Physical Education quantity and quality: Are elementary schools meeting state mandates?

Background: School Physical Education (PE) provides an ideal opportunity for students to be physically active. California mandates 20 minutes of daily PE for elementary students, but schools may not comply with this policy. 50% of PE time should be spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), yet students rarely achieve this. We sought to determine the quantity and quality of PE, and related predictors, in a large urban school district. Methods: This mixed methods study employed 91 structured observations of 5th grade PE classes, interviews with 30 teachers and 20 school principals, and surveys of 1,056 5th grade students in 20 elementary schools during Spring 2011. Results: Only 4 (20%) schools met the PE mandate. Schools, on average, provided 12 minutes of daily PE, far short of the mandated 20 minutes. 47% of class time was spent in MVPA, equating to an average of 6 minutes of MVPA per day. Teacher training, years teaching, teacher's personal physical activity, and school PE facilities did not predict minutes of or MVPA during PE. Discussion: In this large urban school district, 5th grade students spent almost half of PE in MVPA, yet PE occurred infrequently and contributed only 6 minutes of MVPA toward the recommended 60 minutes of daily MVPA. Despite mandates, PE is not occurring in California. Factors previously associated with PE quantity or quality were not predictive in the present study. Further research should identify methods to increase compliance with mandated PE minutes.