REL LIT

Related Literature ( Student - Athlete)

Athletics have come to play a major role in the life of high schools and universities across the U.S. today (Griffith, 2004; Hamilton, 2005; Knox, 2007; Mock, 2003; Tublitz, 2007). Students who are involved in high school athletics tend to have higher academic achievement and better earnings later in life (see for example Broh, 2002; Guest & Schneider, 2003; Lipscomb, 2006; Marsh, 1992; and McNeal, 1995). High school students that participate in sports have higher grades and standardized test scores in mathematics and language arts courses (Broh, 2002). McNeal (1995) found that student athletes were 1.7 times less likely to drop out of school. High school student athletes have also self-reported higher education aspirations, diligence in homework completion, and lower absenteeism, compared to students that do not participate in sports (Marsh, 1992). Student athletes should be relieved to learn that, according to researchers at the Brown Center on Education Policy, a commitment to school sports does not have to translate into compromised academic performance. Although these students often feel substantial pressure to perform both on the field and in the classroom, the benefits of athletic endeavors seem to counter balance the challenges they present. Nevertheless, many youth athletes become increasingly stressed as they strive to maintain academic eligibility while advancing through their school years.

Time Management

In a 2005 analysis of stress levels in college athletes, Dr. Gregory Wilson and Dr. Mary Pritchard reported that time management factors were a significant source of academic-related stress. Many student athletes expressed concern over having insufficient time to study for exams and write term papers. Team travel was also cited as a stress factor because of missed classes and assignments.

Some student athletes, however, seem to thrive on the pressure caused by tight schedules. During her senior year at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, field hockey player Leah Ferenc reflected on the role athletics play in academic achievement. “Most of my peers believe that they perform at a higher academic level while participating in their sport and have felt more organized and motivated during their seasons to do well academically. I am more successful at completing my assignments during the season, because I know that I only have a certain amount of time to do so.”

Cognitive Function

Children and adolescents who pursue sports activities have been shown to exhibit more active brain function, better concentration levels and classroom behavior and higher self-esteem than their less-active counterparts. Understandably, all of these factors seem to support better academic performance. In 2002, the California Department of Education examined whether any correlation existed between standardized test scores and results from a state-mandated physical fitness exam. In its analysis of data from over 954,000 fifth, seventh and ninth grade students, the study found that students with higher levels of fitness performed better in school. Students who met three or more physical fitness standards experienced the greatest academic gains.
Socioeconomic Differences

In a 2002 Brown Center report on American school performance, schools with top-ranked baseball, basketball and football teams were found to have better state achievement exam scores than those with less successful sports programs. Not surprisingly, public schools with both successful athletic teams and high academic achievement are found in areas with better financial resources: wealthy, suburban neighborhoods with predominantly white, non-Hispanic populations. According to the report, such advantaged schools are better able to integrate excellence at sports into a broader culture that encourages achievement.

Gender Differences

Academic performance in student athletes does vary between boys and girls. Results of the California Department of Education study showed that all of the girls’ teams had significantly higher grade point averages than their male counterparts. A 2010 study published in “The Sports Journal” reinforced these findings and showed some interesting between-sport comparisons. Boys on the cross-country team had among the lowest grades of all the sports examined, but girls’ cross-country teams had among the highest. Male students on the golf and track teams were able to maintain high grades but girls committed to these two sports fared worse academically.

Athletes Advantages

In every high school there is that talk of students with advantages. Most of the time the students who play sports that have the advantages. Though coaches are teachers will not admit the advantages it is very clear that athlete’s control the school. These advantages are very obvious from non-athletic students points of view. The advantages are an athlete’s schoolwork, the way the athletes are treated, and the athlete’s status in the community. Athletes have to worry about the big game of the week, memorize plays and get extra practice time in before the game. Those few things bring many advantages towards athletes in doing their schoolwork, but also disadvantages to regular students in their schoolwork. Some advantages for athletes consist of being able to turn work in late. Many times they have noticed athletes would put all the blame of not doing homework on practicing late or on a late game the night before. Another advantage is receiving more help on work than other students. Many times teachers tends to help out the athletes more to make sure that the athlete will pass his/her class. There are teachers and professors that do not care if they play sports but, the ones that do care will try not to be the one to fail an athlete and not allow the athlete to play. The advantage that is the best one for the athlete is be able to have a better chance at getting a scholarship. The athletes will get recognized by there performances on and off the field epically in the classroom which will help them when being scouted. The disadvantages for the regular students is when it comes to school work there school work has to be turned in on time or is considered late. That alone frustrates students when there work has to be turned in and they see an athlete turn his/her work in late. Not getting equal amount of help is a disadvantage that hurts the students when it comes to schoolwork. Instead of getting equal attention the regular students gets no attention and tends to lack off and it starts to show in their work.

Athlete Advantages. (n.d). Retrieved from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper-student/6304.html

Participation in High School Sports and Academic Performance

In some early studies, participation in high school sports was not associated with higher grades. For example, Lueptow and Kayser (1973) investigated the relationship between athletics and academic achievement among 3461 seniors in 20 public high schools in 1964 and found no differences in grades between athletes and non-athletes during the high school years. A few years later, Hauser and Lueptow (1978) reported that athletes had higher GPAs at the end of their high school years than they did at the start, but their academic gains were not as high as for non-athletes over the years. Students who chose to participate in high school sports were better students initially and experienced a relative decline in academic achievement, leading them to conclude, “The results of this study and of the Lueptow and Kayser study do not support a causal interpretation of the relationship between athletics involvement and academic achievement” (p. 308).
Later studies also failed to find specific differences between athletes and non-athletes’ academic performance. Marsh (1993) suggested that participation in high school sports had no negative effects, Jefferson (1999) found no differences between the GPAs of athletes and non-athletes in two rural high schools in Mississippi, and Stencel (2005) found no statistically significant relationship between participation in athletics and academic achievement. Crosnoe (2002) analyzed students in 9 California and Wisconsin schools in 1987 and 1990 and concluded that even though athletes were high achievers and athletic

The research question is somewhat different from the one addressed by the bulk of research on high school athletics. They want to know the overall effect of high school athletics on academic success for students who participate as well as those who do not. On this question there is considerably less research and no consensus on the answer. In general, there are two theories about how athletics programs affect academic achievement in high schools: the social capital theory and the resource tradeoff theory.