School-Sponsored Extracurricular Activities Research Articles

Associations of extracurricular activity participation with bullying victimization among U.S. middle and high school students: A nationally representative sample

ABSTRACT While prior studies have addressed bullying experienced during school, limited research exists on the associations between participation in school-sponsored extracurricular activities and bullying victimization risk. The current study utilized data from the 2013, 2015, and 2017 National Crime and Victimization Survey’s School Crime Supplement (n = 13,376) to examine the associations between participation in different types of extracurricular activities and three types of bullying victimization (physical, verbal, and relational) among middle and high school students. Results indicated that participation in performing arts, service clubs, and “other” activities was associated with all three types of victimization. Additionally, participation in athletics was associated with decreased risk for verbal victimization. Prevention strategies and implications for schools regarding how to reduce bullying among middle and high school students, especially in the context of extracurricular activities, are discussed.

Examining Whether Student Participation in School-Sponsored Extracurricular Activities Is Represented in IEPs.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which extracurricular activities are included in Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) of secondary age students with intellectual disability (ID). Student characteristics (grade, disability, use of augmentative and alternative communication) were examined to explore potential group differences. Participants were 498 special education teachers who had at least one student with ID on their caseload who had participated in a school sponsored extracurricular activity. Data were collected through an online questionnaire sent to members of a national listserv for transition professionals. Findings reveal that 63.69% (n = 314) of teachers reported they included information about extracurricular activities in the IEP; however, only 59.61% (n = 186) of these teachers also reported their student worked on IEP goals during extracurricular activities. Student characteristics were related to the presence of extracurricular activities in the IEP, number of IEP goals students worked on during extracurricular activities, student's most important IEP goal, and whether students received instruction on their most important IEP goal during extracurricular activities.

Characteristics of Secondary Age Students With Intellectual Disability Who Participate in School-Sponsored Extracurricular Activities

This study investigated the relation between grade level, support needs, and use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and the participation of secondary age students with intellectual disability in school-sponsored extracurricular activities. Participants were special education teachers with at least one student with an intellectual disability on their caseload who participated in a school-sponsored extracurricular activity ( N = 498). Data were collected using an online questionnaire sent to members of a national listserv for transition professionals. Teachers reported students participated in a variety of extracurricular activities within the categories of sports/fitness, school clubs, special events, and performing arts. The majority of students participated in activities for less than 3 hr per week and did not participate in activities that only included students with disabilities. Support needs and use of AAC were related to the type of extracurricular activities in which students participated, the amount of time students spent in extracurricular activities each week, and the extent to which students participated in extracurricular activities that only included students with disabilities. Grade-level differences were nonsignificant, except in relation to activities that only included students with disabilities.

Multivariate dynamics of one-mode and two-mode networks: Explaining similarity in sports participation among friends

AbstractWe examined social mechanisms that account for similarity in the social context of school-sponsored extracurricular sports activities among friends. We distinguish two social mechanisms: “shared sports activities that lead to friendship,” whereby friendship formation and maintenance are conditioned by joint sports participation, and “friendship that leads to shared sports activities,” a form of social influence whereby adolescents join or maintain certain sports activities based on their friends' choices. Using a longitudinal sample of 1,776 10th graders at five high schools in Southern California, we employed a stochastic actor-oriented multivariate dynamic model to model the dynamic interplay between the two-mode affiliation network of adolescents' participation in sports activities and the one-mode friendship network. As a corresponding descriptive method, we propose a quantitative measure for the relative strength of the two-mentioned mechanisms as explanations of the association between the one-mode and the two-mode network. Further, we introduce two specifications that represent homophily effects in the two-mode network and apply them to test gender homophily in sports participation. The results provide strong evidence for both mechanisms, with friendship leading to shared sport activities as stronger than shared sports activities leading to friendships in explaining adolescents' friendships with co-participants.

Exploring the Association Between School-Sponsored Extracurricular Activities and Dietary Intake and Frequency of Family Dinners

To assess the association between school-sponsored extracurricular activities and dietary intake and family dinners among adolescents. A total of 8,809 eighth-graders and their parents who participated in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K). Variables of interest were family dinner frequency, and food and drink consumption. Gender and family socioeconomic status were included as covariates. Analyses were conducted in Mplus using path analysis. The more hours spent on school-sponsored extracurricular activities was directly associated with more milk and 100% fruit juice consumption. Greater hours spent on extra-curricular activities were also associated with fewer frequency of family dinner per week. Family dinner in turn was positively associated with fruit and vegetable consumption. The time spent in extracurricular activities was not associated with soda or sports drinks intake and with the frequency of fast food consumption. Participating in school-sponsored extracurricular activities supports healthy eating habits among adolescents even when frequency of weekly family dinner times decrease.

Impact of Time Allocation Practices on Academic Outcomes for Students from a 2-Campus Pharmacy School

To assess how students from 2 campuses spent their time during P1-P3 (first through third) years, and whether that time allocation impacted their APPE grades and NAPLEX performance. Data from 2 graduating classes were gathered, including baseline student demographics, academic performance, licensing examination scores and pass rates, and an annual internal student survey. For the survey, students were asked how much time they spent each week on class attendance, watching recorded lectures, studying and course-related activities, school-sponsored extracurricular activities, and work. Data was analyzed by campus for the 3 years (P1-P3) and then evaluated separately as individual academic years. There were statistical differences between campuses in attending class, watching recorded lectures, and participating in school activities. However, there was no statistical difference between the 2 campuses in APPE grades, NAPLEX scores, or pass rates. How students from these 2 campuses spent their time during pharmacy school was not predictive of academic success.

The Effects of Participation in Interscholastic Sports on Latino Students’ Academic Achievement

Past studies have established a positive link between participation in school-sponsored extracurricular activities and academic achievement. But few studies have focused on how participation in extracurricular activities might impact Latino students’ academic achievement. As participation in extracurricular activities has increased over time among the Latino student population, it is possible that academic benefits of participation have changed. Using data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, this study examines the link between participating in interscholastic sports and academic outcomes for Latino high school students and whether Latino students participate in interscholastic sports to the same extent as other racial/ethnic groups. Results suggest a positive association between participation in interscholastic sports and mathematics scores for Latino students, and also a larger gain in mathematics scores in comparison to White students. In addition, results indicate that Latino students do not have the same access to these types of extracurricular activities as other students.

Beyond good grades: School composition and immigrant youth participation in extracurricular activities

Past research has typically focused on educational attainment and achievement to understand the assimilation process for immigrant youth. However, academic achievement constitutes only part of the schooling experience. In this paper, we move beyond traditional measures such as test scores and dropout, and examine patterns of school-sponsored extracurricular activity participation. Analyzing data from Add Health and drawing upon the frog-pond and segmented assimilation frameworks, we find that immigrant minority youth are disadvantaged in regards to activity participation relative to the average student in high- compared to low-SES schools. In high-SES schools, immigrant youth are less similar to their peers in terms of socioeconomic, race, and immigrant status, and as suggested by the frog-pond hypothesis, social comparison and ranking processes contribute to lower levels of social integration of immigrant youth into the school setting. We also find that as percent minority rises in high-SES schools, participation increases as well. The opposite pattern appears in low-SES schools: when percent minority increases, activity participation among immigrant minority students declines. These results are commensurate with both theoretical frameworks, and suggest that different mechanisms are at work in high- and low-SES schools. However, the effects of minority peers do not seem to hold for sports participation, and we also find that percent immigrant operates differently from percent minority, depressing the probability of activity participation across both high- and low-SES schools. The main implication of our results is that racially diverse, higher-SES schools are the most favorable contexts for the social integration of immigrant minority youth as well as third- and later-generation blacks and Hispanics.

School Sponsored Extracurricular Activities and Math Achievement among Hispanic Students

Differences in math achievement between Hispanic eighth grade students who participated in school sponsored extracurricular activities and Hispanic eighth grade students who did not participate in school sponsored extracurricular activities at an inner-city campus in the State of Texas were examined for the 2008-2009 academic year. The Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) Math exam served as the measure of student achievement. Hispanic eighth grade students who were involved in extracurricular activities had statistically significantly higher scores as well as higher passing percentages than did Hispanic eighth grade students who were not involved in extracurricular activities on the TAKS Math exam. Implications are presented and recommendations for future research are made.

"The Teacher Doesn’t Like me:" Exploring the Relationship between Teacher Attitudes toward Student-Athletes and Academic Performance

More than 7.5 million high school students in the United States participate in organized sport according to a survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations (National Federation of State high School Associations [NFHS], 2010). Athletic participation is the single most popular school-sponsored extracurricular activity, regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender (Miller, Melnick, Barnes, Farrell, & Sabo, 2005; Eccles & Barber, 1999; Eide & Ronan, 2001). With the high popularity of sport participation, the controversy over the effect of athletic participation on academic progress and success continues to linger (Ward, 2008; Marsh, 1993; Miller et al. 2005). Although many of these studies have shown positive correlations between high school athletic participation and academic performance, there still seems to be a question regarding the stigma attached to student athletes and treatment of student-athletes by faculty and non-athlete students; wherein student-athletes are faced with negative stereotypes which depict them as low achievers academically and undeservingly privileged when it comes to academic requirements (Sherman, 1988; Simons, Bosworth, Fujita and Jensen, 2007; Lawrence, Harrison, & Stone, 2009). Bowen & Levin (2005) produced convincing data in their book Reclaiming the Game that highlights certain tensions between academics and athletics. Some of the issues raised in this study relate to the difference in academic preparedness and performance for recruited athletes vs. "walk-ons" in which recruited athletes tend to have more of an advantage when it comes to being admitted despite lower qualifications, and then subsequently demonstrate lower academic performance once they are enrolled.

Is participation in high school athletics an investment or a consumption good?: Evidence from high school and beyond

Most high school students participate in at least one school-sponsored extracurricular activity, with varsity sports being the most popular. Conventional wisdom suggests that varsity sports participation provides participants with valuable skills. We use an instrumental variable approach to estimate whether the conventional wisdom is accurate. Using height as an instrument for participation, we find evidence that sports participation has a negative effect on the educational attainment of white male student athletes, a positive effect on the educational attainment and earnings of black male student athletes, and a positive effect on the educational attainment of white female student athletes. We find no effect of participation on the educational attainment or earnings of Hispanic males or black and Hispanic females.