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Background: This study aimed to examine cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB), and educational outcomes (EO) in first-year university students in Australia. Method: Participants (N = 80) engaged in 3 data collection points (semesters 1, 2, and 3) that included self-reported and device-based PA and SB, and objective EO measures. Cross-sectional associations were examined using linear and binary logistic regressions, and longitudinal associations were examined using generalized estimating equations. Result: Overall, results indicated some positive but weak cross-sectional associations between some device-based and self-reported measures of PA and EO outcomes when controlling for confounders. Self-reported SB was negatively associated with semester GPA at time point 3 after adjusting for confounders (β = −0.224; 95% confidence interval, −0.446 to −0.001; P < .05). No other significant cross-sectional or longitudinal associations were identified. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that SB may be a more important target healthy behavior than PA when aiming to influence EO, and that related interventions may be more appropriate in second rather than first-year university students. Further research is needed to better understand this relationship that uses larger sample sizes, follows students beyond first year, and includes measures that distinguish between leisure and educational screen time.

This study examined classroom teachers’ involvement in a yearlong Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs (CSPAP) implemented in one K-8 rural U.S. school district. Its purpose was to describe patterns of social interaction among teachers, administrators, and families associated with the intervention (i.e., social capital) and whether those interactions were associated with teachers’ program participation. Twenty-two teachers’ social capital as related to CSPAP activities was measured using a validated social capital instrument for teachers four times across one academic year and teachers reported their participation during wellness weeks. Regression and RM-ANOVA were used to analyse the data. Teacher social capital was significantly positively related to implementation of physical activity breaks. The more often a classroom teacher spoke with someone else, the greater the likelihood of that teacher leading a physical activity break. This study provides evidence for the importance of social capital in supporting the implementation of CSPAPs.

This study was informed by the literature on teaching metaphors and the theory of occupational socialization. Its purpose was to examine in-service Physical Education teachers’ initial (before entering the profession), current, and ideal metaphors of teaching, related factors, and potential differences in participants’ metaphors based on their teaching experience. A mixed-methods approach was employed for this study, including a modified version of an existing survey (N = 66; Alger, 2009) and interviews (N = 13). Descriptive statistics indicated that while participants predominantly embraced teacher-centered metaphors initially, about half of them reported their current and ideal metaphors as student-centered. Constant comparison and analytic induction techniques revealed three themes and several subthemes: (a) fluidity (own definitions, combination of metaphors), (b) formation of initial views of teaching (acculturation, professional socialization), and (c) evolutionary forces and constraints (experience, pressure of test scores, time allocation, resources). These results have implications both for preservice and in-service teacher education programs.

This study addressed teachers’ fidelity to one Physical Education curricular model. The theoretical framework guiding this study included professional development and fidelity to curricular models. In this study, teachers’ fidelity to the Dynamic Physical Education (DPE) curricular model was measured for high and nonsupport district groups. Participants were 20 Physical Education teachers. Ten teachers worked in a highly supportive district, while 10 teachers worked in nonsupportive districts. Data were collected using field notes, a DPE observation instrument, and informal interviews. Two themes emerged from the data: (a) district support led to higher teacher fidelity levels to the DPE curriculum, and (b) the teachers from the nonsupport district implemented management procedures differently than the high support district teachers.

Physical educators are often asked to promote whole-school physical activity programming beyond their scheduled class times. Previous research has supported that training in expanded roles would be beneficial during university-based physical education teacher education (PETE) training. In this qualitative study, 13 graduates from a single PETE program that has integrated expanded physical activity into programming shared information about their current programming as physical education teachers in K–12 schools. Campus visits and one-on-one interviews were included. Some practices and values learned during participants’ PETE training were evident in graduates’ current practices. Aligning with previous studies of professional socialization of physical educators, the resulting themes concluded that (a) strategies and resources gained during PETE training were valued and still used and (b) other ripples of influence, such as administrators and other teachers at their current placement, influenced programming. PETE programming with whole-school physical activity can lead to expanded teaching practices in schools.

Physical activity (PA) among children and adolescents is often reported by time segments centered around the school day, including before school. However, there is no consistent approach to defining the before-school segment, to accurately capture PA levels and facilitate synthesis of results across studies. Therefore, this study aimed to (a) examine how studies with children and adolescents have defined the before-school segment, and (b) compare adolescents’ before-school PA using various segment definitions. We conducted a systematic search and review of literature from six databases, and subsequently analyzed accelerometer data from Australia (n = 472, mean age 14.9 years, 40% male), to compare PA across five before-school definitions. Our review found 69 studies reporting before-school PA, 59 of which used device-based measures. Definitions ranged widely, but justifications were rarely reported. Our empirical comparison of definitions resulted in a range of participants meeting wear time criteria (≥3 days at >50% of segment length) from the latest-starting definition (30 min prior to school; n = 443) to the earliest-starting definition (6:00 a.m.–school start; n = 155), implying that for many participants, accelerometer wear was low in the early hours due to sleep or noncompliance. Statistically significant differences in light and moderate-to-vigorous PA (mean minutes/school day, proportion of segment length, and proportion of wear time) were found between definitions, indicating that before-school PA could potentially be underestimated depending on definition choice. We recommend that future studies clearly report and justify segment definition, apply segment-specific wear time criteria, and collect wake time data to enable individualized segment start times and minimize risk of data misclassification.