Impact of State-Level Physical Education Policies on PE Access in the United States: A Comparative Analysis of Policy Implementation and Weekly PE Minutes.

Background: State policies play a key role in the provision of physical education (PE) opportunities at the district and school level.

Methods: An analysis was conducted on how states in the United States with various PE policies differ in terms of PE access as a measure of policy implementation. PE access for students was reported by 3306 K-5th grade PE teachers across all 51 states.

Results: State-level adherence to six key PE policies varied from 23% to 100%. Teachers in states with a policy requiring a minimum number of weekly PE minutes reported significantly greater average PE access compared to states with no policy (M = 99.67, SD = 26.30 min/week, M = 81.15, SD = 19.25 min/week, respectively; t(49) = 2.88, p < 0.01). There was no difference in PE access for students with disabilities between states with or without an Adapted Physical Education (APE) endorsement (t(49) = 0.54, p = 0.30).

Implications for school health policy, practice, and equity: Based on study findings, mandating PE instructional time at the state level may be a strategy to promote PE access among schools in the United States.

Conclusions: The presence of certain state-level PE policies positively impacts PE access for elementary students.