EFFECTS OF A PHYSICAL-EDUCATION PROGRAM ON CHILDRENS MANIPULATIVE SKILLS

We assessed effects of a physical education professional development p rogram on 3 manipulative skills of 4th- and 5th-graders. Seven schools were randomly assigned to 3 treatment conditions: PES (Physical Educa tion Specialists), TT (Trained Classroom Teachers), and CO (Controls). Students (358 boys, 351 girls) were randomly selected from 56 classes and tested on throwing, catching, and kicking. In the fall baseline, boys scored higher than girls; 5th-graders scored higher than 4th-grad ers. In the spring, children in PES schools had improvements of 21%; t hose in TT and CO schools gained 19% and 13%, respectively. Gain score s were significant for catching (p = .005) and throwing (p = .008). In tervention effects did not differ by gender or grade. Adjusting for co ndition, boys made significantly greater gains than girls. The results indicate that children's manipulative skills can be improved by quali ty physical education programs delivered by PE specialists and classro om teachers with substantial training.