The Relationship Between Participation in High School Athletics and Academic Achievement

1
The Relationship Between Participation in High
School Athletics and Academic Achievement

• Nora E. ODonnell

2
Theoretical Framework

• Studies in the past have examined this very
  relationship
• Aries, McCarthy, Slovey, and Banaji (2004) found
  that all collegiate student-athletes involved
  underperformed academically.
• Cantor and Prentice (1996) Meyer (1990) and
  Parham (1993) determined that time demands of
  athletic programs make it difficult for the
  athletes to devote necessary study time.
• Pascarella et al. (1995) reported that male
  football and basketball players read fewer texts
  or assigned books than male non-athletes.

3
Participants and Setting

• Members of the 2004 Chaminade-Julienne Varsity
  Football Team
• Members of the graduating class of 2008
• 12 Sophomore males
• 8 Caucasian
• 4 African American

• Chaminade-Julienne Catholic High School
• Downtown Dayton, Ohio
• 2005-2006 School Year
• Examined grades at 4 different reporting periods
• First Quarter Interim
• First Quarter Report
• Second Quarter Interim
• First Semester Report

4
Data Collection

• Artifact Analysis
• Student report cards
• Quantitative data
• Student Responses
• Survey for student athletes
• Qualitative data

5
Data CollectedArtifact Analysis

• Mean of all 12
• student-athletes
• during first 4 grading
• periods
• Of 12 athletes 9
• increased G.P.A.
• Overall increase of
• 3.04 percent
• Greatest change
• during First Quarter
• grade report date

6
Data CollectedArtifact AnalysisContinued

• Grades of student-
• athletes whose grades
• decreased
• Greatest change during
• First Quarter grade
• report date
• Show signs of
• improvement after first
• reported decrease

7
Data CollectedStudent Responses

• A majority (58.3) of student-athletes reported
  they worry about academic eligibility not at
  all.
• Student-athletes (66.7) reported that they rely
  on additional study time to help maintain grade
  point average during football season.
• When asked about programming that would assist
  their academic achievement, 50 responded that
  implementing tutoring or weekly progress reports
  would help.

8
Interpretation of Findings

• Overall grade point average increased from a C
  average to a B average
• Additional/Structured study time would assist
  student-athletes
• Highly volatile time during football season is
  the time between First Quarter Interim and First
  Quarter grade report date
• Period of Adjustment
• Lack of Structured Schedule
• Unexpected high demands athletically and
  academically
• Majority of players recognize importance

9
Conclusions

• Currently negative reinforcement is the only
  motivation for football players to perform
  academically
• Student-athletes need to balance their time
  between academics and athletics
• Coaching staff should provide tips
• Teachers should offer auxiliary assistance
• Student-athletes would benefit from mandatory,
  structured study time set forth by the Football
  coaching staff

10
Anticipated Action

• Convey the plea made by the student-athletes
  themselves for additional study time
• Implore teachers to offer tutoring before/after
  school working with the football teams schedule
• Create a spreadsheet of teacher availability
  outside of class period
• Meet with Football Coaching Staff to determine
  the possibility of mandatory study time for these
  young men

11
References

• Aries, E., McCarthy, D., Salovey, P., Banaji,
  M. R. (2004). A comparison of athletes and
  non-athletes at highly selective colleges
  Academic performance and personal development.
  Research in Higher Education, 45(6), 577-602.
• Cantor, N. E., Prentice, D. A. (1996). The life
  of the modern-day student athlete Opportunities
  won and lost. Paper presented at the Princeton
  Conference on Higher Education, Princeton
  University, Princeton, NJ.
• Meyer, B. B. (1990). From idealism to
  actualization The academic performance of female
  college athletes. Sociology of Sport Journal,
  7(1), 218-227.
• Parham, W. D. (1993). The intercollegiate
  athlete A 1990s profile. The Counseling
  Psychologist, 21(3), 182-194.
• Pascarella, E. T., Bohr, L., Nora, A.,
  Terenzini, P. T. (1995). Intercollegiate athletic
  participation and freshman-year cognitive
  outcomes. Journal of Higher Education, 66(4),
  24-52.