|
...cohorts (Cohort N = 842; Cohort 2, N = 290) attending a summer program. Results indicated that athletics was the activity in which males and females reported greatest participation across cohorts. Significant differences in rates were found for participation in athletics, choral music, and dance in the direction of gender-stereotypical expectations. Differences were also found among ethnic groups and across grade levels in certain activities. We concluded that the results contradict the nonathletic stereotype sometimes associated with students who are academically talented.
**********
School-sanctioned extracurricular activities play an important role in the lives of students, parents, and school personnel, and a great deal of time and money are devoted to these activities. Over the years, the costs and benefits of extracurricular activities have generated many studies and numerous debates. Especially in times of tightening budgets, the benefits of extracurricular activities need to be determined. In addition to looking at students' rates of participation, several researchers have examined the relationship of extracurricular activities to student outcome variables such as personal and social development, academic achievement, self-concept, locus of control, delinquency, and problem behaviors. However, the majority of published studies on extracurricular activities have focused on athletes and sporting activities in both college and high school populations.
While there are a few studies on other populations, one group that has been largely ignored in this area of research is the gifted and talented. Currently, there is only one study that has examined gifted students' participation in extracurricular activities (Olszewski-Kubilius & Lee, 2004), and that study's sample came from the Midwest. In this paper, we examined extracurricular participation rates in a sample of academically talented students from a western state. Before proceeding further, we present a brief review of the extant literature on this topic.
Extracurricular Activities in College
Hood, Craig, and Ferguson (1992) examined the effect of nonacademic activities such as work, watching television, and socializing on the academic achievement of freshman athletes and nonathletes at the University of Iowa. In this study, each athlete was matched with a nonathlete who was similar on variables such as gender, ethnicity, SAT/ACT scores, and resident/nonresident status. The researchers also compared the matched groups to a group of randomly selected students from the university, for a total sample size of 2,856. They found that athletes achieved similar grades to nonathletes with similar backgrounds and abilities, with the athletes and nonathletes performing at a level slightly below that of the random sample of university students.
In 1996, Terenzini, Pascarella, and Blimling reviewed the literature examining the effects of college students' out-of-class experiences on academic, intellectual, and cognitive outcomes. They found that student athletes achieved at about the same level as nonathletes when precollege achievement and aptitude were taken into account. They also found that level of participation in athletics had a negative relationship to scores obtained on standardized graduate admissions tests. In looking at extracurricular activity involvement more generally, Terenzini et al. found "little consistent evidence suggesting that extracurricular involvement per se has a direct impact on students' academic or intellectual development" (p. 155).
The studies by Hood et al. (1992) and Terenzini et al. (1996) suggest that, overall, extracurricular activities do not have major positive or negative effects on student achievement at the college level.
Extracurricular Activities in Middle and High School
Athletics
By far, high school students represent the largest group whose extracurricular activities are studied intensively, and this research has tended to focus on athletic participation. Holland and Andre (1987) reported on a comprehensive review of the literature examining the relationship between participation in extracurricular activities and academic achievement. They found male athletes had slightly higher GPAs than nonathletes in some studies, but not in others. In studies using standardized achievement test scores (e.g., SAT) as outcomes, males whose only extracurricular involvement was in sports were found to have lower scores than nonathletes. However, no significant differences were found between female athletes and nonathletes.
In a more recent study, Silliker and Quirk (1997) looked at high school students' extracurricular involvement and academic performance. Specifically, they studied 123 high school students who participated in interscholastic soccer during the first quarter of the school year and were not involved in any other major extracurricular activity during the second quarter. The results indicated that, during the soccer season (the first quarter), soccer players had higher GPAs than out of season (the second quarter). Attendance was also better in season, but this latter finding was not statistically significant.
Broh (2002) also looked at the relationships between athletics and student outcomes. She analyzed data on students from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS-88), including the first and second follow-ups (see Haggerty, Dugoni, Reed, Cederlund, & Taylor, 1996). Results of her analysis showed that participating in interscholastic sports was related to improved mathematics grades, English grades, and mathematics test scores, even after controlling for the selection of higher performing students. Participation in interscholastic sports was also related to increased self-esteem, a more internalized locus of control, spending more time on homework, and increased contact among parents, students, and teachers. However, participation in intramural sports, as opposed to interscholastic sports, was negatively related to math and English grades and test scores.
Other Activities
Some researchers have looked beyond athletics to other extracurricular activities. Marsh (1992) conducted one of the first large-scale studies on extracurricular activities using the High School and Beyond database, including the first and second follow-up (National Center for Educational Statistics, 1986). He examined the relationship between total number of extracurricular activities (TEAP) and a variety of outcome variables in a weighted sample of more than 4,000 students. Controlling for back-ground variables and sophomore outcomes, Marsh reported that, in senior year, TEAP was positively associated with "social self-concept, academic self-concept, taking advanced courses, time spent on homework, postsecondary education aspirations, GPA, parental involvement, [and lower] absenteeism" (p. 557) for students across a variety of backgrounds. Marsh noted that the only meaningful effect sizes were for the relationships with academic and social self-concept, but argued that participation in extracurricular activities was important because it can lead to "increased commitment to school and school values, which leads indirectly to increased academic success" (p. 560).
Eccles and Barber (1999) looked at the risks and benefits of five different types of activities: prosocial activities, team sports, school involvement, performing arts, and academic clubs. They analyzed data on 1,259 students who participated in the Michigan Study of Adolescent Life Transitions from 1983, when they were in the sixth grade, through 1997. Academic achievement was measured using 10th- and 12th-grade GPA and subscale scores from the Differential Aptitude Test. The results of the longitudinal regression analysis showed that participation in any of the five types of activities studied resulted in a better-than-predicted 12th-grade GPA. They also found that students who participated in sports, performing arts, and school involvement activities reported liking school more over the years studied, which is consistent with Marsh's (1992) hypothesis about the effect of extracurricular activities on students' commitment to school.
Broh (2002) also reported that the differential effects of extracurricular activities were not limited to interscholastic and intramural sports. She found that participation in music groups was positively related to both math and English grades and math test scores; participation on student council was positively related to both sets of grades; and participation in yearbook...
NOTE: All illustrations and photos
have been removed from this article.
More articles from Journal of Secondary Gifted Education
The relationship between thinking styles and scientific giftedness in ..., March 22, 2005
Korean science teachers' understanding of creativity in gifted educati..., March 22, 2005
I live in my own bubble: the values of talented adolescents., March 22, 2005
Development of authentic assessments for the middle school classroom., March 22, 2005
Looking for additional articles?
Search our database of over 3 million articles.
Looking for more in-depth information on this industry?
Search our complete database of Industry & Market reports by text, subject, publication
name or publication date.
About Goliath
Whether you're looking for sales prospects, competitive information, company
analysis or best practices in managing your organization,
Goliath can help you meet your business needs.
Our extensive business information databases empower business
professionals with both the breadth and depth of credible,
authoritative information they need to support their business
goals. Whether it be strategic planning, sales prospecting,
company research or defining management best practices -
Goliath is your leading source for accurate information.
|
