1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:07,640 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:11,280 Speaker 1: I'm Lorn vogel Bomb, and this is a classic episode 3 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:15,280 Speaker 1: of the podcast. Today's delves into the strange history of 4 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:20,000 Speaker 1: why we Americans have standardized tests for our middle schoolers' fitness. 5 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:24,200 Speaker 1: Of course, fitness is important to feeling good, but why 6 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:29,319 Speaker 1: the tests? Hey brain Stuff. I'm Lauren vogel Bomb, and 7 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:32,839 Speaker 1: believe it or not, I was never particularly the athletic type. 8 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:35,640 Speaker 1: I have vivid middle school memories of being administered a 9 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: standardized fitness test during gym class. I don't recall ever 10 00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:41,279 Speaker 1: being taught how to do pull ups or curl ups, 11 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:43,559 Speaker 1: but I sure remember being tested on how many I 12 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: could do in front of my class. The Presidential Fitness 13 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:49,920 Speaker 1: Test was a battery of physical feats designed to assess 14 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:52,919 Speaker 1: the health of school age American children. The test has 15 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:55,920 Speaker 1: since been retired and replaced by the less arbitrary and 16 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:59,320 Speaker 1: more forgiving physical fitness test known as Fitness Graham, but 17 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:02,960 Speaker 1: it left a significant mark on scholastic history. It all 18 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,080 Speaker 1: started in the early nineteen fifties, when fitness activists doctor 19 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:09,920 Speaker 1: Hans Krauss and Bonnie Pruden administered exercise tests to thousands 20 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 1: of kids throughout the United States, Switzerland, Italy, and Austria. 21 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:16,959 Speaker 1: US kids came up shockingly short. Fifty eight percent of 22 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:19,200 Speaker 1: them failed the tests, compared to just eight percent of 23 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:23,400 Speaker 1: the European kids. Then President Dwight Eisenhower was not pleased. 24 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:26,320 Speaker 1: He took action by forming the President's Council on Youth 25 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 1: Fitness in nineteen fifty six to seek out strategies for 26 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:32,920 Speaker 1: improving American kids fitness scores. Concern mounted by the time 27 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 1: John F. Kennedy took office in nineteen sixty he penned 28 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 1: a Sports Illustrated op ed about the perceived problem, an 29 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:43,480 Speaker 1: excerpt in a very real and immediate sense, our growing softness, 30 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 1: our increasing lack of physical fitness is a menace to 31 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:50,480 Speaker 1: our security. And so in nineteen sixty six, the Presidential 32 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:54,160 Speaker 1: Physical Fitness Challenge commenced, a competition of sorts designed to 33 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:56,800 Speaker 1: get kids excited about physical fitness as it related to 34 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:00,760 Speaker 1: military service. The challenge included activities like a softball throw, 35 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:03,800 Speaker 1: a long jump, and that dreaded pull up, all meant 36 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:07,240 Speaker 1: to mimic military tasks like grenade throwing and ladder climbing. 37 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 1: To earn the coveted physical fitness awards, kids would have 38 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 1: to place in the top eighty fifth percentile based on 39 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:16,919 Speaker 1: national standards. The problem with all this testing, which by 40 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:19,120 Speaker 1: the way, was usually done in front of one's peers, 41 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:22,359 Speaker 1: was that, according to experts, it didn't resemble the Krause 42 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 1: Weber tests in any way. Rather than focusing on core 43 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 1: and arm strength and improved flexibility, the Presidential Physical Fitness 44 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 1: Challenge simply reflected the goals and priorities of the country 45 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 1: and people who had formed their fitness philosophy during training 46 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:39,160 Speaker 1: in World War Two years later, in twenty twelve, the 47 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:41,960 Speaker 1: test was finally abolished and replaced by a more comprehensive 48 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,959 Speaker 1: fitness program designed to support individual goals rather than prescribe 49 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:49,040 Speaker 1: as standard fitness regimen. The change was the result of 50 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:53,440 Speaker 1: decades of negative feedback from both students and teachers. Physical 51 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:57,640 Speaker 1: education teacher Joanna Faber told NPR the test was totally backward. 52 00:02:57,840 --> 00:02:59,639 Speaker 1: We knew who was going to be last, and we 53 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:02,440 Speaker 1: were in embarrassing them, We were pointing out their weakness. 54 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:05,960 Speaker 1: So where does that leave us now? And why are 55 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: teachers still testing kids at all? We spoke with Marisol Visali, 56 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:14,079 Speaker 1: a San Francisco Bay Area physical education teacher and massage therapist. 57 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:17,160 Speaker 1: She said, the reason for the tests, I believe is 58 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 1: basically to collect data so the state knows fitness levels 59 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 1: of different demographics and counties, schools, cities, etc. But we 60 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:26,680 Speaker 1: teachers do our best to turn it into goal setting 61 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: and teaching students about their bodies. We also turn it 62 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:31,960 Speaker 1: into awards for students with the most improvements or best 63 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:34,640 Speaker 1: scores to create some buy in and get them motivated 64 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:38,960 Speaker 1: to be fit people. While the current program continues to 65 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:42,000 Speaker 1: focus on specific areas of fitness, there's a decidedly less 66 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,160 Speaker 1: militaristic approach to it. For instance, Fasally says there are 67 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 1: different options for each of the five categories that are 68 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 1: tested cardiovascular fitness, muscular endurance, muscular strength, flexibility, and body 69 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: composition which is muscle to fat ratio. These options acknowledge 70 00:03:57,360 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: different types of fitness far better than the original test 71 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:03,000 Speaker 1: in taking into account the different ways kids' bodies work 72 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: based on age and sex, and acknowledging that fitness is 73 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:09,800 Speaker 1: a spectrum. So how many kids do well on this test? 74 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:13,880 Speaker 1: Zali said the number of kids that pass usually depends 75 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:17,479 Speaker 1: on the school. In Burlingame, California, for example, where I teach, 76 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: most kids pass I'd say eighty five percent, but that 77 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:21,839 Speaker 1: has to do with a lot more than just our 78 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:25,280 Speaker 1: awesome physical education teachers. She explains that the kids in 79 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:28,599 Speaker 1: her community are really active outside of school, whereas in 80 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:31,120 Speaker 1: poorer areas the number of kids that pass could be 81 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:33,919 Speaker 1: much lower. For many reasons, children might not be active 82 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 1: outside of school due to lack of local programs, time, 83 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:41,400 Speaker 1: or funding. Punishing and humiliating tests certainly aren't the way 84 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:44,159 Speaker 1: to get kids in shape, but encouraging physical activity of 85 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:46,520 Speaker 1: some kind is important, since it's been shown to help 86 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:49,800 Speaker 1: kids build cardio fitness, strong bones and muscles, and even 87 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:53,080 Speaker 1: reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. According to the Centers 88 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:55,960 Speaker 1: of Disease Control and Prevention, only twenty one point six 89 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:58,720 Speaker 1: percent of six to nineteen year old children and adolescents 90 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:01,160 Speaker 1: in the United States get sixty or more minutes of 91 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:04,480 Speaker 1: moderate to vigorous physical activity at least five days per week. 92 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:08,400 Speaker 1: But don't be discouraged. Any activity is better than no activity. 93 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:10,920 Speaker 1: There are lots of guides online to making fitness fun, 94 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:22,120 Speaker 1: even for the less coordinated among us. Today's episode is 95 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:24,799 Speaker 1: based on article could you pass your kids middle School? 96 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:28,080 Speaker 1: Fitness tests on how stuffworks dot Com, written by Michelle Constantinovsky. 97 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:30,960 Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is production of by Heart Radio in partnership 98 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:33,560 Speaker 1: with HowStuffWorks dot Com and is produced by Tyler Playing. 99 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: Four more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 100 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.