unfortunately aforementioned circumstances in Illinois and across the country have caused there to be an extreme shortage in educational spending in the arena of physical fitness research and improvement. As a result, many fitness requirements have declined and several schools have been granted waivers allowing them to forgo physical fitness for large student demographics . While many states (including Illinois) require daily physical education for all students, the dire budget situation has forced state lawmakers to create these loopholes for schools requiring greater amounts of resources to be dedicated to academics . Therefore, while the law also mandates fitness testing for every student, the results for Illinois and many of its peers have been subpar due to these recent lamentable developments. Moreover, many unfit students have discovered the previously mentioned loopholes and have actively attempted to escape physical education for fear that they might "suffer untold humiliation due to their lack of physical prowess." Other schools have even begun to take away physical education classes as a means of punishing students who misbehave. These schools are perhaps the most deplorable in that they are putting the health of their students at risk when there are several other effective disciplinary outlets available. In fact, many critics of this technique claim that these schools are simply trying to save themselves money by not physically educating a large portion of their student populations.

As one might assume, fitness evaluations have become equally lax over this period. The steadily increasing fitness requirements present in several states throughout the 1980's and 1990's have begun to decline. Lack of funding for such initiatives at the national level has carried over into the state ranks . And while states like Illinois experience extreme educational budget cuts, physical education departments have been shown to be considered the most expendable. Therefore, not only have fitness-testing requirements suffered but also the quality and presence of reliable teaching professionals has been equally diminished . And without qualified and attentive staff members to prepare students for fitness tests and subsequently administer the various assessments, there is not much chance for success in this highly critical educative arena. With less and less Presidential Fitness Awards being given out each year and more and more reasons being created for children to be excused from physical education, the structure and environment surrounding this critical area of education seem unquestionably culpable .

Methods

The tactical method used for this inquiry will involve a strategic variation of school districts. Ultimately, the goal of this assessment will be to compare several commonly utilized physical education curriculums in order to determine which method best prepares students for success in the Presidential Fitness Test. Schools already utilizing the Presidential Fitness Test as their primary means of assessing students' in the physical education classroom will act as somewhat of a control group. For presumably, these institutions will be following the federally recommended guidelines for preparing children to successfully complete all Presidential Fitness Tests. Other schools utilizing more non-traditional approaches to fitness evaluation (like Body Mass Index) will then be subjected to the full plethora of Presidential Fitness Tests.

Population

The usable population for this study will accurately represent a cross section of Illinois' entire citizen pool. Data will be collected from districts in Illinois' most rural areas as well as its highly urban zones. Historical performance data will also be consulted in order to ensure that the findings are not biased. Student participants will also be strategically chosen to ideally represent an accurate cross section of each school's population. An equal number of boys and girls will be chosen at each location. Additionally, a select number of student athletes will be chosen at each location, while an equal number of disabled and regularly excused students will also be selected. These specific populations comprise an important part of this investigation especially since each individual district typically customizes and personalizes fitness requirements to meet the needs of such students. Lastly, several teaching professionals will be monitored during the fitness test. Being that the knowledge and reliability of these professionals can often affect a student's performance on the Presidential Fitness Test, it is important to be equally objective and thorough in selecting and monitoring the performance of these educative participants as well.