Schools are pivoting to rebound from the negative effects the COVID-19 pandemic created for student development, academic achievement, and school culture. As all school constituencies collaborate to reinstitute normalcy, support student development, and maximize academic achievement, extracurricular activities may become more essential than ever. Chad Lang proposes that educators include extracurricular participation in their overall school improvement vision by increasing stakeholder collaboration in goal setting, broadening student participation, and providing professional development for teachers and program sponsors.

The purpose of this study was to address the gap in research related to whether measures of participation (intensity and breadth) demonstrated a relationship with academic achievement for 11th grade student athletes (N=128) in a rural Midwestern high school. Anonymous athletic participation and achievement data from 2015-2017 was obtained from the school’s archive and analyzed by correlation, hierarchical regression, and one-way ANOVA. Data derived from statistical analyses demonstrated two outcomes regarding sport participation, ACT, and GPA: (a) Intensity demonstrated no statistical significance to student achievement measured by ACT, however intensity demonstrated a statistically significant relationship to cumulative GPA (p < .05), and (b) ANOVA analysis demonstrated statistically significant differences in breadth and GPA (p < .01) between one sport athletes and three sport athletes. Three sport athletes had statistically significantly higher GPAs than one sport athletes and significantly higher GPAs than two sport athletes. The research was limited to one cross-sectional heterogeneous rural high school population of participants over a three-year period. Furthermore, the study was limited to school-specific athletic participation data as school non-athletic activity and out-of-school activity participation was not available. Results from this study suggest programming and potential practice recommendations for rural school leaders. Future research on ESA sport, activity, and non-school activity participation intensity and breadth related to academic outcomes is justified.

The purpose of this study was to address the gap in research related to whether measures of participation (intensity and breadth) demonstrated a relationship with academic achievement for 11th grade student athletes (N=128) in a rural Missouri high school. Recent research found high school-aged students in interscholastic activities were less likely to be multisport athletes than in previous decades. This decrease in multisport participation has occurred within the context of United States participation trends which demonstrated overall participation increases from 1989 to 2017 (Bell et al.,2016; Howard, 2017; Jayanthi, Pinkham, Dugas, Patrick, and LaBella, 2013; Moore, Murphey, Bandy, and Cooper, 2014). Since increased connectivity to school viaextracurricular school activities (ESAs) enhances social bonds associated with positive academic and behavioral outcomes, a reduction in participation intensity and/or breadth may exhibit deleterious effects to the academic and social development students experience in the school setting (Crosnoe, 2002; Eccles and Gootman, 2002; Hirschi,1969). Anonymous athletic participation and achievement data from 2015-2017 was obtained from the school's archive and analyzed by correlation, hierarchical regression, and one-way ANOVA. Data derived from statistical analyses demonstrated two themes regarding sport participation, ACT, and grade-point average (GPA): a) Intensity demonstrated no statistical or practical significance to student achievement measured by ACT; however intensity of participation did share a statistically significant relationship to cumulative GPA (p less than .05) and b) an ANOVA analysis demonstrated statistically significant differences in breadth and GPA (p less than .01) between one sport athletes and three sport athletes. Three sport athletes had statistically significantly higher GPAs than one sport athletes and practically significant higher GPAs than two sport athletes. Utilizing these results suggested practical considerations for rural school administrators considering both the number of ESA sport offerings and the academic benefits ESAs multisport participation provide. Future research on ESA sport, activity, and non-activity participation related to academic outcomes is justified.

Teachers and school leaders frequently express a disconnect in the purpose and importance of teacher evaluation, particularly as it relates to educator growth. At the same time, some schools are beginning to communicate student growth through a standards-based grading philosophy. One way schools might “walk the talk” of their grading reform efforts designed to communicate student growth is through the use of proficiency scales to prioritize growth in teacher evaluation. This paper describes implications of simultaneously utilizing a growth model for teacher evaluation and a student growth model via standards-based grading.