Fitness, PA, Perceived C Competence, Parental Support, and Literacy Outcomes in the REACH After-School Sports Program

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the REACH program in increasing physical activity (PA) levels, cardiorespiratory fitness, perceived competence, self-efficacy, parental support, and literacy across a year-long after-school PA intervention. Two intervention and one control school (N = 78 students) were recruited to collect data across two time points. School differences in post-intervention scores were found in three (parental support, literacy, PACER) of seven intervention-related measures. Parental support and PACER scores were higher in intervention schools. Results demonstrate that data collection methods need to be reconsidered in diverse low-income schools. A data collection dilemma is presented: Researchers need data to understand what is happening but how are students being served by the data collection process? New approaches in low-income urban after-school programs need to be considered to limit loss of data and to make the data collection meaningful to student participants.