Sports Effect on Student Grades - Literature review Example

Sports Effect on Grades Introduction This paper is a comparison of three articles; the first article is d “The effect of athletic participation on academic achievement for high school seniors in Eastern Tennessee” by Gorman David A. The other two articles are “Comparing the academic performance of high school athletes and non-athletes in Kansas in 2008-2009” by Lumpkin Angela and Favor Judy, and “Participation in High School Competitive Sports: A subversion of school mission or contribution to academic goals?” by Fejgin Naomi. Gorman’s study explores how athletic participation affects the academic achievement of senior male and female students. Lumpkin and Favor examined the academic scores of Kansas high school athletes in the 9-12 grades in 2008-2009 to establish the effects of participation in athletics on performance in academics while Fejgin’s study examines the link between participation in competitive sports and students’ outcomes. The three studies argue that their findings are important since they will inform school policy regarding how to strike a balance between high school sports and academics given the significance of sports to the schools’ communities. Literature review The literature review of the three studies has been organized into topical sections, each examining specific aspects regarding the relationship between sports and academic performance. The main themes focused in Gorman’s literature review include an introduction, theoretical background, studies on intercollegiate athletics, and high school athletics (Gorman, 2010). The main themes highlighted in Lumpkin’s and Favor’s literature review include the relationship between engagement in extracurricular activities and performance in academics, engagement in high school sports and learning outcomes, as well as participation in high school sports and dropping out of school (Lumpkin & Favor, 2012). Fejgin’s literature review focuses on the effects of participation in sports activities on the character of students as well as on the background factors relating to participation in school sports and the conflict theory. The main authors reviewed in Gorman’s study include Burgess 2007, Gehring 2001, Burnett 2001, Battlefield and Brown 1991 and Fejgin 1994; others include Halley 2007, Trubow 2006, Murphy 2008 and Cotton 1996, among others. The main authors explored by Lumpkin and favor include Rose, Gallup and Elam 1997, O’Brien and Rollefson1992, Marsh 1992, McCarthy 2000, Lueptov and Kayser 1973, Hauser and Lueptow 1978, Stegman and Stephensons 2000as well as Davalos, Chavez and Guardiola 1999, among others. Fejgin’s literature review covers authors like Coleman 1985, Evans and Davies 1986, Frey 1986, Holland and Andre 1987, Marsh 1993, Otto 1982, Stevenson 1975, Otto and Alwin 1977, Howell, Miracle, and Rees 1989, Melnick, Vanfossen and Sabo 1988 as well as Thirer and Wright 1985 and Felz 1978. Research questions Gorman’s study was guided by seven questions: the first question investigates how senior student athletes’ academic achievement may be affected by participation in sports and how it compares to the achievement of the general student population (Gorman, 2010). The second question asks whether a statistically crucial difference exists between the senior male student-athletes and the senior female student-athletes while the third one examines the ways in which teachers react to the ways in which athletic participation affects the performance of students. The fourth question examines how school system involvement with regards to athletic participation impacts the academic performance of senior male and female student-athletes and the fifth one focuses on how parental engagement impacts the outcomes of senior male and female student athletes. The sixth question explores the manner in which the school and community view the importance of athletic participation and academic achievement while the seventh one examines how athletic participation affects the adequate yearly progress (AYP) status of the target school. Lumpkin and Favor explore the question of whether the participation in sports helps or hinders academic achievement while Fejgin’s study focuses on the question of whether school sports is a character builder or not. Sample populations The sample population used in Gorman’s study comprised of the students who graduated from three Eastern Tennessee high schools in 2009 including Stephen Johnson, Peter Smith and Garrett Johnson High Schools. The student population of Stephen Johnson high school 1,200 with demographics 97.4% Caucasian, 1.2% Hispanic, 0.8% African American, 0.4% Asian, o.2% Native American, 29.0% economically disadvantaged, 46.9% female, and 53.1% male (Gorman, 2010). The Peter Smith high school population comprises of 700 students with demographics 91.4% Caucasian, 5.7% Hispanic, 1.8% Asian, 1% African American, 54.5% economically disadvantaged, 44.9% female and 55.1% male. Garrett Johnson High School’s student population was 600 students with the demographics 94.6% Caucasian, 2.4% Hispanic, 1.7% Asian, 0.9% Native American, 0.3% African American, 44.7% economically disadvantaged, 49.2% female and 50.8% male. Lumpkin and Favor’s study used a sample population of 139,349 students who were enrolled in grades 9-12 in Kansas High Schools during the 2008-2009 school year; of these students, 44.7% were athletes, 48.5% were females and 74.3% were white (Lumpkin & Favor, 2012). Fejgin’s study draws on the National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS) data of 1988 Base year and its First Follow-Up; the base year study sample comprised of 1,052 schools and 26,432 students in their 8th grade while the follow-up used a sample of the same students in their 10th grade, which comprised of 22,696 and a freshened sample to cater for the dropouts (Fejgin, 1994). Results Gorman’s study arrives at the results that participation in athletics did not affect the academic performance of high school seniors who graduated in the year 2009 from the three target high schools in comparison with the academic outcomes of non-athletes. Secondly, Gorman’s study establishes statistically significant and extremely statistically significant differences between the American College Testing (ACT) scores and General Point Average (GPAs) of the male student-athletes and female student-athletes. Moreover, the study concludes that participation in athletics has a positive effect and that the school systems and parental involvement have direct effects on the academic achievements of senior student-athletes. Finally, this research established that just like participation in athletics, performance in academics is also significant for the target school community; moreover, participation in athletics has a positive effect on the AYP measurement. Lumpkin’s and Favor’s study established that high school athletes scored highly, graduated at a higher rate, hardly dropped out of school, and achieved higher on state assessments than non-athletes did while results on the ACT were highly mixed (Lumpkin & Favor, 2012). The study further established key differences between athletes and non-athletes for both males and females in all the significant academic performance indicators; females accounted for more of the differences on GPA and not dropping-out of school while whites accounted for more of the differences than any other racial group for GPAs, graduation rates, and not dropping-out of school. Fejgin’s study established that participation in sports positively impacts grades, self-concepts as well as educational aspirations but negatively affects discipline problems; similarly, Fejgin’s findings indicate that great gender and socioeconomic disparities define participation in athletics. Precisely, this study highlights that males, students from higher socioeconomic classes, those in private and smaller schools as well as those with prior experience in school and private sport teams are more likely to participate in competitive high school sport (Fejgin, 1994). Ethics implications Gorman’s study followed the IRB procedures in that the ACT and GPA data used in the study conformed to the school system’s guidelines concerning student confidentiality as well as the Liberty University IRB guidelines. A written permission to gather the ACT and GPA data was obtained from the school system’s director of curriculum and instruction; a written permission from the board of education was again forwarded to the IRB at Liberty University and a copy attached to the paper. The request for the research clearly outlined the purpose of the study, type of data required, and measures of ensuring confidentiality of students is upheld; this information was verified by a letter from the researcher’s dissertation chair. Permission forms from both the director of curriculum and instruction as well as the university’s chair were presented to each of the target school’s building principal. Unlike Gorman’s study, which clearly states its compliance with IRB procedures, the other two studies by Plumpkin and Favor, and Fejgin do not have evidence of compliance with these procedures. Gorman’s study clearly qualifies for the exempt status since it poses minimal risk to participants, does not involve vulnerable subject populations, and does fit into the second page of the IRB application form. The other two studies do not provide evidence of compliance with IRB procedures hence cannot be placed in either exempt status, full review status or informed consent status. Conclusion Gorman’s study has numerous limitations; firstly, it omits certain information regarding the student-athlete and non-athlete groups that could be pertinent, and does not establish whether the student athletes took part in other sports in their freshman, sophomore, or junior years. Gorman’s study also identifies limitations in regards to individual student athlete and non-athlete transcript analysis as well as in terms of the prevalence of “no responses” by the teachers at the three target schools. Lumpkin and Favor acknowledge that their research was limited by the data currently available in the KSDE data warehouse while Fejgin admits that the data available for use in the study does not allow a detailed analysis of the actual sport opportunities in each school. Gorman’s study concludes that the effect of participation in athletics on academic achievement for senior student-athletes is insignificant and the “positive effect” of participation in athletics to academic performance perceived by teachers is due to the schools’ and school system’s eligibility standards. Gorman also concludes that the school systems influence the involvement of parents and that the school system, schools and parents have an impact on the academic scores of senior male as well as female student-athletes. Lumpkin and Favor conclude that participation in sports in Kansas is not a distraction from academic performance while Fejgin concludes that participation in high school competitive sports provides certain positive experiences that enhance students’ overall character. Gorman’s study recommends the conduciveness of a larger sample population for future studies and the focus on potential factors that contribute to the large discrepancy between the academic performance of male and female student-athletes; similarly, this study recommends that future research should be done among demographically and socioeconomically diverse student-athletes and non-athletes. Lumpkin and Favor recommend that future research should take advantage of increased data to provide more comprehensive view of the academic achievement of athletes and non-athletes. Fejgin recommends that future research should focus on methods that schools use to encourage participation in sports and the criteria that schools use to allocate time and money as well as to select athletes. Similarly, this research recommends that future studies should focus on ways through which schools can organize academic school work following the sport pattern, particularly given that school sport could enhance student and coach self-worth as well as achievement orientation. References Fejgin, N. (1994). Participation in High School Competitive Sports: A Subversion of School Mission or Contribution to Academic Goals? Sociology of Sport Journal, 11:211-230. Gorman, D. (2010). The Effect of Athletic Participation on Academic Achievement for High School Seniors in Eastern Tennessee (under the direction of Judy Shoemaker, School of Education, Liberty University. Lumpkin, A., & Favor, J. (2012). Comparing the academic performance of high school athletes and non-athletes in Kansas in 2008-2009. Journal of Sport Administration & Supervision 4(1), 41-62. Read More