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Conclusions:
While comprehensive school health models have existed for decades, comprehensive school physical activity programs (CSPAP) are a more recent focus, which delineates a multicomponent, coordinated approach to increasing the daily physical activity of school communities. The National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) published the first conceptualization of a CSPAP in 2008. Since then, major health organizations including the Institute of Medicine (IOM, 2013) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2013) have adopted NASPE’s model to outline recommendations for program implementation. Yet, the evidence base for CSPAPs is still fledgling, especially in terms of research that examines program effectiveness, scalability, and sustainability. The purpose of this session is to illuminate the myriad efforts underway to nurture and grow CSPAP research beyond its infancy and into a full-fledged evidence base to guide best practice. The session will open with an overview of the current landscape of the knowledge base on CSPAPs. Then, researchers and research teams from across the United States and from Ireland will share their most recent innovations for designing, implementing, and evaluating CSPAPs. A proposal for future research directions and methodologies will conclude the session. The format of the session will include formal presentations interspersed with round table discussions.