Writers, teachers, and researchers have been debating whether participating in high school sports is benefiting or hindering high school education. Amanda Ripley cites foreign countries performing better than the United States in international standardized testing as an example supporting their idea for the problem high school sports poses, since many high schools in foreign countries do not sponsor scholastic sports. European students usually play for club teams outside of school. Ripley also mentions the poor academic and economic states of struggling school districts in the United States who supports sports. However, domestic researchers have found out that high school athletes in the U.S. have higher GPAs, standardized testing scores, and
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In the spring of 2012, the high school and the district were in danger of being shut down for financial mismanagement and high academic failure, prompting district superintendent Ernest Singleton to suspend all sports. According to Singleton, “I’ve been in hundreds of classrooms. This was the worst I’ve seen in my career. The kids were in control. The language was filthy. The teachers were not prepared.” With a lack of discipline in the classroom leading to low academic performances, the district noticed that the students did not deserve the privilege of participating in athletics, and they had to shift their attention. When Singleton suspended sports, costs were drastically cut down and Premont High saved money; suspending athletics provided the school district opportunities to completely renovate the school and refocus the attention on academics. Since there was more time to focus on school work, the school gave teachers more time for training and planning, enforced a uniform code, and changed the curriculum to meet high state standards. It is important to make substantial changes within a school in order for progress to be made. However, not everyone who attends a school will be in agreement with the changes made. With the exclusion of sports at an abrupt time, many student athletes attending Premont High were shocked and disappointed with the outcome. This exclusion …show more content…
Professors Angela Lumpkin and Judy Favor conducted a study of the performance of high school athletes and non-athletes in Kansas in the 2008-2009 academic school year. Overall, they found that high school athletes earned higher grades, graduated at a higher rate, dropped out of school less frequently, and scored higher on state assessments than non-athletes. 9,347 athletes and 9,221 non-athletes reported their GPAs on the ACT questionnaire, and 80.1% of athletes reported a GPA of 3.0 or higher while 70.5% of non-athletes reported a GPA of 3.0 or higher. (Lumpkin and Favor 47). Among the 17,249 non-athletes who had available data, 88.1% graduated with 2,323 failing to graduate. Among the 12,218 athletes, 97.6% graduated and only 303 failed to graduate (Lumpkin and Favor 48). Among non-athletes, 2.9% of males dropped out while 2.2% of females dropped out, and among athletes only .26% of males dropped out while .13% of females dropped out. On Kansas State assessment tests between 2006 and 2009, athletes had a higher mean average score than non-athletes in all categories. With this information, athletes achieve in the classroom at a higher rate than non-athletes in Kansas. Also, a national study with random students conducted by Dr. Tu Price (2013) reveals
In the spring of 2012, the high school and the district were in danger of being shut down for financial mismanagement and high academic failure, prompting district superintendent Ernest Singleton to suspend all sports. According to Singleton, “I’ve been in hundreds of classrooms. This was the worst I’ve seen in my career. The kids were in control. The language was filthy. The teachers were not prepared.” With a lack of discipline in the classroom leading to low academic performances, the district noticed that the students did not deserve the privilege of participating in athletics, and they had to shift their attention. When Singleton suspended sports, costs were drastically cut down and Premont High saved money; suspending athletics provided the school district opportunities to completely renovate the school and refocus the attention on academics. Since there was more time to focus on school work, the school gave teachers more time for training and planning, enforced a uniform code, and changed the curriculum to meet high state standards. It is important to make substantial changes within a school in order for progress to be made. However, not everyone who attends a school will be in agreement with the changes made. With the exclusion of sports at an abrupt time, many student athletes attending Premont High were shocked and disappointed with the outcome. This exclusion …show more content…
Professors Angela Lumpkin and Judy Favor conducted a study of the performance of high school athletes and non-athletes in Kansas in the 2008-2009 academic school year. Overall, they found that high school athletes earned higher grades, graduated at a higher rate, dropped out of school less frequently, and scored higher on state assessments than non-athletes. 9,347 athletes and 9,221 non-athletes reported their GPAs on the ACT questionnaire, and 80.1% of athletes reported a GPA of 3.0 or higher while 70.5% of non-athletes reported a GPA of 3.0 or higher. (Lumpkin and Favor 47). Among the 17,249 non-athletes who had available data, 88.1% graduated with 2,323 failing to graduate. Among the 12,218 athletes, 97.6% graduated and only 303 failed to graduate (Lumpkin and Favor 48). Among non-athletes, 2.9% of males dropped out while 2.2% of females dropped out, and among athletes only .26% of males dropped out while .13% of females dropped out. On Kansas State assessment tests between 2006 and 2009, athletes had a higher mean average score than non-athletes in all categories. With this information, athletes achieve in the classroom at a higher rate than non-athletes in Kansas. Also, a national study with random students conducted by Dr. Tu Price (2013) reveals