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Declining Student Enrollment in Physical Education
The data also illustrate the slippage in physical education that can 
occur at both the state and local levels when weaker policies in this area 
are enacted (see also Figure 1-3 in Chapter 1). For example, the Shape of 
the Nation Report (NASPE and AHA, 2012) provides a current picture 
of physical education in the American education system. The 2012 survey 
found areas of both improvement and decline in the status of physical edu-
cation. As all policy data sources highlighted in this report show, the major-
ity of states mandate physical education at all school levels. According to 
the Shape of the Nation Report, however, most schools do not require a 
specific amount of instructional time, and more than half allow exemp-
tions, waivers, and/or substitutions for physical education. Further, the 
2011 YRBS found that 48-69 percent of students did not attend physical 
education classes in an average week. 
The Shape of the Nation Report also shows that in most states, all 
children in elementary and middle schools are required to take physical 
education when it is offered. In high school, however, students may have 
flexibility in when they take physical education as long as they satisfy the 
requirement for graduation. This flexibility creates a situation in which not 
all high school students take physical education at the same time. According 
to CDC 2011 data, in high schools where physical education was not 
offered daily, 68 percent of students in 9th grade, 55 percent in 10th grade, 
43 percent in 11th grade, and 39 percent in 12th grade attended physi-
cal education on 1 or more days during a typical week. In schools where 

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Educating the Student Body: Taking Physical Activity and Physical Education to School
Status and Trends of Physical Activity Behaviors and Related School Policies
 
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physical education was offered daily, 41 percent of students in 9th grade, 
33 percent in 10th grade, 25 percent in 11th grade, and 24 percent in 12th 
grade attended daily physical education classes (CDC, 2012b). Across the 
nation, 52 percent of high school students attend physical education at 
least 1 day per week, and only 31.5 percent have daily physical education 
(CDC, 2012b).