The Effect of Physical Education Integration Activities on Academic Retention Wendy L Cowan, Michael S Bailey, Byron Foster, Yvette M Bolen and Sharon J Cater Athens State University, Athens, AL Auburn University, Auburn, AL Introduction: Education reform is a current and age-old topic in United States To improve student scores on standardized testing, instructors are being encouraged to incorporate new methodologies to enhance student learning One such methodology calls for integrating academic content into the physical education curriculum Physical education integration activities are developed on the premise that through the combination of physical activity and academic content students will receive academic reinforcement which will increase retention, enhancing the learning process The physical education profession as a whole has responded in kind to school administrator’s call for help National and state physical education conferences have included, and continue to include, sessions focusing on cross-disciplinarian teaching Many universities and colleges are addressing the role of integration activities as part of their physical education certification curricula, and K-12 physical education instructors are incorporating integration activities into the curriculum To determine the effectiveness of this strategy, one must look to physical activity and retention research Background/Purpose: Physical education instructors are encouraged to integrate academics into PE curriculum daily There is limited research concerning the effectiveness of this methodology The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which integrating physical activity with academics enhances retention :: For this pilot study researchers utilized a control group pretest-posttest design Participants were 83 third through fifth grade students who were randomly assigned to control or experimental groups Participants were administered a pretest followed by a 20-minute activity bout All participants then attended a Spanish terminology lesson conducted in the library Groups were then allowed 28 minutes of study time The control group engaged in a traditional study period and was encouraged to remain quiet The experimental group participated in physical activities integrated with Spanish terminology Activities included mimicking, Simon Says, relays, and Hokey Pokey Three posttests were administered to all participants: upon returning to class, two hours after returning, and the following morning Analysis/Results: Data was analyzed using ANOVA with repeated measures Analysis indicated a significant time effect for both groups (p=0.000) and a trend of higher scores for the treatment group (p=0.082) Although statistical significance was not achieved, it should be noted that the study sample size was small, and post hoc analyses revealed that a larger group size might have yielded statistical significance Conclusions: The findings from this pilot study suggest that physical activity integrated with academic content may enhance retention Possible conclusions of this research are that integration activities may be beneficial not only to the physical education instructor, but to the classroom teacher as well There is a need for additional research in this area Although scientific research has not caught up with this practice there are numerous additional reasons to include integration activities into the curriculum It provides evidence to administrators that physical education specialists are concerned with the overall mission and goals of the respective school As physical education specialists seek guidance from grade level teachers about the specific academic content to incorporate into physical education, lines of communication are opened Not only will the physical education specialists gain insight, grade level teachers will also learn ways in which physical activity can be integrated into the classroom The inclusion of integration activities into the physical education curriculum sends a message to the students that learning the academic content is an important goal that the physical education program supports ... classroom The inclusion of integration activities into the physical education curriculum sends a message to the students that learning the academic content is an important goal that the physical education. .. practice there are numerous additional reasons to include integration activities into the curriculum It provides evidence to administrators that physical education specialists are concerned with the. .. mission and goals of the respective school As physical education specialists seek guidance from grade level teachers about the specific academic content to incorporate into physical education,