270 2012 R. Tait McKenzie Memorial Lecture: The Texas Youth Evaluation Project

With the prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes in our Texas youth, it was decided in 2007 to initiate steps to track health-related fitness levels in Texas school children and youth. Senate Bill 530 was passed in the Texas legislature making physical activity mandatory five days a week for elementary students, a less demanding schedule for middle school and high school students. Another requirement was to assess health-related physical fitness in all students in grades three through 12. The Cooper Institute’s FITNESSGRAM® was selected by the Texas Education Agency as the assessment that would be administered. In the three following years, almost three million children were tested annually after the FITNESSGRAM testing software was privately funded for 9,000 schools and more than 20,000 teachers were trained to conduct the tests. The variables associated with the FITNESSGRAM results were absenteeism, negative school incidents, and academic achievement. Since the publication of this study in Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport in September 2010, there has been worldwide interest in the project. In his talk, Dr. Cooper will share the results of the Texas Youth Evaluation Project as well as the global interest being expressed in the project. This session also includes the induction of new Fellows of the North American Society for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Sport and Dance Professionals.