Visit the National Academies Press online and register for

Educating the Student Body
database contains state-level information in such areas as (1) physical educa-
tion class time, (2) staffing requirements for physical education, (3) physi-
cal education curriculum standards, (4) assessment of health-related fitness 
during physical education, (5) physical activity time requirements outside 
of physical education, and (6) recess. C.L.A.S.S. uses a 0-4 or 0-5 rating 
scale, depending on the category, that captures information on the specific-
ity, strength of language, and stringency of a law. Each year’s rating reflects 
laws in place as of December 31. Bridging the Gap, described in detail below, 
collects data on both state and school district policies related to physical 
education and physical activity and applies a 0-3 rating scale. All sources 
in Table 2-3 contain information on laws for elementary, middle, and high 
schools. All contain some duplicative information but also other measures 
that are unique to that source.
Given the overlap in these data sources, the following information on 
state- and school district-level policies was taken from two sources—one 
self-reported and the other objectively collected and coded. Tables 2-4 
through 2-6 present trend data for 2000-2012 on the prevalence of state-
level policies related to school-based physical education and physical 
activity. Table 2-4 presents information extracted from the SHPPS in 2000 
and 2006 (Burgeson et al., 2001; Lee et al., 2007), while Tables 2-5 and 
2-6 present information compiled from Bridging the Gap (Chriqui et al., 
in press). Starting with the 2006-2007 school year, Bridging the Gap has 
compiled policies for all 50 states and the District of Columbia annu-
ally from the state law databases Westlaw and Lexis-Nexis using keyword 
searches. All policies are coded using a 3-point rating scale, where 0 (none) 
represents those states with no policy, 1 (weak) represents states with a law 
that suggests/encourages or imposes a less stringent requirement than the