How did Oregon Active Schools affect students across the state?

Active children focus in class, perform better academically and are healthier their whole lives. Unfortunately, across Oregon, physical education teachers struggle to replace equipment, develop curriculum and fully engage students. This is due to low funding for physical activity in Oregon public schools. 

From 2014 through 2019, Northwest Health Foundation, Kaiser Permanente Northwest and Nike partnered with Active Schools to provide focused grants totaling over $1 million to 139 elementary schools in Oregon, serving 17,559 students. We strove to inspire a lifelong love of movement and bring the many benefits of physical activity to every child in Oregon. Our grants went to opportunity schools—schools where more than 70% of students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch and where less than 65% of students met the third-grade reading benchmark—and State Priority and Focus Schools.

Schools spent their grant dollars on before and after-school programming, classroom physical activity, physical education curriculum and equipment, recess programming and equipment, professional development for teachers, technology to support physical education, incentives for physical activity, and family engagement.  

Schools reported an increased number of students engaging in physical activity, increased time spent on physical activity, more focused students in the classroom, increased pride, broadened cultural knowledge and increased staff satisfaction. Some schools leveraged their OAS grants to secure more funding. On average, attendance increased 2.6% for all students and 3.1% for students of color.

Of course, not all schools experienced the same benefits from their OAS grants. Through evaluation, we discovered some key factors—access, engagement and partnerships—increased the likelihood of improved attendance. Funded schools reported that having different types of equipment involved a more diverse set of students. Student engagement was best when school activities matched family and community traditions. Finally, physical education and health programs were sustained over time with systemic connections among staff, families and community.

For more information about Oregon Active Schools outcomes, including considerations for future funding, check out this two-page PDF.