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Educating the Student Body
national physical activity and physical education recommendations, and 
2 (strong) represents states requiring or exceeding the national recommen-
dations. These three tables highlight only the percentage of states that have 
strong laws in place. The SHPPS does not use the same data coding format 
as Bridging the Gap; thus it is not possible to compare similar measures 
directly across these data sources.
Because the SHPPS (see Table 2-4) surveys relevant respondents at mul-
tiple levels, results of this survey provide information on changes in policies 
related to physical education and physical activity at the state, district, and 
school levels. These data help illustrate how policies are implemented from 
the state down to the school level. Because schools do not have codified 
policies, the self-report method of data collection can provide valuable 
information on the implementation and enforcement of state- and district-
level policies, along with a snapshot of how schools at the local level may be 
implementing programs and practices beyond what they are required to do 
by law. In a recent study, for example, Nanney and colleagues (2010) used 
the SHPPS data to construct a summary scale of the number of physical 
activity–related policies adopted by states. They identified 146 items in the 
SHPPS related to physical activity and physical education and found that, 
on average, states had adopted 38 percent of all possible physical activity 
and physical education policies. However, a disadvantage of self-reported 
data is that they are subject to human error, such as respondent bias or 
misinterpretation of the survey questions, which can result in overreporting 
of the presence of laws, policies, and practices. 
Tables 2-5 and 2-6 present annual quantitative data on trends in state 
policies related to physical education and physical activity, respectively, for 
elementary, middle, and high schools. In general, these data show that in 
most instances these policies at the state level have changed little during the 
past 6 years.